Significance of the Research1.docx

1、Significance of the Research11.1 Significance of the ResearchThis thesis analyzes Toni Morrisons novel Beloved, in which the black woman Sethe kills her daughter by sawing her head with a handsaw, and for this reason years later the little ghost comes back to revenge Sethe. In recent years, scholars

2、 have concentrated on analyzing Beloveds literary features, themes and its contents. Every generation has its own understanding about the novel and its value. This thesis focuses on illustrating Sethes resentments against slavery. To a large extent, black womens psychology, human nature and maternal

3、 love are distorted because of the long-term persecution of slavery, such as Sethe, who even kills her daughter. This thesis is digging out the different form and expression of maternal love in the novel Beloved by comparing it with normal maternal love. Under the oppression of cruel slavery and oth

4、er factors aroused by it, black women have no choice but to do something seeming cruel. 1.2 Organization of the PaperThis thesis mainly analyzes the protagonists abnormal maternal love and its reasons. After an overall introduction, I will briefly present studies of this novel by scholars coming fro

5、m home and abroad. The main part focuses on the motherhood of the black woman Sethe, especially stating the reasons of Sethes abnormal maternal love, including the cruelty of slavery, lacking of maternal love in her childhood and Schoolteachers oppression. At last, a conclusion will be given to term

6、inate the thesis.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewToni Morrison (1931- ) is one of the most famous contemporary black writers. Morrison pays great attention to black people and has written a series of novels concerning black peoples miserable fate. Toni Morrisons novels are famous forvivid dialogue, speci

7、althemes and typical characters. In her novels, Morrison profoundly explores the inner world of black people, including love, race, religious belief, alienation, friendship, and betrayal, sex, and even supernatural, especially African American womens privileged and sensitive observation. In her nove

8、ls, she shows people, language, and society concepts of value, places, politics, and cultural traditions that have influenced African American people as well as herself.In 1993, Morrison won Nobel Prize for Literature. As the first African American who reached the honor, she has gained reputation al

9、l over the world and has been famous as one of the major figures in American national literature.Beloved is published in 1987 and is viewed as Morrisons best novel. The heroine of this novel is Sethe, who fled from the Sweet Home-the plantation in Kentucky. While a posse arrives in Ohio and tries to

10、 capture her back, she kills her daughter and tries to kill the other three children. Filled with suspense and bitter poetry, Beloved is an extraordinary achievement. Glaring at the abyss of slavery, this excellent novel portrays history in the form of a story, which is as meaningful as Exodus and a

11、s smooth as a lullaby.After publishing, this novel has gained a critical success. It won themany prizes. Moreover, ithas been adapted into film in 1998. Nowadays, the literary world still has a high praise for this novel, for example, Chicago Sun-Time once regarded Beloved as Toni Morrisons best wor

12、k and that this novel excellently displays her prodigious. Los Angeles Times considered “it is even deemed to be such a masterwork that I cant imagine American literature can without it”. However, there still are some controversial about the novel. On the one hand, critics consider it is melodramati

13、c even self-indulgent to some extent. On the other hand, admirers of the novel say these criticisms fail to appreciate Morrisons imaginative risks are necessitated in her magnitude topic. Based on so much argumentation, scholars from home and abroad are increasingly more. Consequently, I would like

14、to illustrate a few of them as follows.To begin with, domestic scholars also attach much attention to this novel. Qi Jixiang, an instructor in Hebei Foreign Language Professional School, published an article on the interpretation of Beloveds identity. Xie Juans Memory, Storytelling and Survival in B

15、eloved focuses on discussing the battered survivors of slavery and their offspring who grow up in the shadow. Another Chinese scholar, Jiang Jiuhong studies the contradiction between maternal love and self-construction as well as the Lacanian psychoanalysis of Beloved. Based on Lacans theory of thre

16、e-dimensional world, she analyzed the psychological activities of Sethe when she killed her child and how did Sethe overcome her psychogenic disorder. Wang Xiaogang and Huang Zhen interpreted the multiple identities of Beloved and claimed that the diversity and openness of Beloveds identity was natu

17、rally showed under the influence of postmodernism. When it comes to overseas scholars, studies on the novel are more diversified. Take Tadd Ruetenik, an instructor in philosophy at Pennsylvania State University, for instance, wrote a thesis named Animal Liberation or Human Redemption: Racism and Spe

18、cialism in Toni Morrisons Beloved. He abstracted:Toni Morrisons Beloved is a morally sophisticated slave narrative that (among many other things) deals with the topic of racism in American historical consciousness. It also implicitly addresses the issue of specialism. Morrisons novel is a poignant e

19、xample of human meliorism, and yet is also a useful illustration of how the issue of human well-being cannot be cleanly separated from consideration of animal exploitation. To be sure, Beloved does little to promote the interests of exploited animals, focusing instead on exploited humans. Morrisons

20、masterpiece seems to justify animal exploitation as a condition for the liberation of human slaves (22). Besides, Lars Ecksteins A love supreme: jazz-thetic strategies in Toni Morrisons Beloved pays attention to the importance of music, not only concerning Beloved, but also with regard to the predic

21、ament of black Diaspora. Eckstein said: “With regard to Beloved in particular, her musical scope has received little critical attention. While Morrisons subsequent novel Jazz has been acknowledged and praised for its use of musical technique, Beloved has rarely been read under similar premises (Ecks

22、tein 2006).” Chapter 3 Analysis of Maternal Love3.1 Maternal Love in Common SenseLove is not to be constrained in the aridness and simplicity of biology, but is to be left floating delicate and innocent of any material reality. The relationship between a mother and her child is different from other

23、human beings relationships because a mothers love for her child is irreplaceable. This is referred to be the wonder of maternal love. Although it cannot be defined or explained, it is universally regarded as one of the strongest and greatest forms of love that existing all over the world. It is prov

24、en to be the strongest form of love because of the fact that it is the first kind of love that everyone experience after he is born. The levels of maternal love may be different from one to another. Maternal love is the primary and visible love in the world. It is holy and is the earliest love creat

25、ed by progression. Mother-children relationship is devout and it is a special part in motherly love. It flows naturally between mother and children and there is not any intention in maternal love. Mothers feelings are honest and generous. Maternal love teaches babies to be strong and prepares them t

26、he necessary abilities to survive in the malicious and complicated world. Maternal love always inspires children to be excellent in doing their task. In a word, mothers love is invaluable.In a family, the relationship between mother and children is most important because the relationship between mot

27、her and children has crucial and significant influences in the whole life of children. Only with enough maternal love, can children be able to grow up strongly. It is proven that if children can not be provided with enough love in the initial stages, they will end up being weaker when attempting to

28、make it in the harsh world. The mother-children bond develops as soon as the mother becomes impregnated.According to scientific study, the rudiment of childrens personality has been formed when they are five years old. How the mother fosters and treats children will deeply affect the form of childre

29、ns personality. To each infant, mother is the person who is not only the primary emotional attachment but also the teacher of cultural attitudes and concepts of value. (Sharp 2003:25). Motherhood is a permanent theme in the literary world at any times and any places. As we all know, almost every mot

30、her tends to impart all of her love to her children. Mother is full of love and devotion and every mother can have the patience of saints. Mother wish is her children can grow healthily and happily. A great number of mothers have fostered a maternal awareness, that is, they would like to devote them

31、selves to their children with all respect.Nevertheless, in Beloved, the representation of protagonists maternal love to her children is different and monstrous.3.2 Sethes Extreme Love to Her ChildrenThe baby Beloved, not more than two years old, was killed with the head sawed off by her own mother u

32、sing a handsaw. In this novel, Sethes maternal love is so “thick” that she kills her daughter and destroys herself. The incarnation of her daughter seems to testify strength of maternal love and the necessity of passing on mothers stories of love and resistance. As the only female slave in Sweet Home, Sethe has been torn not only from the Schoolteachers record of her animal-like traits, such as his pupils milking and his wiping, but also torn from her own infanticide of Beloved. She kills her infant daughter so as to prevent her from being defined as racially inferior and animalistic whe