Parallels between Schoolteacher and Bodwin
Bodwin's visit at the end of Beloved solidified a truth Sethe was trying to prove for the majority of the novel: that she didn't end her child's life out of a place of evil, that she took whatever means possible to save her baby from a horrible institution she fought to escape. Bodwin's visit exhibits many parallels to Schoolteacher's visit to 124 earlier in the novel. The fact that Sethe did the scary thing once again by making grave sacrifices for her loved ones, despite the public outrage, goes to prove her statement that "thin love" truly isn't love at all (Morrison 191).
Earlier in the novel, Sethe is ostracized by many Cincinnati residents for the murder of her child. 124 is supposedly haunted -- and it is very much so, although Bodwin's visit helps to resolve the spirit of Beloved in the house -- and Sethe is thought to be insane. No one attempts to understand the reason behind her actions, and no one even cares to try, maybe besides Stamp Paid. Where 124 used to be a center of community, it is now a desert consisting of Sethe, Denver, the literal ghost of Beloved, and the figurative ghost of Baby Suggs.
Because of Paul D and Beloved's simultaneous reappearance, Sethe is forced to grapple with the reality of her past, 18 years after she left Sweet Home and saw Schoolteacher's shadow darken the doorstep of 124. Given their background at Sweet Home and the years they spent suffering many hardships together, Sethe assumed that Paul D would be open to understanding why she did what she did, and why she would've wanted to avoid the enslavement of her children at all costs. However, he is not at all understanding of her actions.
He claims there was another way, that what she did wasn't effective, and that there was no way she could've done such a thing out of the goodness of her heart. Paul D is starting to fall in love with Sethe, and he doesn't know how to feel about the extent she would go to in order to ensure that he's safe. "Suddenly [Paul D] saw what Stamp Paid had wanted him to see: more important than what Sethe had done was what she claimed. It scared him" (Morrison 191). Paul D isn't sure if she did it out of love, and the idea that she could love anyone to this level is frightening to him.
As a result, Paul D and Sethe stop speaking, and Sethe realizes that the strange woman with the mind of a child is her Beloved, her child. Beloved starts to take advantage of Sethe, with Sethe resembling a child and Beloved starting to look like a pregnant woman; Sethe grows weaker and weaker, and Beloved feeds off her; and as a result, Denver is forced to venture beyond the 124's front yard into the Cincinnati workforce to care for her ailing mother. She finds a job with Mr. Bodwin, the white landlord of Bluestone Rd. At this point, it could be argued that Sethe is by no means in the right frame of mind to make any rational decisions -- however, when she sees Bodwin riding down Bluestone Rd in his horse to retrieve Denver, her "best thing," for work, she is immediately brought back to Schoolteacher coming for her children 18 years ago (Morrison 302).
Sethe's immediate thought upon seeing Bodwin is "No no. Nonono" (Morrison 302). Her visceral reaction upon seeing Schoolteacher that day 18 years ago was "No. No. Nono. Nonono" (Morrison 191). She describes not thinking and acting in the spur of the moment; when she saw Bodwin, the ice pick in her hand "[was] not in her hand; it [was] her hand" (Morrison 191; 302). The parallels between Schoolteacher and Bodwin's visits prove that Sethe saw someone coming for her "best thing" and was compelled to act. She was shunned the first time; she was rejected by society; but regardless, she still acted to save her children, even if there was no threat.
This time, however, the people of Cincinnati rallied around her. They stopped her from attacking Bodwin, and her position within the community was effectively rehabilitated by the end of the book. One could make a distinction between Beloved and the trajectory of a traditional horror story. The appearance of the spirit, the Baby Ghost, supposedly began after the visit of the "man without skin," Schoolteacher, and it ended after Sethe defended her children against Bodwin. Beloved arrived at 124 looking for resolution, and she fled as soon as she realized that Sethe had not committed any of her actions out of a place of evil. Beloved is, at times, sequential, and at times fragmented, alternating between past- and present-day narratives.
Regardless, the book ends with hope. Denver has a job and she's applying to college; Sethe is re-entering society and starting a new life with Paul D; and the issue of Baby Ghost/Beloved has been essentially resolved. Sethe confronted the physical manifestations of her past by attacking Bodwin, and it proved that what she did, she did out of love, as with the Schoolteacher incident years ago.
The "flickering" between schoolteacher and Bodwin at the end of this novel is indeed a troubling detail for readers to contemplate, as we try to grasp the underlying historical narrative that the novel is telling: we would want to view the slave-breaker and the abolitionist as polar opposites in every way (an example of a "bad whiteperson" and a "good whiteperson"). And Morrison DOES offer a perhaps surprising range of hopeful moment in the final pages of the novel, as we CAN see these badly damaged people pulling together and surviving and even thriving in these unimaginably hostile conditions.
ReplyDeleteBut in a few little ways, as the book draws to a close, Morrison suggests that Emancipation and the crossing of the Ohio River haven't completely eliminated racism and the effects of enslavement: think of the racist figurine in the Bodwins' house (a very common form of bric-a-brac "Americana" at this time, but still), or Paul D's worry about "white schoolteachers who want to make a project out of you" (to paraphrase), when Denver shares her hopes about attending Oberlin. In the dramatic final scene at 124, Morrison implies that Sethe can't immediately tell the difference between schoolteacher riding up to take her children back into slavery, and Bodwin riding up to take her daughter to her place of employment. We'd probably prefer to believe that the differences between the abolitionist and the enslaver would be easier to discern.
I think comparing Bodwin and Schoolteacher is very interesting. I think Sethe's trauma from Schoolteacher has been projected on to Bodwin causing Sethe to attack him but luckily the community around her stopped her. I also think this shows how much slavery affected Sethe.
ReplyDeleteNice post!
Incredible analysis Simrah! I would have never thought about the parallels between Sethe's reactions to both Bodwin and Schoolteacher. It truly emphasized the strength of Sethe's love -- something that drives her to act even at the cost of being misunderstood. But the community's shift from ostracizing her to rallying around her stopped an unnecessary act--- and allowed for Sethe's healing and belonging. I find it also interesting how one signals the start of the story and hardship while the other "ends" it or at least allows for a "better life" and captures the cyclical but transformative nature of Sethe's story.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis using Bodwin as an analog of Schoolteacher! I think by including the similarities but at the same time glaring differences, the book is able to remind readers that the scars of slavery did not end with emancipaiton, and alludes to the problems black americans would face for years to come. Great post!
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