Lucas' 20th Century Lit Blog

In Beloved everything seems to come back to one thing: Sethe's time at, and escape from Sweet Home. She doesn't enjoy the memories she has from her time there. She certainly doesn't want them to dictate her life, but her rememory will not let her forget the trauma. Throughout the course of Beloved , characters cannot seem to shake their past, and it all plays into a larger metaphor for the effects of slavery on American society. The most obvious instance of this, besides Sethe's time at sweet home. Is the death and murder of her baby, which has literally manifested itself in her life as a ghost haunting her. Beloved the character is quite probably Sethe's murdered child, an even more glaring instance of the past never truly going away. Sethe buys into the idea that "nothing ever dies" and even though sweet home is long gone, she will never let Denver return, because of the power she believes it holds. Paul D is similarly haunted by his time at Sweet H...

As we progressed throughout TEWWG, the main focus of the novel became the relationship between Janie and Tea Cake. As we explored their connection and interactions deeper I personally felt as though this novel became a tragic love story. Janie and Tea Cake's love is undoubtedly strong and even after his death she feels as though he still lives on within her. So much of this novel is dedicated to their romantic journey that I feel this novel is mainly and most importantly a love story. The narrative of  her other two marriages were not anywhere near as romantic or strikingly powerful as her time with Tea Cake. Logan is decidedly bland in the romance department, and while Jody initially provides some excitement, he is far from the knight in shining armor that he tries to portray himself as.  Both of these relationships mostly just provide context and background for her final and most important marriage to Teak Cake. Janie struggles to find a man who she truly loves and wishe...