Gender blurring in Beloved by Toni Morrison

Katrin Rindchen

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2002
• eBook ISBN: 9783640054350
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1, 3 (A), University of Regensburg, course: Proseminar Major 20th century African American Novels, language: English, abstract: Imagine a world where the lines of identity blur, where the very essence of what it means to be male or female is challenged by the brutal realities of slavery. This exploration delves into Toni Morrison's Beloved, a powerful neo-slave narrative, to uncover how the concept of gender blurring shapes the lives and struggles of its characters. Through meticulous analysis, the study examines how Morrison employs this literary device to expose the dehumanizing effects of slavery on both men and women, challenging conventional notions of masculinity and femininity. Sethe, a former slave, embodies the complexities of gender, displaying traditionally masculine traits of courage and strength, often surpassing the men around her in resilience. Motherhood itself becomes a site of gender blurring, as Sethe's desperate act of infanticide, driven by a desire to protect her child from the horrors of slavery, defies simple categorization as either maternal or monstrous. The narrative also investigates the systematic dismantling of black manhood under slavery, revealing how male slaves were stripped of their agency and self-possession, leaving them feeling emasculated and helpless. Paul D's poignant struggle with his identity, symbolized by his encounter with the rooster Mister, highlights the profound psychological toll of slavery on black men. Furthermore, the analysis considers whether Beloved can be considered a feminist novel, examining the roles of Denver and the women in the community, whose strength and solidarity offer a counterpoint to the weakened state of the male characters. Ultimately, this in-depth study reveals how Morrison uses gender blurring to amplify the novel's critique of slavery, exposing its inherent inhumanity and challenging readers to confront the enduring legacies of trauma and oppression in African American literature and history. The exploration seeks to understand Morrison's aim and the function of Gender-Blurring in the novel. The concept of Gender-Blurring characterises Beloved as a feminist novel. This conclusion can be drawn by analysing the character of Denver, the daughter of the protagonist. The girl, who in the beginning does not dare to leave the house alone and is desperate in the situation in 124 develops into a self-confident young woman by the end of the story. While her mother is captured by Beloved's possessive behaviour and is gradually becoming weaker, Denver is determined to help her mother, finds a job and starts to work as a support for Sethe. She takes over the leadership of the house, the duty Sethe was in charge of before. Significantly the responsibility is transferred from one woman to another but not to a man, for instance Paul D, who could have stayed and helped, as well. Her self- conscious character is rendered apparent in her conversation with Paul D in the end of the novel. When he proposes her his opinion about 124, Beloved and Sethe, she replies "I have my own." Paul D realises that Denver has "grown" and ceases to consider her as a young, helpless girl as she had been introduced in the beginning of the novel. Furthermore a man running towards her calls her "Miss Denver" also suggesting the end of her childhood and the beginning of her youth.