FREEDOM AND SECLUSION IN THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY PORTRAYED IN BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON

Abstract

In Beloved, people are imprisoned within memories of the past which prevent them from realizing other ways of life. For Morrison (1998), the legacy of slavery is not limited to the socioeconomic onus, based on forced labor and its dehumanizing treatments. A major liability, according to the author, resides in the psychological seclusion, when old wounds are reopened. In fact, the violation of the feminine body, loss of dignity and the brutish treatment have taken their toll and left deep scars that can last trough generations. For Morrison (2019), the reproductive capacity of Black women was a critical form of social and economic capital, for they were forced to procreate to increase the number of enslaved laborers. In this regard, it is necessary to inquire whether African American women have inherited the legacy of slavery or not, since they are directly harmed by policies, practices, and beliefs that still oppress them. It is impossible to ignore the hedious legacy of institutional racism that, according to Burnham (1987), is a distorted national personality and a twisted color consciousness which permeates every part of our lives.