Essay on Toni Morrison's Beloved - Appropriate for High School Students:
Length: 733 words (2.7 pages)
Rating: Red (FREE)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Beloved - Appropriate for High School Students
Beloved is a novel which digs deeply into the lives of four, post-Civil War, African American people. The novel has many things which could be deemed unacceptable but it is necessary to read as high school students in order to expand our views on life as we know it. The novel may have some idiosyncratic issues but they are unfortunately things that occur in our modern day world.
The story is based upon Sethe, Denver, Beloved, and Paul D all of whom have their own personal problems. It is easy to see how critics can say that Beloved is unacceptable for the high school English level but it all depends on the maturity of the students and the discretion of the teacher. Many people thought it to be very amusing when Morrison wrote about how the arrival of Sethe affected the men at Sweet Home. "They were young and so sick with the absence of women they had taken to calves." (Chapter 1, Pg. 10) This statement is lewd and should not be viewed by an immature audience but the Honors English class has a higher maturity level and although there may have been some comments about the incident, it definitely wasn't overly talked about.
Beloved had many obscenities, such as, murder, raw language, sexual harassment, and other unwanted sexual advances but they are what made the novel what it is. The murder that Sethe commits is gruesome but a very huge part of the story. The following quote from the novel is the depiction of the murder scene in which Sethe performs a grotesque murder on her own daughter and injures her two boys in order to keep them from a life in slavery. "Inside, two boys bled in the sawdust and dirt at the feet of a nigger woman holding a blood-soaked child to her chest with one hand and an infant by the heels in the other. She did not look at them; she simply swung the baby toward the wall planks, missed and tried to connect a second time, when out of nowhere- in the ticking time the men spent staring at what there was to stare at- the old nigger boy, still mewing, ran through the door behind them and snatched the baby from the arch of its mother's swing."( Pg. 149)
The raw language, also, could have easily been avoided but the quote would not have had the impact that it has. This issue is definitely questionable but important to the story's precept.
The crude text does have a very strong impact on the reader. It brings out more meaning which is necessary in the understanding of the tale which is being told. The quotes, "`Breakfast? Want some breakfast, nigger?' `Yes, sir.' `Hungry, nigger?' `Yes, sir.' `Here you go.'" (Pg. 107-108) shows how the disrespectful language toward Paul D. affects him; it doesn't. The reactions toward the crude language are also very important to the telling of the story. If the crude language was left out then we would not be able to tell how Paul D. reacted to such a humongous insult. Imagine the story without the crude language. Does it have the same impact as when the crude language is used? It certainly does not give the same effect.
Even the unwanted sexual advances played a huge part in telling the story. They made many connections for the reader. The reason Halle wasn't at 124 with Sethe and Denver was due to his witnessing an advance on Sethe which thoroughly traumatized him. Also, the reason Paul D left 124 was of sexual nature. They may seem inappropriate and tasteless but they are substantial parts of Beloved and they generate sympathy and sorrow in the reader.
Everything pretty much depends on the maturity level of students. The various issues which take place in Beloved may seem unacceptable but they are all issues that we deal with in our everyday life, whether we read about it in the paper or see it on the news. Beloved may be said to have immoral things written in it but then our newspapers must be too. The lesson in Beloved is given through murder, rape, and raw language it is necessary and befitting for students to learn through their high school English class.
Search for: [kill claudius] [alzheimer's disease] [both good] [makes reference]
|
Important Note: If you'd like to save a copy of the
paper on your computer, you can COPY and PASTE it into your word
processor. Please, follow these steps to do that in Windows:
1. Select the text of the paper with the mouse and press Ctrl+C. Azete.com (the "Web Site") is produced by the "Company". The contents of this Web Site, such as text, graphics, images, audio, video and all other material ("Material"), are protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws. The Company makes no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the Material or about the results to be obtained from using the Material. You expressly agree that any use of the Material is entirely at your own risk. Most of the Material on the Web Site is provided and maintained by third parties. This third party Material may not be screened by the Company prior to its inclusion on the Web Site. You expressly agree that the Company is not liable or responsible for any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other subscribers or third parties. The Materials are provided on an as-is basis without warranty express or implied. The Company and its suppliers and affiliates disclaim all warranties, including the warranty of non-infringement of proprietary or third party rights, and the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. The Company and its suppliers make no warranties as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the material, services, text, graphics and links. For a complete statement of the Terms of Service, please see our website. By obtaining these materials you agree to abide by the terms herein, by our Terms of Service as posted on the website and any and all alterations, revisions and amendments thereto. |
ng more decidedly to the nose. The muzzle should be pointed, but the teeth and lips level. The head should be long, the skull flat rather than round with a very slight rise over the eyes but nothing approaching a stop. The hair on the skull should be moderately long and softer than the rest of...d Englishness, a fact well represented in Mister Johnson. Neither the coloniser nor the colonised had any real insight into the alien cultures they were faced with. A major obstacle to overcome were the huge distances involved. Yet the problem was not just coming to terms with the vast geographical ... Form homogeneous mixtures. Individual molecules far apart from each other. Pressure = force/area Gases exert pressure on any surface that it comes into contact with. Units of pressure Nm-2 = Pascal's Other units: Standard atmospheric pressure...e alienated from my surroundings. Just like many great authors and artists I found alienation to be a great tool to teach people the age-old lesson that one should not "judge a book by its cover." In class we talked about alienation but we never discussed how it could teach a lesson in a benefic...