A Fruit of Unity and Division
The house of 124 is known throughout the story to be isolated following the incident in the woodshed. What happened before, however, wasn’t discussed in much detail. The community of Bluestone Road, while once united, didn’t help Sethe. No one warned her of Schoolteacher coming to get her and her children, leading to her being caught midway.
Leading up to this scene, we are told about one of the last moments 124 was treated well in the community. We are told that Stamp Paid traveled six miles “with two buckets to a place near the river's edge that only he knew about where blackberries grew,” shredding his clothes, getting bitten and stung by bugs, and bleeding from the thorns bruising him (Morrison 160). After enduring all of this, he feeds the berries to Denver, only three weeks old at the time. It was a happy moment, aside from some telling him the blackberries were too intense for a baby, and Stamp Paid alongside the others with him laughed and decided to make pies for the community.
This feast, which fed ninety people, should’ve been a happy one, but it instead resulted in jealousy and hatred. The people, while feasting “laughed so much, it made them angry. They woke up the next morning and remembered the meal-fried perch that Stamp Paid handled with a hickory twig, holding his left palm out against the spit and pop of the boiling grease … and got angry” (Morrison 161). Despite Stamp Paid’s efforts to create a moment of unity and celebration within his community, it caused them to diverge away and find reason to dislike him, and subsequently, 124. Following the community’s feelings of hatred for Stamp Paid, they redirected their attention to Baby Suggs, someone who was, to her detriment, seen as a role model in the community: “Too much, they thought. Where does she get it all, Baby Suggs, holy? Why is she and hers always the center of things? How come she always knows exactly what to do and when? Giving advice; passing messages; healing the sick, hiding fugitives, loving, cooking, cooking, loving, preaching, singing, dancing and loving everybody like it was her job and hers alone.” (Morrison 161). Baby Suggs’ act of kindness toward others came back to bite her as they now, quite unfairly, thought of her to be too good of a person. She inadvertently caused the community of Bluestone Road to despise her goodwill and contributions.
Later, Sethe was trying to kill her children to save them from the horrors of slavery. But following the feast, no one wanted to make Baby Suggs any more dignified, reflecting those feelings onto Sethe. They didn’t warn her that she was going to be caught, and their lack of action ruined any hope for 124. The home was shunned from the community. Without this scene, so many parts integral to the story of Beloved wouldn’t have happened. If it weren’t for Stamp Paid’s blackberries, the pies would’ve never been baked, the community wouldn’t have had a petty disdain for Baby Suggs, and Sethe wouldn’t have committed the act that would make her future take a turn for the worse. What should’ve been a unifying moment for the community ended up butterflying into something so much more.
Works Cited
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Vintage, 2007.
I am still trying to make sense of why the community did not help Sethe and Baby Suggs in the way they normally would have when a slave catcher came to town. I would think that if you were a slave yourself you would have more sympathy/empathy for someone who went through a similar situation even if it wasn't as sever. However, I think the fact that the community banded together to help Sethe chase out Beloved by the end of the novel, slightly redeems the vindictive qualities of the people from 18 years earlier, also signifying a shift towards a better future.
ReplyDeleteUpon reading it makes me wonder what would have happened if Sethe had been warned She could have had the time to hide and not have to resort to what she did. And the feast created some resentment which unknowingly caused something to ruin 124.
ReplyDeletePerhaps later on in the story when Stamp Paid felt less resentment and didn't cast Sethe out as much it was because he felt guilty for her having to make that decision in the first place. If he had never made the move to celebrate maybe the party would have never happened, which in turn could mean that Sethe would never have to make the "Misery" happen. Maybe this is also why Stamp felt the need to help Paul D. out after he left 124 primarily.
ReplyDeleteI think this also asks the question of what we owe to one another in communities. Baby Suggs and Sethe's community seems to owe them telling them of the horsemen that were coming, like they did for others, but did not. Maybe this was because of the spite they felt towards Sethe for living a better life, but even then not warning the family seemed vindictive. I would think that a level of human respect would restrict allowing a family to return to slavery. This community might be like Paul D in some ways, believing that it is dangerous to love someone too much and staying individual. Relying on other people is a stress that they prefer not to have. Still, that does not make much sense considering the community has warned people in the past. Do they owe less to Sethe because of her past? This was a great post!
ReplyDeleteThe butterfly effect of Stamp Paid's Blackberries leading to the ostracization of 124 is both fascinating and tragic. It's ironic that the qualities once celebrated --- the generosity of Stamp Paid, the spirit of Baby Suggs, the sweetness of the shared feast --- were criticized and viewed as "too much", narcistic, and bitter. However, no matter their feelings following the feast, should have still been trivial in comparison to a life or death situation. I still am unable to fathom how they took no action to warn or aid Sethe. In the end, their apathy and Sethe's heartbreaking decision served to validate their disdain.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so interesting that the horrors that happened at 124 are technically the result of Stamp Paid bringing the berries over to 124. The original act was one of pure love and care, with no negative intentions whatsoever, but eventually led to Sethe murdering her own child. It's almost this idea that in this world that Sethe and her family are living in, you can't have too much of a good thing, and something bad will inevitably happen. I feel like this cycle (something good happening followed immediately by something bad) is present throughout the novel, but the feast followed by Beloved's murder is probably the most intense. This was a super interesting post!
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