Examples Of Rememory In Beloved

The past is something that has a chance to either remind someone of good times, or haunt them for life. For Sethe, the main character of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrisson, the past was just that; a constant reminder of the brutality that she had to endure during her time at Sweet Home. Through the course of the novel Sethe recalls her traumatic experiences in Sweet Home, the plantation she stayed at, and is consistently taken back from her past, blocking her from continuing with a brighter future. Sethe has issues with moving on and forgetting about her past and brings up the word rememory as a description of the recollections of her plantation that she will never forget. In Beloved, the main character Sethe tells the story of her life, and

Rememory, while technically not a real word in the English language, is a word that Sethe uses to describe how her past continues to stay with her. While at first glance Sethe’s use of the word rememory may seem like a word that a slave who never learned to read or write uses as a part of her incorrect vocabulary, Morrison shows throughout the novel how much significance this non word holds. When you break down the components of rememory, re is the repetition of something and memory is the way the mind stores information, so the word rememory is simply that. A memory that just keeps coming back. Sethe is aware of her rememory, and it seemed like something she would never be able to get rid of. Sethe showed her trauma filled brain and perfectly explained her meaning of rememory when talking to Denver by saying, “some things go. Pass on. Some things stay. I used to think it was my rememory. You

Beloved is a major reason why Sethe is unable to live for the future, and why she stays with her past. While Sethe would do anything for her babies, including killing them, to in a way save them from slavery, Sethe still felt guilt for what she had done to Beloved. She felt the need to stay with Beloved, who got pleasure from keeping Sethe in her past. Sethe gravitated towards Beloved, and shut everyone and everything out for her. Sethe saw Beloved as her own, saying “Beloved, she my daughter, she mine” (236). With this mentality Sethe stuck by Beloved even when it wasn’t for her benefit, and she took losses because of it. Beloved would constantly talk with Sethe about her past, however it would always bring back pain to Sethe. Beloved had malicious intentions as Morrison wrote, “It amazed Sethe (as much as it pleased Beloved) because every mention of her past life hurt. Everything in it was painful or lost” (69). While Beloved was Sethe’s daughter, she was a villain in the novel. Sethe grew a strong attachment to her and Beloved would only continue to bring back Sethe’s rememory. Beloved was a tangible form of Sethe’s past. Sethe killed Beloved in order to keep her from what she most feared going back to. With Beloved's appearance came memories of the plantation, keeping Sethe in the part of her life she so desperately