Colum Mccann's Let The Great World Spin

Our Beloved
In Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann, readers are thrust deep into the lives and decisions of various characters in different societal groupings. The overall message of the book lends itself to the question: “Are we happy with where we are as a society, what we can do if anything, and who really can fix the problems”. Now it seems that as a society we are stuck developmentally and there is a lack of action to change that. Similarly, in Beloved the character of Beloved acts as Sethe’s “boogeyman” that constantly reminds her of the horrors and pains of slavery in her past. Sethe struggles because she just can't let go of her past which stops her from progressing in post-slavery society. In Disgrace a similar theme emerges.

Sethe decides that killing her children was better than having them return into slavery, but her black peers find that type of sentiment to be revolting. But, they do not understand why “A pretty little slave girl had recognized a hat, and spilt to the woodshed to kill her children” (Morrison 186). They did not understand the horrors and pain Sethe experienced at Sweet Home and this lack of knowledge prevents them from quantifying Sethe’s action by due consideration. Similarly, the women and girls that are raped by David are prevented from speaking out because of the overpowering masculine presence. Melanie show clear sign of distress, but her inability to complain to someone is made obvious by David’s thought “Today she looks thin and exhausted, she sits huddled over her book. Poor little bird, he thinks, whom I have held against my breast” (Coetzee 29). As the former slaves did not understand why Sethe wanted to kill her children, David is blinded by his masculinity from recognizing the uncomfortable situation he has put Melanie in. All Melanie can do is “raise her chin, meets his eye defiantly.” (Coetzee 32), but she is unable to do anything until her parents recognize her struggle and absences. The Song of Solomon has another example of societal ignorance. The female lover says “Regard ye me not because I am black” (Song of Solomon Song 1 Line 5) because she knows that her relationship is threatened by the social taboo of interracial relationships. Once again, society was ignorant to the fact that whites and blacks are equal, a position that seems racist to us, but currently we are not much