Beloved: Memory, Rememory, and the Power of the Past

After you complete your reading for today, we'd like you write your journal entry for chapter 9 as a blog post.  The focus of it revolves about the issue of Memory, Rememory, and the Power of the Past - what is the novel saying about these topics at this point?  What are the challenges and issues that arise when the past is either raised or specifically avoided?  When is it embraced - when is it hidden - why?

I feel as if Sethe is experiancing moments that reflect on her past in order to remind her of something tragic that happened somewhere in Sethe's past. An example of this is when Sethe was recalling old memories of Baby Suggs as she was sitting on the old rock in the Clearing. She wishes for a massage from deceased Baby Suggs, and suprisingly she starts to feel fingers on her shoulders, but then it starts to get violent and she realizes she is being strangled. When Beloved kisses her neck, Sethe smells milk in her breath, and shockingly says “You too old for that” (115). Beloved's breath and touch reminded her of her deceased daughter, and Sethe went into shock and started denying what seemed to be true. When Denver confronted Beloved about the strangling, Beloved insists that "the circle of iron choked it" (119). What could this mean? Could it have anything to do with the past references to "Iron Eyes?"  I feel as if Sethe is trying to avoid parts of the past that involve the death of her baby daughter, while Beloved is trying to expose it. I cant help but feel Beloved is trying to get some sort of revenge on Sethe. Is it possible Sethe could be responsible for the death of Beloved? is that why Baby Suggs's "faith, her love, her imagination and her great big old heart began to collapse twenty-eight days after her daughter-in-law arrived" (105). Sethe must have been involved in something tragic shortly after she arrived to 124. Possibly the same tragedy of the baby's death?

Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" Response

Emerson believes that a person's place in society is defined by their accomplishments in which they achieved themselves. These accomplishments can be achieved by believing in Transcendentalism. I believe that Emerson defines Transcendentalism in the following passage: "When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man... the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new..." In other words, to become truly accomplished, one shall not base their life off the ideals of others, but one should mold their own identity from something entirely new and original. Emerson states "Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, ... and Jesus, ...and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood." These individuals named were Transcendentalists. They believed against the comformity in which everyone else followed. Instead, they expressed their own interpretations and beliefs about the values that they truly cared about. It's ironic how these people were originally Transcendentalists who were truly hated by the comformists, and now the comformity today is completely based around these people. It's as if there is a cycle between Trascendentalism and Comformity. A person is defined in society by their personal accomplishments in which they used transcendentalism to achieve. A society is a mixture between people who follow comformity, and people who follow transcendentalism. The definition of an individual within a society is based off their decision to become either an independent, or a comformist.

Rev. Terry Jones Disrespects The First Amendment

Terry Jones along with his church is planning on burning copies of the Qu'ran to remember the ones who were killed on September 11th, 2001. I think that memorials for our fellow americans who died that day are essential, but Rev. Jones is being inconsiderate and  discriminating against the muslim religion when he declares he will burn their holy book. Terry Jones is blaming an entire religion for the evil of only a few individuals. I don't understand why he thinks it's okay to judge an entire culture based on the horrible actions of a small group of gentleman. Although these muslim men deserve the worst of all punishments, doesnt mean that ALL muslims believe in the psychotic beliefs of those individuals.

The first Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free excercise of thereof..." This means that the constitution favors no certain religion, and there is no law against practicing ANY religion. Terry Jones is being shameful to his country when he threatens an entire religion, for excersizing their constitutional right of practicing their own religion. There is nothing wrong with building a Mosque on ground zero, and the constitution itself says so.

Thomas Paine's "American Crisis" Response

The very first sentence of this passage discribes the entire text perfectly. "these are the times that try men's souls"(p.51). This quotation means that the way a man or woman goes through difficult times or  crisis, determines the outcome of their life after it is over. My mother always told me "you can't appreciate the good without experiancing the bad." I think this connects perfectly because this is exactly what Thomas Paine is trying to say. "I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection"(p.53). Thomas Paine is not only looking out for the Americans of his time, but for the far future of America, which makes him a true patriot. Paine made a wonderful analogy between the British controlling America and a theif breaking to his home. "...if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to 'bind me in all cases whatsoever,' to his absolute will, am I to suffer?"(p.53) This is a very powerful analogy and I feel as if Paine used it to connect the situation with the British, to the lives of average Americans.