Healing in Beloved

The theme of "healing" is ever present in the novel, Beloved by Toni Morrison. Many

forms of "healing" take place, with many different characters undergoing the "healing"

process. These forms of "healing" range from healing personal conflicts from within, to

healing as a community, and by overcoming individual prejudices. I feel that the

overcoming of individual prejudices is one of the most important aspects of this novel.

Throughout the story, Sethe (the main character) has many encounters with a variety of

people. These encounters leave a definite impression on her, which is why I think that

Sethe does the most "healing," both from within and by overcoming her own prejudices.

The meeting of Sethe and Amy Denver is the focal point of Sethe's "healing." This takes

place when Sethe (being pregnant) is a slave on the run and goes into labor. She meets

Amy Denver, an indentured servant who is leaving to Boston. At first, Amy doesn't seem

that she wants to help Sethe because of her skin color, while Sethe isn't too trusting of

Amy's white skin. Sethe later states, "You don't know how they'll jump. Say one thing do

another"(Morrison 77). This kind of distrust is present in Sethe when she tells Amy that her

name is "Lu." The combination of Amy's nonchalant attitude, and Sethe's distrust displays

the prejudices of society at the time.

As Sethe and Amy converse, Sethe realizes that Amy is unlike any other white person she

has ever met. After Amy tells Sethe about her situation, and that she was also beaten by

her "employer," Sethe realizes that not all whites were the slave owners, but in fact some

were indentured servants. Amy then begins to massage Sethe's swollen feet, and says,

"More it hurt, more better it is. Can't nothing heal without pain, you know" (Morrison 78). I

think that at that point Sethe begins build trust towards trust Amy. Amy then goes and

finds spiderwebs to heal Sethe's bleeding back, which displays Amy showing a little

compassion and trust towards Sethe. As Amy again massages Sethe's feet, the reader

begins to feel like they are no longer just black and white, but actual people that have

feelings. I think that Morrison wants the reader to get this feeling that people are people

and not property. I feel Amy agrees with this, but at the same time the prejudices in the

society that she has grown up in makes her say things like, "She don't know nothing, just

like you. You don't know a thing" (Morrison 80). Another example of how prejudices are

intertwined with society, is the constant use of Sethe calling Amy "miss" throughout the

passage. This relays a sort of cultural boundary, the fact that Amy can call Sethe by her

first name but Sethe resorts to acting formally towards her.

The actual delivery of Sethe's child is the climax to the "healing" of Sethe's own

prejudices. Amy helps Sethe deliver the baby and with no hesitation, "Push!," screamed

Amy (Morrison 84). Amy no longer thinks of herself as being different from Sethe, which

overcomes some of her own prejudices. At that point, Amy just sees Sethe as a person

who needs help and not a runaway slave that should be left alone. The line, "A pateroller

passing would have sniggered to see two throw-away people, two lawless outlaws--a slave

and a barefoot whitewoman with unpinned hair--wrapping a ten-minute-old baby in the

rags they wore"(Morrison 84-85), better illustrates the bonding that has

taken place. The conclusion to this incident was the naming of Sethe's child, which was

aptly named, Denver. For Sethe to name her own daughter, (after killing her first because

she didn't want her to grow up into slavery) after a whitewoman was a sign of "healing"

that had taken place during that night. Sethe would now have a different opinion about

white people, not to say that it would be that much different, but it definitely had changed

it.

In this novel Beloved, we see the "healing" that takes place within the individual. It is not a

physical type of healing, but more of a psychological healing. This change, or healing may

look insignificant, but to the individual (in this case Sethe) they have a new outlook on

things. They have overcome a certain barrier and now can function in a new way of

thinking. From that point on Sethe doesn't see all white people as devils, nor does she trust

all of them, but by having Amy Denver help deliver her baby and thus bonding, she knows

that there are many different people with different ways of behaving. I think that there are

many other types of "healing" that occur in this novel, but I feel that if Sethe and Amy can

overcome their own personal prejudices from a chance meeting, then this would be the

most significant "healing" in this novel.