Split And Integration In Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Toni Morrison is a prominent African-American female writer who has brought newlife to American literature. In1993, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Beloved isconsidered to be her best work by many critics. She exposes the inhumanities ofinstitutionalized slavery to slaves and its continual impacts on freed slaves and theirdescendants after its abolishment. Experiences in slavery bring about physical andpsychological traumas to former slaves. In an attempt to forget the past, they repress theirmemories and suffer from a loss of their true identities and become fragmented figures.Although their journey to the restoration of selfhood is painful, they overcome theobstacles and become integrated self by rememorizing, retelling and redefining. Slavery notonly inhibits the formation of family, but also split established families apart. Sethe’sincomplete family tree is explored and new light is shed on Sethe’s reconstructed family.Finally the black community can be compared to a two-edged sword. On one hand, it cancause alienation and division by excluding its members from it; on the other hand, it canprovide supportive solidarity to its members，and thus integration between individuals andthe community is achieved. The joint efforts can shake off their terrible memory and helpthem start a renewed life. This thesis displays how individuals, families, and thecommunity split apart in and after slavery and explores a healing process for individuals,families and the community from split to integration as a whole.