Soren Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” In this quote, Kierkegaard speaks of the past and how dwelling in events that already happen will prevent a person of living their life in the present. Toni Morrison conveys this message in one of her major themes, showing that constantly wallowing in past memories will prevent characters to move on with their lives. Beloved portrays various sides of cruelty, showing it from a black slave’s point of view to even the owner’s point of view. Throughout the novel, the cruelty that characters experience, whether it be at Sweet Home or from the black community, show the victims’ struggle to move on from the past and the perpetrator’s awareness, or lack thereof, of their own cruel acts.
Due to the Garner’s mocking disposition towards slavery, the black slaves at Sweet Home are deceived later on as a result of their kind treatment. When Paul D reunites with Sethe at 124, he remembers their times as slaves in Sweet Home and how the male slaves were considered men. Mr. Garner, their slave owner before Schoolteacher, “bragged about [them] while other farmers shook their heads..” and take pride in his slaves. Mr. Garner is a “kind” slave owner, who treats his slaves better than
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Cruelty that is performed unawarely makes characters, such as Paul D and Sethe, liner in the past due to their traumatic experiences. The community and its decision to avoid and ignore Sethe also makes Seth progressively drown herself in a sea of rememory that she can’t swim out of. The painful experiences the slaves face reveal the cruelty within other characters and how they struggle to move on with their lives. Cruelty does not only show the victim’s difficulty to forget the past, but also the perpetrator’s unawareness, or awareness, of their own cruelty to the