Beloved And Light In August: Discrimination And Alienation

Name: Course: Professor: Date: Beloved and Light In August Discrimination and alienation are two elements presented in many African American pieces of literature which describe the experiences of black America during slavery period. The two elements of racial discrimination and alienation manifested itself quite frequently and vigorously in the literary works of several writers of the twentieth century. These are the forceful elements describe by Toni Morrison in his novel Beloved and William Faulkner's light in August. Both writers present these themes like two different sides of a single coin to depict how racial discrimination resulted in the sense of alienation. Toni Morrison uses the experience of black women at the center of his book; Toni Novel Beloved revolves around Sethe fighting slavery. The story reveals the division between whites and black communities. Similarly, William Faulkner‘s Light in August (1932) uses his main character Joe Christmas, a man with mixed-race as the central issue in the story. Readers are constantly reminded of the fact that he is half black. These two characters how the authors view the role placed by black people from different background and their role in fighting slavery and racial segregation in America. Slavery is presented like the tree engraved on Sethe's back; many African Americans were haunted by their experiences even after attaining freedom. Toni Morrison presents Sethe a former slave woman who decides to kill her baby to protect her from undergoing the horrific experience of slavery which was degrading an inhuman (Babbitt. 19). The schoolteacher is described as a sadist and a cruel master of the plantation and as a result, Sethe had no option by to try and kill her children to escape the horrific life, however, she only manages to kill one child who is known as the Beloved (Babbitt 23). Sethe's character is a symbol of the horrific events of slavery, which haunted her even after attaining freedom. Sethe managed to escape Sweet Home with her children, but on seeing the slave catcher coming after them, she attempts to kill his children because she cannot live to see her children go through the horrific experience. After such horrific episode, Sethe's Cincinnati home is haunted by a ghost they believe to be the ghost of her daughter. Beloved ghost acts as a reminder of the destructive nature of slavery (Babbitt 33). The major concern in the novel Beloved depicts racial discrimination and a sense of alienation. Morrison focused on how...