The Shadows Of Love

After finishing Beloved, I walked away with three main takeaways. The first takeaway being that motherhood is very difficult. The second takeaway is that men and women will do anything in the shadows of love. And finally the third takeaway is accepting the past and learning to move forward.

First, I learned a lot about motherhood while reading Beloved.  I learned that being a mother can be difficult, because every decision you make will affect you and your children. While reading Beloved  through a feminist lens I have realized that men do not have to bear a child like women have too. The men also do not have to take care of the children, men only have to worry about work. Women had to work, but also had to take care of their children as well as the white little children. Sethe had to feed her own children, and the white babies (236). The difference in gender roles is very prominent. While the slave men definitely have it hard, slave women seem to have it harder. Baby Suggs who was a mother too, seemed to understand Sethe's decision to kill her children, maybe because she understood  how hard it was to raise  children during slavery.  As a mother Sethe has to make tough decisions, and they primarily affected her own children.

Next, I learned that men and women will do anything in the shadows of love, meaning men and women will base their actions off of love, even if their decisions are not seen as right or wrong. For example, when Sethe tries to kill her four children, so that they do not become slaves, she believed it was an act of love. While reading this through a feminist lens, I remember the idea that women love very strongly. This could be considered a stereotype, but men are seen as very tough, and woman are seen as very vulnerable. Though many would say this is a stereotype. In the scene where Sethe tries to kill her children  she does not seem vulnerable, she seems rather tough, which is opposite of stereotypes. While the men, like Paul D and even Stamp Paid seem rather vulnerable and weak. Paul D and his tin heart and Stamp Paid changing his name, both are great example of how the men seem very vulnerable, and very tough.

Last the most important thing I learned from Beloved is how to move on. Both Sethe, Paul D, and the townspeople have a hard time moving on. Sethe never really allows herself to come to terms with what she did to Beloved, which weakens her. While Paul D tried to completely get rid of his past and locks it away, slowly memories get swept up and he does not know how to deal with them. The townspeople also do not know how to move on because they have held a long grudge over the decision Sethe made to kill her children, which ended up making Sethe feel isolated.  The act of holding back, and never moving forward hurts characters greatly, and slowly Sethe and Paul D realize the more they let go and accept, the easier it is for them to move on.

From experience, I know that moving on and forgetting the past can be difficult. I also know that people do things out of love, even when it might not be the right decision. Both men and women do this. This book was very interesting and I have learned a lot while reading Beloved through the feminist lens.

She My Daughter

( Page 236 )

BELOVED, she my daughter. She mine. See. She come back to me of her own free will and I don't have to explain a thing. I didn't have time to explain before because it had to be done quick. Quick. She had to be safe and I put her where she would be. But my love was tough and she back now. I knew she would be. Paul D ran her off so she had no choice but to come back to me in the flesh. I bet you Baby Suggs, on the other side, helped. I won't never let her go. I'll explain to her, even though I don't have to. Why I did it. How if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her. When I explain it she'll understand, because she understands everything already. I'll tend her as no mother ever tended a child, a daughter. Nobody will ever get my milk no more except my own children. I never had to give it to nobody else-- and the one time I did it was took from me--they held me down and took it. Milk that belonged to my baby. Nan had to nurse white babies and me too because Ma'am was in the rice. The little whitebabies got it first and I got what was left. Or none. There was no nursing milk to call my own. I know what it is to be without the milk that belongs to you; to have to fight and holler for it, and to have so little left. i'll tell Beloved about that; she'll understand. She my daughter. The one I managed to have milk for and to get it to her even after they stole it; after they handled me like I was the cow, no, the goat, back behind the stable because it was too nasty to stay in with the horses. But I wasn't too nasty to cook their food or take care of Mrs. Garner. I tended her like I would have tended my own mother if she needed me. If they had let her out the rice field, because I was the one she didn't throw away. I couldn't have done more for that woman than I would my own ma'am if she was to take sick and need me and I'd have stayed with her till she got well or died.

And I would have stayed after that except Nan snatched me back.

The words, “She come back to me” and  “own free will,” are some very powerful words (236). The reason why these words are so powerful, are because when someone leaves, you think that they are not going to come back. If you think about the free will of slaves  during this time, it is very hard to imagine.

In chapter 21, it begins with Sethe’s monologue about Beloved and how Beloved is “my daughter, she mine.. She come back to me of her own free will…” (236). There are a lot of complications when Beloved returns, and Sethe confronts them in her monologue. The idea that she thinks, “how if i hadn't killed her she would have died and that's something I could not bear to happen to her.” (236). How do we know this would actually happen? For all we know she has stayed alive, why does she feel that her own children would not survive? Does she believe she is stronger than what her own children will be when they are older?  Looking at this through a feminist lens I can't help but think why would she think she is stronger than her own children? Why does she feel as if she has the ability to stay alive, but her children will not? And if so, is this why she primarily didn’t kill her boys? Did she think that just hurting them was enough, but did not actually try to kill them like she did with Beloved and was so close to doing to Denver? Does she think the boys had a better chance of surviving, or did she not think at all about how she was going to hurt her own children?

When Sethe says, “Nobody will ever get my milk no more except my own children ...I know what it is like to be without the milk that belongs to you;..”(236), the reference to milk is very powerful. It’s powerful because she is talking about her own mother here. How she was deprived from her own mother’s milk. The white children drank from her mom, as the white children drank Sethe’s milk. Sethe does not like how her own children are not drinking from her. She will not let this again happen to Beloved. Beloved will have the love and care from Sethe. While reading this through a feminist lens I discovered that there is no masculinity in the fact that she gets her milk stolen from her by men. She got tied down while they stole her milk. She is seen as weak. She is not able to provide for her own children. Milk can only be  provided by women, and not men. It is disgusting that men take this away from her. She feels as if this was the worst thing that happened to Sethe, because she knows how it is to not have her owns mother’s milk. That connection is lost and she does not want Beloved to have that relationship broken.

Lastly, from analyzing this passage I realized that Sethe mentions a lot about how Beloved will “understand” (236). This was mentioned a few times. This seems as if she is trying to convince herself that Beloved will understand exactly how Sethe feels. While looking at this through a feminist lens I also could tell that women are seen as forgiving. Females are also able to understand emotionally and physically, so do men, but not as much as women. Comparing this to how Paul D left Sethe and did not allow Sethe to explain to him why she killed her own children. He left and was not understanding nor forgiving, while Beloved managed to forgive Sethe, and so did Denver. While the two boys of Sethe did not forgive her, but ran away from her. This makes me think that women were primarily seen as forgiving and understanding in Beloved.

Nothing Is Ever Easy

After reading the “Slavery And Motherhood” article by Terry Paul Caesar, I recognize that the author touches upon some very important points about motherhood, daughters, and slavery.

One main question that has been brought up by Terry Caesar is, “What is a mother?” Caesar does not go into detail about what a mother is, but he does say, “...There are profound differences between being a woman and being a mother. For one thing, there is the question of masculine desire.” While I agree with part of what he is saying, I would definitely say that being a mother and being a woman are pretty similar. My reason for thinking this are because a girl gets her period, which is known as “becoming a woman.” When you receive your period, this is some indication that you are able to bear a child, which makes you a mother. The way these two are linked, a mother and being a woman, I believe are similar rather than complete opposites. I also agree with Caesar because I do believe that there’s a “masculine desire” Terry mentions when Paul D asks Sethe to bring a baby to this world, and how Sethe’s reaction is frightened. Another example is when, Sethe was too scared to let Paul D into her life but slowly she loosened up.  Ultimately she would share a part of herself, making her feel more and more vulnerable.

Terry Caesar does a good job of informing us what slavery was like for women, and how mothers and daughters have a huge role in the novel. I feel as if reading Beloved through the feminist lens, helped me understand how slavery could affect a mother's decision, like it did for Sethe. Caesar does an amazing job explaining how slavery and womanhood are linked. For example he says, “If motherhood and slavery are equitable, than a mother can feel she is, exactly, a slave to her daughter, just as a daughter can to her mother. Furthermore, a mother can conceivably kill a child in order to protect her own self possession, because she feels enslaved by her..” I feel that this is a very strong statement. That daughters and mothers are slaves to one another. I definitely see this in Beloved because Denver would do anything for Sethe, as for Sethe would do anything for Denver. You do not hear about Sethe doing anything for her two other boys, but rather Denver and Beloved. Which makes me question whether their gender has a role to play? Do women feel more enslaved to their girls, or to men?  I would also never think that because a woman feels enslaved to her daughter that the only way to protect her is to kill her.

I recommend everyone to read Terry Caesar’s Beloved interpretation because it opens you to many new ideas and questions. While reading the novel through a feminist lens you also see how strong the mother daughter relationship, and slavery play a role in Toni Morrison's Beloved.

Ones Hold Can Be So Strong

In “The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison’s Beloved” by Barbara A. Schapiro,” Schapiro touches upon many points with the feminist lens while closely reading Beloved.

One main point Schapiro mentions about Beloved is that she has a very strong hold on Sethe, and not only Sethe but the whole house, and Denver too. Schapiro says the reason it is like this is because, “The power of Beloved’s rage is directly linked to the power of Sethe’s love.” It feels as if Schapiro is saying that love and anger are primarily linked for both women  within Beloved. A lot of power is given to Beloved. Beloved primarily was able to make her way back into Sethe’s and Denver’s lives even though Denver talks about how awful the house was haunted. Also Beloved has so much power that she was even able to convince Paul D to have sex with her. The act of feeding off one’s love, like how “Beloved’s rage is directly linked to Sethe’s love,” is not right. Beloved feeds off Sethe’s love and uses it to her advantage. When Beloved enters Denver’s and Sethe’s lives, it does not seem as if she is helping Sethe or even Denver, but rather causing more conflict. She is taking the attention of Sethe, the attention that Sethe could potentially give to Paul D. Both Paul D and Sethe slowly open up to one another, and Sethe needed that.  Sethe does not need Beloved feeding off her love.  

Another scene that Schapiro highlights is when Sethe references when the white boy stole her milk.  Schapiro interprets this scene on page 17 as,  “[Sethe] feels robbed of her essence, of her most precious substance, which is her maternal milk...she was emotionally starved of a significant nurturing relationship, of which the nursing milk is symbolic. That relationship is associated with one's core being or essence; if she has no nursing milk to call her own, she feels without a self to call her own.” I think this is very interesting that Schapiro would mention how milk was a symbol within Beloved. I never realized this when reading the book. That maybe Sethe felt as if she never was able to drink her own mom’s milk first, but rather the white children were able to drink her milk first. Which made her feel as if she did not have  a nurturing relationship with her mother like she should have. The idea that Sethe was not able to “call the milk her own” seems as if she has no power. Which is true throughout the book Sethe seems rather weak and to have little to no power. The only time she seems as if she has power, is when she is hurting her own children by taking matters into her own hands. But when it comes to people treating her wrong  she allows it, but she will not let her children be treated unfairly. She does not think being raped by the white farm boys is as bad as taking away the bond of breastfeeding which she did not receive from her mother. Nor did her kids receive the milk from her. I would have never realized this if Schapiro never mentioned it.

Schapiro mentioned very strong points through the feminist lens. She made me question relationships and the bonds of love throughout the novel.

Responding and Reflecting: New Historical Lens

After finishing the book Beloved and reading the historical context that occurred in the book I now have a different kind of perspective on how colored people and white people were treated and how separated they were to now (present). I also learned more historical context that I haven't learned or at least wasn't taught enough in History classes. I was disgusted and shocked how African slaves were treated in the book. The stories that were told in Beloved showed how bad the slaves were treated and the embarrassment they were put through. All the pain and suffrage that the African Americans went through during the mid-1800s and the way they are treated is completely different, and what shocks me is all the history of African Americans and how segregated they were from the white people.

I've learned some facts on how slaves were treated and how African Americans were treated during that time, but I didn't know actually understand or really see what they went through. After reading Paul D’s, Sethe's, Stamp Paids and other characters stories it saddens me to know the trauma they went through and how all that trauma affected them in their lives after they were freed. The past is always haunting especially if you have something that reminds of that traumatic past. For example, Beloved is Sethe’s painful memory because Beloved reminds Sethe of her past when she was a slave. Beloved is what brings Sethe back to her past, she wants Sethe to know who she is and what she did to her. Having Beloved at 124 is what makes Sethe weaker and weaker, and once Beloved sees that she is draining Sethe and once she is finished she leaves.

Once I started reading Beloved and the more I got into the more I was confused. I understood the stories that were told and why it was painful for them to remember, but I couldn't understand why Beloved was there and what her purpose was in the book. After reading the end I finally I understood Beloved’s purpose in the book. Beloved helped each character in some way, even though she made them weaker and separated them she made learn and reflect from their pasts. By doing so Beloved stayed because the longer she stayed the more Sethe, Paul D and the other characters would start thinking about Beloved, realizing who she really was, why she came back and what led to Sethe killing her and the events that made Sethe make all her choices. Bringing back their pasts made them weaker which made them stronger in the end because talking about their past and understanding their pasts helps them move on and let go of all the pain and anger they had stuck inside.

Toni Morrison brings life lessons to readers of Beloved by letting readers know more about African Americans and and how they were treated as slaves and in general. It makes us think how racism and discrimination are now a days and how they were during that time period. Makes us think how lucky we are that we treat each other with more dignity and equal. Beloved also teaches us to let go and move on from the past because from all the mistakes that we made or make in life we end up learning from them in the end.  

Consequences

    While Beloved was a very tragic book, I believe that it has a lot of great lessons that everyday people can take out of it. Although it may not be towards the escaping of slavery, it very well may be coping with trauma, how to protect a child, how to deal with being an independent person, or just the ideals of right and wrong.
    One of the main dilemmas that has helped me understand Beloved, and probably will help me later in life is the ideas that everyone handles situations differently. I've already somewhat experienced this with death and how people cope to handle the pain. While it is the same with death, it is also very similar with trauma. Sethe would do anything to protect her children and by doing so she believes that she must kill them to ultimately protect them from slavery and the white men who have hurt her before. To people who live in the modern world, this may seem like a crazy idea or the wrong thing to do, but having no options she was desperate to do anything to protect her child so this is the way she decided to handle it instead of let them be taken by slave owner's.
    As well as dealing with pain, it's also interesting to see how Morrison takes revenge, betrayal, and hate to the next level by allowing this demon to come back and haunt Sethe. This may also be another way that Sethe decides to deal with her difficult situation of stress and trauma. She believes that if she takes Beloved back in as her child her will make everything better, but Beloved merely comes back to haunt her mother for the murder that she committed on her own child. Beloved also acts as someone who Sethe would probably be afraid of in another life. In one of the Expert Blogs, I read about Beloved being a rapist for men who tortures them with attraction and ultimately takes all pride they have left to make herself stronger. While this may sound a little weird, it is exactly what the white men did to Sethe which caused her all this harm. In this book, Karma is real.
    In conclusion, I believe that reading this book was a very powerful thing that was essential for all seniors in high school. It may seem disturbing and difficult to read, but it helped me and I'm sure many other students in the grade to understand the excruciating details about racism, slavery, and trauma that centuries ago were very real. Sethe never wanted anything but to protect her children; in the end it was all for love.

Sethe's Morals

Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A Psychological Reading by Sandra Mayfield, is a detailed work of art. Mayfield compares African American writers’ works to Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” She says that not many other writers before Toni Morrison had “attempted to recreate the internal life of the mind and the spirit of a slave woman.” Writings describing the “theories of motherhood” were used to analyze Sethe. Her love for her children is analyzed with other characters who feel a certain way about her motherly love in the book as well.

Lacanian’s analysis of Beloved is agreeable upon. He says the great motherly love that Sethe has for her children is not just for her own blood, but she comes with open arms. She welcomed a stranger into her home, Beloved, who she treated as her own daughter. Her maternal love is so great that she was oblivious to Beloved’s evil intentions. Patricia Hill Collins builds off of this idea as well. Collin says, “Motherhood—whether blood mother, other mother, or community other mother—can be invoked by African American women as a symbol of power.” This is saying that African American women have morals to take care of anyone in their community, whether they are blood related or not.

Although it seems as if Sethe’s heart may have been too big, I disagree with Lacanian’s and Collins’ analysis of Toni Morrison’s motherhood. I believe that Sethe felt a relationship between her and Beloved, although it was strange she felt something distinctive about Beloved. Collins says that there is a power that results from African American women’s motherhood. I believe that power is the “aje.” From The Mother-Daughter Aje Relationship in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, “aje” is said to be a spiritual force which brings a mother and daughter together. I believe that this is what influenced Sethe to welcome Beloved into her home. Even though she didn’t know directly that Beloved was her own, she felt the power of a mother, that is why she let her into her life.

Thoughts on "Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison's 'Beloved'"

   Recently, I read an article written by Terry Paul Caesar that includes the ideas from Beloved, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and another author who speaks of the different novels written to uncover the truth of slavery.

    Caesar talks mainly how Motherhood is reflected throughout Beloved and how Sethe, Denver, and Beloved take the thought of being a Mother to new levels. For example, when Paul D asks Sethe to have a baby with him, she states, "Needing to be good enough, alert enough, strong enough, that caring-- again. Having to stay alive just that much longer. O Lord, she thought, deliver me unless carefree, motherlove is a killer." (Morrison, 132) When I look back and reread this section, I think about Sethe meaning that "motherlove is (literally) a killer." That being a mother wasn't worth it; putting her children through all the horror that she went through is nothing that a mother should be doing. She only wanted to protect her children from the White man, and this is the only way that she thought she could. I don't not think that it was right for her to do so, but I understand her perspective and the helpless feeling she had when she thought of protecting her family. While this may be true, it was very interesting to read what Caesar had to say about the same section. He claims, "the novel becomes an explanation of what it means for Sethe to 'own' herself as a function of disowning her daughter." (Caesar, 113) While I was thinking more in the perspective of the motherhood in Sethe, Caesar looked through the woman whom had just escaped slavery. While being a free woman, Sethe had no idea of how to live her life and how to start it when she was constantly worried about her babies being in danger of what she just recently escaped. To find herself, she needed to step outside of her normal life and find what it meant to be free. It brings an illusion of Sethe being a child in a very grown up world, and that she didn't think about the consequences of her actions before acting because she was always treated as property or a child, rather than being the mother who takes care of her children. 

   While Caesar's article begins to touch of mothers vs. children, he goes deeper into the interactions that Sethe and Beloved have to distinguish the difference between the two. He states, "Sethe and Beloved eventually enact such a fervent repossession of each other that it becomes impossible to distinguish between them." (Caesar, 118) Looking back, it's interesting to think of Beloved as the mother while she always acted, talked, and dressed like a child living under the obsession of Sethe. Throughout the novel, we begin to see more of Sethe as a child rather than the mother, and Beloved turns into this mother figure by feeding off of everyone else's trauma to become someone who is a mother-like figure.
    In conclusion, the figures within the book and the roles that the players take on transform into something completely different to allow the reader to look at it from many different perspectives. 

Hide n' Seek

This girl Beloved, homeless and without people, beat all, though he couldn’t say exactly why, considering the colored-people he had run into during the last twenty years. During, before and after the War he had seen Negroes so stunned, or hungry, or tired or bereft it was a wonder they recalled or said anything. Who, like him, had hidden in caves and fought owls for food; who, like him, stole from pigs; who, like him, slept in the trees in the day and walked by night; who, like him, buried themselves in slope and jumped in wells to avoid regulators , raiders, patrollers…

In this passage Paul D explains the conditions Beloved is in and how he doesn't like or approve of her appearance. At one point in the book “Beloved was shining and Paul D didn't like it” I think Paul D didn't like that Beloved was shining because he knows whats its like to suffer and live in fear, and by Beloved’s appearance it seems like she didn't go through anything terrible.  During the time when Paul D was a slave he was treated terribly. Paul D had trouble knowing what it means or is to become a man because the person who owned him made him do things that would make a man doubt himself as a man.

This passage reveals slavery during the mid-1800s by Paul D’s description of what African slaves had to go through and what they had to go through when they tried running away, and their lifestyles after wards. During this time period slavery and colored-people were treated differently than white people. The only thing African Americans knew what to do at the time was “Move. Walk. Run. Hide. Steal and move on”. Africans were traumatized by the way they were treated during their slavery that when they were free the best way they knew how to survive was keep running and make sure they didn't get caught so they had to steal and hide out in places they wouldn't be found in.  

Thoughts on "Figurations of Rape and the Supernatural"

  "Figurations of Rape and the Supernatural" by Pamela E. Barnett was a very interesting essay written about the gender inequality and ghostly appearances that made an appearance throughout the novel, Beloved. She speaks mainly of the symbolism that each character made to the overall story and how it affected others within the novel. Although it seems like an unusual two topics to compare and contrast, the paper was written very well and has many ideas that lead to thoughts and discussions that would provoke other reader's while or after finishing Beloved.

   Barnett brought up many ideas that had never occurred to me before reading her article that included supernatural theories, as well as feminist theories. For example, she states "Beloved is not just the ghost of Sethe's dead child; she is a succubus, a female demon and nightmare figure that sexually assaults male sleepers and drains them of semen." (page 5) Before reading this article, I did think of her as a demon or someone who "drains" someone, but I thought the person who she drains is Sethe. She asks her to speak her mind and tell her painful stories which seem to build Beloved up and add more power to an already demonic child. It seems that when Beloved is strong, Sethe is weak and vice versa. While what I think may be similar, Barnett's idea is far more interesting and related to the ideas of feminism. When one thinks of a rapist, it is not really thought of as a woman or a girl. While Beloved is the biggest offender of rape by not only bringing up memories of the past, but also coaxing emotions and attraction out of Paul D. She not only feeds off of the past, but also gains power by manipulating others to give up the hardest part of themselves to her and creating even more trauma. 

   Also, Barnett wrote about when Paul D was imprisoned in the camp in Georgia and sexually assaulted by the guards daily. She states, "... by forcing the prisoners to express homosexual desire, the guards symbolically 'castrate' them." (page 7) She then gives some context about how African-American men are generally "sexually dominant" over white men, and this was the way that the white man was able to seize control. It's interesting to read this and just think about how much gender inequality and racism that is hidden within this book. Black people were already treated as less than human or property and the whites STILL needed to find a way to feel dominant? Pathetic.

   Although this book may be very disturbing to read, I am so glad to have read it. Without reading Beloved and the articles about it, I would not have fully understood what slaves went through just to have a normal life and all of the trauma that came after the transition. There was so much more I could have reflected on from the article, but these were the two main parts that stuck out to me. 

Runaway child

"this nineteen-year-old slavegirl-- a year older than herself-- walking through the dark woods to get to her children who are far away. She is tired, scared maybe, and maybe even lost. Most of all she is by herself and inside her is another baby she has to think about too. Behind her dogs, perhaps guns probably; and certainly mossy teeth. She is not so afraid at night because she is the color of it, but in the day every sound is a shot or a tracker's quiet step."

In this passage it talks about the fear the ninteen-year old girl was going through and how scary it was for African Americans to runaway at the time. When African Americans ran away they would run towards the north because it was the easiest way to run to. They ran away from their plantations because they wanted to escape because they were tired and scared of the way they were being treated. At the time the slaves were beaten, raped, whipped, taken away from their children, and starved. When Sethe found she was pregnant she was afraid for herself and her babies, which explains her reason of wanted to kill her babies because by doing so she would’ve saved from an awful life. Sethe was afraid that once she had her baby she would be separated from them and they will end up becoming slaves.
In the time period Sethe was a slave she was raped by boys and had a school teacher watch. The boys the raped Sethe were the school teachers nephews. Sethe’s experience scared her life. Paul D. also let Sethe know that Halle watched everything happen from the loft of the barn. This shows that Halle didn't intervene because he knew he would punished for it, and the time punishment for slaves were very cruel. Some slaves that made it out were physically and mentally damaged from their experiences.

Slavery in the mid-1800’s were so crucial and violating to the slaves at the time that the slaves that made it out are still traumatized now. I think Toni Morrison shows that in Beloved because she tells different stories from different characters perspectives, and how their stories influence them in their lives now and how it affects the people around them and their children. Apart of this also portrays Toni Morrison's perspective on slavery and racism, and slavery and racism influenced her life while she was growing up.

Toni Morrison makes Sethe sound like a strong and brave woman, and by doing so it shows Toni Morrison's pride in black heritage. Sethe runs away when she is nineteen years old with a with woman helping her and taking care of the baby she has on the way. Showing how Sethe managed to run away even though she is afraid of being caught, it shows how she kept going and the faith that she had at that time.

Separations between Africans and Whitefolks.

Two pennies and an insult were well spent if it meant seeing the spectacle of whitefolks making a spectacle of themselves. So, although the carnival was a lot less than mediocre (which is why it agreed to a Colored Thursday), it gave the four hundred black people in its audience thrill upon thrill upon thrill.

In this part of the book it describes the carnival Paul D. invited Sethe and Denver to and how they felt about the atmosphere of the carnival. Sethe describes seeing the “spectacle whitefolks” as money well spent since it was the chance for African Americans to see whitefolks entertain them for once. During this time period which was around the mid-1800’s African Americans were strongly separated from the white people. The reason why African Americans were shocked about white people making a fool of themselves was because during that time period African Americans were the one that were suppose to make a fool of themselves.  The carnival was meant and only a loud African Americans to go because of the way it was set up and the low quality, which is a reason why white people wouldn't attend the carnival the first place. This passage shows how low the African Americans were treated and how much they were discriminated from the white people.

Although during the mid-1800s the fourteenth amendment was not passed yet it shows the difference between when it was passed a few years later to then. The fourteenth amendment was passed on July 9th, 1868. Even though the fourteenth amendment granted African Americans “equal protection under the law” it still did not change the separation between Africans and White people. Africans did get “equal protection”, but they had a different kind of equality than the white people did, which allowed Africans and White people to have their own bathrooms, restaurants, etc. In other words the fourteenth amendment still allowed racism because the Africans were offered a different kind of equality (equivalent) than the white people. In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, which was “abolishment of slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime”. In 1869 the Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson upheld “the constitutionality of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine”. An African American train passenger named Homer Plessy was arrested for refusing to sit in a Jim Crow car, which was a law in Louisiana that he broke. Plessy argued his constitutional rights violated the Fourteenth and Thirteenth Amendment. The court rejected his argument and implied that “merely a legal distinction between whites and blacks did not conflict with the 13th and14th Amendments.” It wasn’t until Brown v. Board in 1954 that the doctrine of separate but equal was overruled by a court of law.