Circling Around History

Indiana State University analyzes Toni Morrison’s story, Beloved through the context of

circularity. Morrison intertwines African American ways of writing resulting in a circular fashion of writing. Circularity is a technique that Toni Morrison has used in her previous works as well. According to Indiana State University, this novel is based on circularity. Circularity is described as never-ending.

The event in which Sethe leads to tell Paul D about killing her infant is like a storm. She goes around and around Paul D as she confesses her twisted love as
a mother. Furthermore, killing that child results in a baby ghost who leaves but then comes back as Beloved. There is event after event that seems to be reoccurring. There is no start and finish in this story. As readers finish the story one thinks that the story is over, but the truth is we are retold the history of the past. By retelling Morrison’s story of her past, her readers go through a cycle of remembering and recognizing the past. There is also circularity deeper in the family. “The generations of women repeat and dove-tail with each other.” The life of Baby Suggs is told as she would t
ake care of her children, and then it was Sethe who would dedicate herself to family. In the end, Denver is the one taking care of the family. The article describes how in time daughters replace their mothers but still live to fulfill the same purposes.

There was a lot to take in from this article. Circularity was certainly something I didn’t realize occurring in the story. Circularity doesn’t only happen in the specific events in the story, but it happens throughout the story. Many times we are tied back to events in a circular manner, resulting in a better understanding of the story. The most appealing part about this article was realizing that circularity was occurring outside of the book itself. The story circles around the world with everyone who reads it. I am happy I was able to be a part of this circulation where I was able to understand the true experiences of slavery.