Osaro Omofomwan, Week 2

In the first three chapters of Beloved some of the reoccuring themes are grief, pain, and loneliness. Grievance comes into play mainly in the first chapter. Sethe griefs over the loss of Grandma Suggs, the murdering of her baby girl, and the loss of her two sons due to the ghost of the baby girl within the house. Pain comes into play when Sethe talks about all the horrors that occured at Sweet Home. The pain she endured at Sweet Home was unimaginable. She was raped and abused by men at Sweet Home, which led to the sculpting of the chokecherry tree on her back. It became a reminder of where she had come from and all the hardships she went through during the time she was there. It was kind of like her own personal symbol. Finally, there was a sense of loneliness throughout the first three chapters of the book. Sethe and her daughter Denver had been lonely for a very long time, even from the time Sethe escaped from Sweet Home, while impregnated with Denver. On her journey to freedom she was all on her own. The only person who really helped her was the little white girl who gave her the location of the house where she and her daughter now resides. In her conversation with Paul D she emphasized that she had made it all by herself, meaning that she had found freedom and made a living for herself on her own, and she had a certain pride for herself in knowing what she had done. Innocence would obviously represent Sethe's past. As a slave she was young and naive, and she couldn't really make any decisions for herself. Now, in the present she is more experienced and on her own. She has been through all the pain and sorrow Sweet Home had to offer and now she is trying to make a living for herself and her daughter.