Sarah's African American Literature Blog

Toni Morrison’s Beloved is told from various character perspectives, but one prominent character does not share his view with the audience. Although Halle is arguably a main character of the novel, the reader only knows about him from the “rememories” of Paul D. and Sethe. This may be, because he is dead, or likely to be dead as the reader, Sethe, and Baby Suggs presume. The deceased do not share their thoughts with the reader, although their actions might be interpreted, for example, Beloved certainly shares some of her emotions with the reader, through her actions while haunting 124. However, Beloved is a special case, as she has been reincarnated in some unimaginable way. “Rememory” is an incredibly important term and expression of this novel, as they not only provide vivid insights on the past but can also change in the present. Not only does Paul D. change the environment Sethe lives in, in the present, but he also changes her entire perspective on the past. In a sense, Paul...

The four-page court scene in Their Eyes Were Watching God is in stark contrast to Bigger’s trial in Wright’s Native Son. While this particular scene seems almost insignificant to Hurston’s overall plot, it is arguably the most essential chapter of Wright’s work. In Wright’s critique of Hurston’s work, he argues that she does not address any social issues, and read at face value, there might be some truth to the statement. Janie lives in an all African American community and race does not play an important role at the start of the novel. Race is arguably not the main discussion point in the courtroom scene either, although there are quite a few instances where Hurston points out the discriminatory aspects of the court system, as “all of the colored people were standing up in the back of the courtroom,” unable to participate as “Mr. Prescott glared at the back of the house”. The trial by a jury of “peers” are all white men and Janie didn’t understand why “twelve strange men who didn...