Without a doubt this book would be AP worthy. Compared to Song of Solomon, another Toni Morrison book, Beloved is deeper in terms of motifs, and touches on many of the same themes as Song of Solomon. The character development is not quite as profound in Beloved however, yet few books probably have as well developed characters as those of Milkman Dead and Guitar.
But this book isn't as concerned with the individuals as Song of Solomon. Morrison focuses more on the relationships between characters, characters and society, and race relations rather than developing each individual as fully as in Song of Solomon. We see Sethe as a loving, caring mother, but that never changes throughout the book. Denver remains independent from when we first meet her, and her only change is the view of Sethe. Paul D hardly changes as well, remaining someone who avoids staying in a single place and is a pretty good guy otherwise.
This book, although limited in character development, is definitely of AP merit. The creative use of motifs such as color to foreshadow death or her tying everything back to Sweet Home to show how little life has changed for Sethe towards the end show how complex the story is. Although the underlying foreshadowing might be a bit difficult to pick up on at first, as the story progresses, it shows how complex the story is from the beginning. As Sethe says right from the beginning when addressing Denver's remark that '"nothing ever dies,'" Sethe replies '"Nothing ever does'" (44).
Good use of a quote from the novel to comment on a thematic idea. It would be nice to hear a bit more about some of these thematic ideas.
ReplyDeleteThis post has convinced me to read this whenever I get the chance. The story definitely sounds complex but interesting as well, like where you said that she foreshadows death with color. I was wondering, what were the themes that were in both Song of Solomon and Beloved? Were there any different ones?
ReplyDeleteI would have to say the idea of escape is prevalent between Song of Solomon and Beloved. Both use the concept of escaping from difficulties, but in different ways. For Beloved, it is escaping slavery (yet still being stuck in a slave like environment) and also how death is the only escape for the characters, which is a bit different than Song of Solomon.
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