Blog #1 - Structure

Toni Morrison used a unique structural style when composing the novel, Beloved. This book was different because unlike most stories that are told from beginning to end, this one incorporated many different levels of the past as well as the present day. The novel takes place in Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1870s but frequently flashes back to the Sweet Home plantation in the 1850s where the characters worked as slaves and managed to escape from. The past is told through flashbacks, in stories, or just speaking from one character to another. Beloved is structured in fragments, feeding the reader bits and pieces of essential information to place together. The stories of the past were significant to understanding what was going on in the present and to realize what motivated the characters’ actions, words, and thoughts. It is almost as though two stories are being told in one book and at the end it all comes together. The tied in snippets of the past to the present are a reminder that the past is alive in the present. Morrison’s style made it critical for the readers to put the segments together to fully grasp the story she was trying to tell. The transition from present to past is purposely smooth so that it is difficult to apprehend at times. The reminiscing to the past immediately begins on the first day when Paul D shows up on Sethe’s doorstep (pg 7). The reader is introduced to their earlier lives at the Sweet Home plantation and get a little taste of their history yet so much is left unsaid. It’s not until almost the end of the book when the full story is clinched. In order to get to that point though, the story is made up of a continually changing point of view. All the characters tell parts of the story whether it be past or present to allow the reader grasp all aspects of the novel. The switching narrators was the most visible towards the end of the book where every couple pages the reader was introduced to a different point of view. At this point, the speaker would come right out and say who they were. It started with “Beloved, she my daughter”, “Beloved is my sister”, and finally “I am Beloved” (pg. 237-239). Morrison turned away from strict narrative and used a particular structure and style to get the story across.