Beloved: AO3 (historical & social)

Margaret Garner

• the story for Sethe came from the story of a real woman (Margaret Garner)

• the factual source of her story comes from Reminiscences of Levi Coffin (a man who helped people to freedom on the Underground Railroad)

• Margaret Garner “appeared to be 21 or 23y.o”

• “the undying love of freedom that is planted in every breast, the resolve to die rather than submit to a life of degradation and bondage'.”

• she was returned to slavery, however en route she and the child fell into the river; she survived but was overjoyed to hear that her child had drowned and clearly wanted to perish with her

  • Morrison wanted to ‘translate historical data into a personal tragedy’

setting

• set 1872-3

• has flashbacks to 1850s

• Civil War - split North (pay for labour) and South (free labour - slaves)

lynching

• a method of social and emotional control meant to terrorise African Americans into submission

• widely practised in the South of the US

• ‘started’ in 1877-1950 but would have began much longer ago when slaves were still viewed as property (so it wasn’t documented)

• vigilante justice: lynch mobs - hundreds of people, children, were brought. a social event, entertainment of sorts.

the Underground Railroad

• a network of secret routes and safe houses used be enslaved people in the US to escape to freedom in the North/Canada

• a form of civil disobedience and resistance to slavery, operating primarily from the late 18th century until the Civil War

  • conductors: individuals, often free Black people, who guided freedom seekers along the routes e.g. Stamp Paid

the Middle Passage

• the forced journey of millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas (a key part of the transatlantic slave trade)

• a brutal and inhumane experience with high mortality rates

  • Enslaved Africans were packed tightly onto ships with little room or ventilation, enduring harsh conditions

  • 15-16% of enslaved people died during the voyage (disease, malnutrition, harsh conditions)

  • could take 2-3 months

identity and race

• identities were based on race - seen in language such as mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, chattel

motherhood

• themes of motherhood - kindness, selflessness, unconditional love, goodness

• slavery denies the slave the agency of the mother; subverting the working definition of motherhood constructed

The Moynihan Report

• a report by government official/sociologist Daniel Moynihan that suggested the breakdown of the Black Family unit was causing poverty & structural inequality on race; criticising families that had a dominant matriarchal figure

• 36% of black children were living in broken homes

• 26% of black husbands were absent/divorced

• blamed black cultural patterns rather than systematic racism and historical oppression for inequality

  • ‘Beloved’ critiques this in how the matriarch is empowered and dignified; her suffering is caused by slavery not cultural disfunction

  • also removes(?) the blame from black men who were crushed and dehumanised of their masculinity through slavery

  • survival itself is heroic

the Ohio River

• served as a natural border between slave states and free states

• for those escaping slavery, crossing the river offered a chance to escape the brutal realities of bondage and seek a life of freedom

  • in Sethe’s journey across the river she gives birth to Denver → new beginnings, chance to be free + raise her children

• a major route for the Underground Railroad

• Beloved comes out of the river, from “the other side”; the Ohio River also coming to symbolise the border between this world and the next (for free ex-slaves, crossing back into slave territory would be a kind of death)

  • Stamp Paid’s occupation as a ferryman on the river furthers this association; resembling Charon from Greek mythology (who ferried souls across the river Styx into the underworld)

Fugitive Slave Act 1850

• passed in 1850

• enabled slaveowners to recover escaped slaves more easily with federal help (how Margaret Garner was taken back into slavery)

• meant that escaped enslaved people could be captured and returned to their enslavers even if they had passed into ‘free states’ like Ohio

• further marginalised enslaved people as legal judges who ruled in favour of enslavers were paid 2x as much and prevented enslaved people from speaking in their own defence

Social Darwinism

• misapplied Darwin’s theory of ‘Survival of the Fittest’ to illustrate wealthy white people as superior due to the power they already held and poor/working class people as inferior; that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better

• the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals

• this theory was used to justify colonialism/slavery and encouraged people to view poor/African American people as less than human

Black Church

• refers to the collection of Christian denominations/congregations in the US that predominantly sever as are led by African American

• emerged from the experiences of enslaved African Americans and has been a centre for resistance, community building and the preservation of African culture

• also serves as a community hub, offering social services, educational programs and cultural activities

  • historically served as a space for healing, hope and community

  • interwhile ‘Beloved’ explores the haunting legacies of slavery and the struggle for healing and reconciliation

Intersectionality

• introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw, highlights how various social categories like race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect to create unique experiences of discrimination and oppression

• highlights the interconnectedness of different forms of discrimination and how they compound to create distinct experiences

• e.g. a Black woman experiences racism and sexism simultaneously

  • ‘Beloved’ presents the unique challenges faced by Black mothers and how the intersection between race and gender creates a complex and often oppressive reality for Black women particularly in the context of slavery and its lasting effects