Slavery, Ghosts, and Beloved: Crash Course Literature 214
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With that sentiment in mind, I'd love to see you do an episode on -The Man Who Laughs- by Victor Hugo. It does the same thing in its story, the tale of a boy who, after being scarred with a Glasgow smile as a punishment to his rebellious nobleman father, is abandoned with no knowledge of his heritage and grows up to be a clown. Gwynplaine, the clown, grows up performing in the carnivals of the English countryside, traveling with his adopted family, his sweetheart, a blind girl named Dea, and their surrogate father figure, a gruff philosopher called Ursus. But our trio's harsh-yet-happy life is shattered when Queen Anne's court discovers Gwynplaine's true origins and whisks him away to reinstate him to his father's titles for their own selfish purposes, since the aristocrats expect Gwynplaine to be exactly what he appears to be: A clown, a simple peasant, and therefore an easily-manageable puppet. It's a fantastic novel, my favorite of Hugo's works (yes, even more so than -Les Miserables- and -The Hunchback of Notre Dame-.
Date: 2022-04-04
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Comments and reviews: 9
Forrest
I agree, but there really shouldn't even be a discussion about whether or not Beloved is the ghost of Sethe's daughter: she clearly is, that's inarguable. I mean, there are whole chapters from Beloved's perspective that paint a clear picture that she is Sethe's daughter, a fact that first Denver and then Sethe realize gradually over the course of the novel. To say that she is not a ghost is to drastically misread the novel. The truth is that the book Beloved fits squarely into the realm of literature known as Magical Realism, where the mystical and fantastical are placed with the mundane. One is compelled, when reading Beloved, to believe in the mystical and fantastical as a part of the mundane while also contemplating the metaphorical nature of these fantastical elements. Beloved is a ghost, but also far more than merely a ghost--in that we can wholeheartedly agree. But to say that she is not a ghost is, in my mind, to undermine a significant part of the book's meaning.
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I agree, but there really shouldn't even be a discussion about whether or not Beloved is the ghost of Sethe's daughter: she clearly is, that's inarguable. I mean, there are whole chapters from Beloved's perspective that paint a clear picture that she is Sethe's daughter, a fact that first Denver and then Sethe realize gradually over the course of the novel. To say that she is not a ghost is to drastically misread the novel. The truth is that the book Beloved fits squarely into the realm of literature known as Magical Realism, where the mystical and fantastical are placed with the mundane. One is compelled, when reading Beloved, to believe in the mystical and fantastical as a part of the mundane while also contemplating the metaphorical nature of these fantastical elements. Beloved is a ghost, but also far more than merely a ghost--in that we can wholeheartedly agree. But to say that she is not a ghost is, in my mind, to undermine a significant part of the book's meaning.
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Teresa
Dang, this is a rough book to read. I know I need to read books like these, but at the same time I struggle to do so. I feel weighed down by the evil people choose to do to each other. I also need to understand the history of my country and what still needs to be changed. I'm glad that there is Crash Course to help me understand books that I might not fully understand otherwise. I think a good way to be able to survive reading books like these is to also read about all the good that people choose to do for each other, so I'm not carrying around only the bad.
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Dang, this is a rough book to read. I know I need to read books like these, but at the same time I struggle to do so. I feel weighed down by the evil people choose to do to each other. I also need to understand the history of my country and what still needs to be changed. I'm glad that there is Crash Course to help me understand books that I might not fully understand otherwise. I think a good way to be able to survive reading books like these is to also read about all the good that people choose to do for each other, so I'm not carrying around only the bad.
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cute
I'm from India and when we were taught this masterful book in college we were taught through parrallels between a colonial history spanning 200 years, and a system as heinous as the caste system still existing in India and the system of slavery. Opened my eyes a little bit to the shared pain of human suffering that spans communities and cultures of the oppressed throughout history
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I'm from India and when we were taught this masterful book in college we were taught through parrallels between a colonial history spanning 200 years, and a system as heinous as the caste system still existing in India and the system of slavery. Opened my eyes a little bit to the shared pain of human suffering that spans communities and cultures of the oppressed throughout history
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Lauren
I-m not usually a commenter and I-m YEARS late, but I just read Beloved and, since I read it on my own without the guidance of an English professor, struggled a bit at the end to fully grasp everything that had happened. This crash course helped me a lot in appreciating one of the greatest books I-ve ever read! Thanks John!
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I-m not usually a commenter and I-m YEARS late, but I just read Beloved and, since I read it on my own without the guidance of an English professor, struggled a bit at the end to fully grasp everything that had happened. This crash course helped me a lot in appreciating one of the greatest books I-ve ever read! Thanks John!
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Susan
Mr green, i cant watch any more of this segment. My father and his family escaped the death camps.
I get the same kind of feeling watching docs on slavery and the slavery of what those horrendous people did in ww2. I can usually watch to a point and thats it. May those slave owners and the nazis burn in hell---
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Mr green, i cant watch any more of this segment. My father and his family escaped the death camps.
I get the same kind of feeling watching docs on slavery and the slavery of what those horrendous people did in ww2. I can usually watch to a point and thats it. May those slave owners and the nazis burn in hell---
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MsSexyDiva4Lyfe
Wow, great crash course. I have not read this book in years. I will have to read it again. I like how you explained that Sethe was never raised to be a daughter. she was merchandise. That's deep.
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Wow, great crash course. I have not read this book in years. I will have to read it again. I like how you explained that Sethe was never raised to be a daughter. she was merchandise. That's deep.
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Andrea
You should do Light in August by Faulkner. I think Morrison and Faulkner piece together the hell the south was back then and the trauma of this country moving on from the sin and crime of slavery.
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You should do Light in August by Faulkner. I think Morrison and Faulkner piece together the hell the south was back then and the trauma of this country moving on from the sin and crime of slavery.
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Miri
This book is amazing but also ruined beloved as a term of endearment for me because people will say -they are my beloved- and I'll think -yes, your significant other is an evil ghost baby. Yup. -
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This book is amazing but also ruined beloved as a term of endearment for me because people will say -they are my beloved- and I'll think -yes, your significant other is an evil ghost baby. Yup. -
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archives
Actually, the -she is a friend of my mind- quote was not from Paul D himself, but Paul D rememebering something that Sixo had said to describe his feelings for the Thirty Mile Woman.
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Actually, the -she is a friend of my mind- quote was not from Paul D himself, but Paul D rememebering something that Sixo had said to describe his feelings for the Thirty Mile Woman.
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