Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - English Beloved as a Folk Tale Beloved as a Folk Tale In the novel Beloved, Toni Morrison takes an unorthodox approach to the book. She uses many characteristics of a folk tale to tell the story. The ghosts play a major part in the folklore of the book. These components such as the caring community and nicknames play an integral part in the book. The folk tale is when the past experiences are brought to the present and confronted in many different ways, leading to a sort of awakening for the character. One of the characteristics is the existence in a world of fragmentation. Morrison was able to achieve this feeling by writing the book this way. “When Slavery has torn apart one’s heritage, when past is more real than present, when the rage of a dead baby can literally rock a house, then the traditional novel is no longer an adequate instrument”(Bauermeister). One of the main characteristics is surviving and coping with the past. This is best illustrated in the book by the ghost living in 124 and eventually Beloved. The past actually returns in the form of Paul D. The ghost reminds Sethe of past tragedies. The ghost serves as a reminder for some of the decisions Sethe was forced to make. It constantly makes her think about the decisions she made when she was younger and whether she made the right choices. These thoughts constantly haunt her and keeps 124 the miserable place that it is. Sethe is forced to confront these nightmarish memories when Beloved returns. She starts to feel and finally relive her past with Beloved’s help. By reliving so many memories so quickly she is almost shattered by it until the community comes to her rescue. Sweet Home is one of the things that Sethe must encounter. The ghost in 124 plays a major part in the folklore of the book. The ghost seems to be reincarnated as the devil in the form of Beloved, which the women of the town come to face. The devil was born into the spirit of Sethe’s daughter when she is killed in the barn. “Sethe realizes that the death of the body is not the death of the soul”. Schoolteacher, whom Sethe and Paul D view as the devil, causes this. They view Sweet Home as a nice place to live until Mr. Garner dies and schoolteacher takes over. Then Sweet Home begins to turn to a terrible place, one that can be seen as Sethe and Paul D’s hell with Schoolteacher being the devil. “Paul D comes to the realization of what it meant to be enslaved only after Schoolteacher takes over the management of Sweet Home”(Beloved). When Sethe kills her child rather than having it live the slave life under the likes of Schoolteacher, is when the child takes on the persona of the devil. This is because when Sethe remembers this part of her past she thinks of Schoolteacher and he lives in her present through the ghost and then Beloved. This plays an important part in the folklore of the novel because it shows the daily struggle of surviving and coping with life. The local hero usually plays a main role in the folk tale. In Beloved, Baby Suggs represents the local hero in her town. Baby Suggs, like Sethe, must deal with the destruction of her family. All of her children except for Halle were taken from her when they were very young. She does not know where her husband is but keeps his name. She realizes that there are other ways to be free than shutting yourself out to the world, even though she ends up in total withdrawal. She helps everyone she can and comes out as a matriarchal character in the book. She “gives a spiritual lesson” in the book. The caring community is a main part of the folk tale. In Beloved, Sethe’s current community and the one in sweet home were very protective and caring. In the end of the novel the community almost has an uprising to prevent Sethe from being harmed by what they perceive to be the devil. “When Ella heard 124 was occupied by something or other beating up on Sethe, it infuriated her and gave her another opportunity to measure what could very well be the devil himself against the lowest yet”(Beloved, 256). Ella was able to organize thirty women in an effort to rid 124 of that presence. This shows the strong community support because these women are neglecting their work and facing possible punishment just to help out a fellow member of their community. The Sweet Home community must be strong in order to give hope to its members. The mothers of sweet home lost their sons and daughters “before they could take on adult features”. This provided an environment where a caring community was a necessity. This part of the folk tale is very important in the story because it shows that there is always something to rely on in desperate times. In the book Beloved the folk tale plays a very important part in getting Morrison’s point across. The many components that make up the folklore help bring the past experiences of the various characters to the present. This helps them realize; sometimes painfully the consequences that their past decisions have had on the present. The folk tale is able to allow the audience to think for themselves and form their own opinions on what was right or wrong in the book. It also allows them to look deeper into the history and see the true pain that the characters must have felt in their enslavement. Bibliography: Word Count: 980
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