Mythical Analysis Myths of Freedom

Mythical Analysis

Myths of Freedom in Beloved

Toni Morrison is known as one of the foremost novelists of recent decades, standing out as a voice for the Black female in modern literature. In Morrison's novel Beloved, a new perspective is given on the impact of slavery on the individual and society, as well as on the development of history overall. Beloved is a story about a mother, Sethe, that had once been enslaved on a plantation, and when faced with a situation where her "free" children will be taken back into that slavery, she kills her infant daughter to save her. Living in Ohio, a state known somewhat mistakenly by many people today as a safe haven for escaped slaves from the South, along with her older daughter and a male love-interest, the dead infant returns in the body of a childlike and full-grown woman. Through the events that take place in the novel, Morrison explores the historical myth that if an escaped slave reached the North, that slave would then be free. However, due to legal decisions such as the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, slaves could be returned to their previous owners even if they lived in a Northern state. Morrison is familiar with the relationship between fact/fiction and history/myth; "in Beloved she has offered a different conception of the relationship between history and fiction, acknowledging that all history is 'imagined,' and that all knowledge of the past is derived from representations, such as Beloved itself." (Davis) Additionally, Morrison shows that, even if escaped slaves are not physically returned to their previous owners, freedom may be a myth in other ways as well. Absolute freedom for escaped slaves was nothing more than a myth because of legal, psychological, and sociological reasons.

One historical event that is very important in the novel Beloved is the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. This law "meant that slavery was the law of the land, not just of the slave states." (Sauder) This was an attempt to compromise between the interests of the slaveholders and Northern states, as the Southern states were very upset that the Northern states would aid runaway slaves and often directly interfere with attempts to recapture the slaves. The Fugitive Slave Law made it illegal to harbor slaves, assist slaves, or even refuse to arrest runaway slaves. "In fact the Fugitive Slave Law brought the issue home to anti-slavery citizens in the North, since it made them and their institutions responsible for enforcing slavery. Even moderate abolitionists were now faced with the immediate choice of defying what they believed an unjust law or breaking with their own conscience and belief." (NoSeptember) This law is the reason that Sethe and her family were not legally free in Ohio, and the reason that her former owner could come to take the children which is why Beloved was killed. Legally, freedom from slavery would not exist until fifteen years later, when the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution outlawed slavery. (JW1805)

Even if Sethe and her family had been completely free legally, however, "freedom" from slavery would have been nothing more than a myth because they were not able to mentally escape from their past experiences. "In Beloved, Morrison allows the reader to share the legacy of slavery as the characters Sethe, Paul D, and Denver attempt to make a new life in freedom. However, they cannot put the past, lived in slavery, behind them; they must reveal it to themselves, to each other, and to the reader in 'digestible pieces.'" (Nigro) The traumatic events which were experienced by slaves cannot be wiped clean, and the past will continue to have an effect on the future. Today, the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder -- the psychological consequences of experiencing traumatic events -- would perhaps be identified in Morrison's characters. (Feldspar) Nightmares, flashbacks, irritability, emotional detachment, and other distress are common symptoms, and certainly experienced by Sethe and others in Beloved, all of which are a kind of continued mental slavery.

In addition to freedom being a myth because of legal and psychological reasons, there are also sociological factors that affect Morrison's characters and real-life escaped slaves. "Sethe's community both perpetuates the legacy of slavery, demonstrating a collective internalization of the commodification discourse, and plays an important role in the process of the development of her subjectivity against colonial lessons of disempowerment." (Elliott) One can follow the events of Sethe's downfall in Beloved and see the direct impact of the community's involvement or disinvolvement. From failing to warn Sethe of her former owner's arrival to completely ostracizing Sethe from the community because she killed Beloved, social slavery can be seen as a force that prevents true freedom.