Utopianism In Toni Morrison's Beloved

This thesis is devoted to the study of utopianism in Toni Morrison's Beloved. It contends that in this novel, Morrison deepens the connotation of utopianism by exploring the characters' physical liberation, emphasizing their spiritual integration and universalizing their experience.Utopianism is essentially a political philosophy with global social harmony as its belief. It is put to full expression in American history, culture and literature since this country is first established as a New Garden of Eden. However, the historical slavery and its legacy made this so-called new Eden a hell for the slaves and their descendents. So Morrison writes the book to prompt the reconciliation between the blacks and their bitter past and to help them live in harmony physically and spiritually.In the novel, with human beings as the center of the concern, utopianism gets its basic explanation in the black people's resistance for a harmonious living environment. Baby Suggs' inspired prayer provides a form of collective sharing which helps the communication between individuals; and her bodily spirit distinguished by love challenges destructions done by slavery to the blacks' bodies and spirits. Sethe's escape from the plantation named Sweet Home and her commitment of infanticide declare the blacks' righteous pursuits for human identities and human existences. Paul D, different from rough black men, sets a model for the harmony between two genders with his maternal nurturing quality.However, "F(f)reeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another. "(95) A real harmonious life cannot be obtained by one with fragmented self.So in the next part, utopianism is mainly exhibited in the characters' efforts to integrate their selfhoods. It is a psychic process during which the characters confront the past, fight with life-denying forces, such as fragmentation, self-loath, fear and loneliness, and complete their self-integration with readiness for the future. Throughthe return of Beloved, Sethe confronts her past painful experiences and comes to the new consciousness about her value of herself with help from the black community. Paul D, while being the "saving other" to Sethe, successes in reclaiming his manhood in a promise for the future. Denver, bearing Baby Suggs' bodily spirit, reaches the reconciliation with the community on behalf of 124 and meanwhile completes her adulthood with her becoming a social being who contributes to the community.Morrison's emphasis on the pursuit of inside harmony deepens the connotation of utopianism. Besides, she illustrates utopianism by universalizing the characters' experiences. It is through the ambivalence of Beloved's identity that the characters specific stories become shared ones, and their pursuits for physical and spiritual harmony become really global.As Morrison said, "...my story, my invention, is much, much happier than what really happened,"(Darling, 251) Beloved offers an imagined end with great possibilities for the black people's successful survivals. It is not a concrete picture of some Utopia, but the belief in a harmonious life brought by collective sharing just proves utopianism in the novel. Morrison's concern about people's inner world and her insight about the universality of the characters' experiences suggest her ultimate concern for all the human beings.