| Toni Morrison is a famous contemporary American writer. In 1993, she won the Nobel Prize, for her description"in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import", which"gives life to an essential aspect of American reality."Among all the wonderful novels she has written, Beloved is the most famous one. The novel takes an infanticide story as its main plot and deeply exposes the terrible traumas left by the slavery in the mind of the black people. In this horrifying story, Morrison sets up a brave black woman slave with strong will—Sethe. In order to prevent her new-born infant from being a slave again, she kills the little daughter. But the story does not end here. In the following years, Sethe has been tortured by her cruel behavior severely: her dead daughter appearing as a ghost, keeps haunting her day and night. Then, a weird girl appears, who is regarded as Sethe's dead daughter's coming back from reviving by other characters coincidently. The weird girl keeps robbing Sethe's sentiment more and more as if the dead daughter is taking revenge. United black people get together to drive away the weird girl and forgive Sethe at last, Paul D comes back to Sethe again, Sethe has got comfort, tolerance, forgiveness and love that she should get.In this novel, the remarkable use of all kinds of writing techniques and its theme make it a modern classic since 1990's. Influenced by magic realism, the author reveals the theme step by step. In the novel, Beloved has multiple identities: it is a dead baby who is killed by Sethe; it is a ghost haunting the house where Sethe lives; and it is a 20-year-old weird girl who is believed as the dead baby reviving after death. The changing of multiple identities is a combination of the magic and the reality. In order to achieve magic and mysterious situation, the author also uses gothic style of writing. In Beloved, supernatural and impossible events can be found a lot, to which different people has different reaction, which reflects their inner world. Although readers know that supernatural events are the author's writing skill, the reaction of the characters reveal their true inner world. In Beloved, readers will find that there are a lot of symbolic images, including the image of the digital, plant metal and the name of the evil plantation that slaves are living. 124 is the number of the house where Sethe's family live after they get freedom. The number of the house 124 symbolizes Sethe's present three children and the killed child (her third child). The figure 3 is harmonious symbol, that is, only when 3 people in the house, the house can reach a balance. Figure 3 is also closely connected with Sethe's imppresion about her killed child. Figure 3 happening on Beloved also makes Sethe believe she is her lost daughter, which shows Sethe's miss on her child and her self-accusation. The"tree"on Sethe's back is a scar that the slavery left her. Another symbolic meaning of the"tree"is a shield, from which slaves can get the sense of security. Under the slavery, slaves are helpless, and"tree"becomes the harbor in the heart. Heavy metal symbolizes heavy oppression on the black people, while metal is uneasy ot be broken, which shows slaves'resistance. With a sweet name of the plantation, Sweet Home is a hell to all the slaves. The author deliberately gives a sweet name to the plantation in order to show slaves'miserable sufferings under the slave system, which gives slaves traumas for long time, physically and spiritually.By so much detailed disccusion, the theme of the novel is developed. Infanticide shows distortion of maternal love due to the slavery system. In addition, unyieldingness shows black people's resistance. Regarding for themselves is an important step for the awakening of self-consciousness. While in front of the bitter slavery, they are weak to accept their fate. But they have never abandoned resisting. With knowledge, education and energy, the younger generation has become the hope and future of the black people.
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