Banned Book of the Day: Beloved
Posted on all about E:
Honestly, I’ve read this book multiple times and I still don’t get it. I had to read it in 11th grade (those whose parents wouldn’t let them read Beloved got to read All the Pretty Horses instead - what kind of trade-off is that?) and then again my freshman year of college. My freshman English class was tiny - made up of transfer students and freshmen who got 4s or higher on the AP test. And if any of the people in that class fully understood Morrison’s award-winning novel, no one ever said.
One of the girls and I spent a really long time in preparation for our final going over the italicized stream-of-consciousness sections. We were so into it, we thought we were almost at the point of attaining sense from it. But then we remembered the professor said that none of those sections of the novel would be on the final.
Beloved is an amazing work about a woman and her daughter who have escaped slavery. While a slave, the mother, Sethe, killed her first daughter rather than have her suffer slavery. This daughter, or rather a form of this daughter, comes back to haunt Sethe and begins to consume her life. The book is a unique look at motherhood and revenge.
I’m guessing that despite the fact that this novel won the Pulitzer, libraries have banned/challenged it because of the rape, violence, language and more. Even though I may never fully grasp this work, it is extremely relevant to American culture and history.
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