Brittany Ulman

Dr. Rutter
ENG 491.1
April 29, 2016
Time nor History will Ever Forget the Words Unspoken: Examining the Tobacco Tins in Beloved
and My Dungeon Shook
Many African American artists signify on the works and ideas of their predecessors. In
the cases of Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, both authors utilize their societal positions to
encourage other African Americans to embrace their heritage as a vital element of their racial
identity. In her novel, Beloved, Morrison calls for her audience to never let history forget the
atrocities of slavery and its effects on generations of African Americans. To do so, Morrison
creates the idea of rememory and has her main character, Sethe, represent how rememories of
slavery impact a person. Baldwin on the other hand, discusses the current ramifications of
slavery, and the actions the black community must take to break away from slavery. Through his
conversation with his nephew, Baldwin states that it is up to African Americans to alter societys
view on the black community and eradicate the hate between the two races. Furthermore,
Baldwin believes African Americans are responsible for remembering slavery since whites are
not yet fully aware of their racist actions. Even though the two authors differ on their timeframe
and the specificity of their goals, Morrison and Baldwin use the idea of memories to encourage
readers via the idea of communal healing to never let slavery slip through the cracks of history.
Morrison urges her readers to never forget those 60 million plus by calling on her
characters in Beloved to represent the various levels of pain slaves experienced during and after
slavery. Often times in the novel, Sethe recalls events and places from her past which have

affected her in various waysrecollections which are frequently referred to as rememories.

Now, this term may be the illiterate substitution for remember, but it may also refer to a way of
thinking that is a call-and-response to how someone can decipher memories. How one
remembers life events through a personal perspective and reflection can be connected with the
addition of others interpretation of the memory. Because this rememory repeatedly involves
horrific past experiences, this call-and-response recall system may very well be Morrison
drawing attention to events in history that are often overlooked. Through the manifestation of
Beloved and her supernatural existence, Morrison shows her audience the different experiences
each of her characters have with slaverys effects. Throughout the novel, Beloved displays the
specific ways in which slavery affects the characters, while also acting as a representation of the
60 million plus lost to slavery. This is especially true when considering the number of allusions
Beloved makes to the Northwest Passage during her physical existence in the novel. By
consistently drawing attention to such occurrences, Morrison attempts to preserve events and
people that are repeatedly forgotten. Via Beloved and its characters memories, Morrison pays
particular attention to the immediate consequences slavery has on its victimsespecially the
psychological side effects on former slaves.
In Beloved, Sethes opening rememory occurs when Paul D first arrives and the two old
friends catch up on their lives (Morrison 19). In these recollections, Sethe rememories the pain
she suffered at Sweet Home while schoolteachers nephew and his friends raped her, stole her
breastmilk, and whipped her like an animal all while she was pregnant. Through this memory of
Sethes, Morrison introduces Sethe and Paul D, their relationship, and the hardships slaves
endured. No matter how hard Sethe tries, she cannot evade rememories of Sweet Homeher
mind will not allow forgetfulness to happen. Sethes rememories never permit her to forget the

truth because hers does not do what others can in the fact that other peoples brains stopped,
turned around and went on to something new (Morrison 83). Morrison includes this tidbit about
how Sethe cannot manage to forget the past to show her audience how much slavery affected its
victims, not just physically, but psychologically as well. Even though those responsible for
slavery have started to forget individuals such as Sethe, Morrison attempts to rekindle the flame
history has begun to smother by having Sethe remember many of the things she experienced as a
slave. According to Morrison, if those directly affected by slavery cannot escape its grasp, then
the individuals who caused so much pain should not be allowed the courtesy of bypassing equal,
if not worse, psychological turmoil. Furthermore, according to Morrison, if there are still those
being held captive by slavery (no matter the color of their skin), then not everyone has reached
the psychological state needed to begin the process of communal healing.
Yet, Sethe is not the only character in Beloved that cannot escape memories of Sweet
Home. As Paul D sits in the Church of the Holy Redeemer, his tobacco tin, blown open, spilled
contents that floated freely and made him their play and prey (Morrison 258). Just like Sethe,
Paul D cannot evade his memories despite his sincerest attempts in trying to do so. No matter
how tucked away these rememories were, Paul D cannot escape the fear he experienced as he
waited to see Sixo come out from the field so they could flee the plantation (Morrison 265). The
rememory of Sixo singing his song while staring down the barrel of a gun is forever in Paul Ds
mind and in the woods where it all occurred (Morrison 266). This metaphor of a tobacco tin
Morrison places inside Paul D is two-fold; on the one hand, it represents how Paul Ds memories
of slavery never leave him, while on the other hand, it showcases how history has allowed
slavery to be tucked into a rusted box that only certain individuals choose to unlock. However,
Morrison calls for her audience to follow Paul Ds path and let the contents of the tobacco box

spill out into everyday lives and become a part of society. Many slaves may have had their own
tobacco boxes, some in the forms of patches of color, others in the shapes of blackberries fed to a
baby girl (Morrison 200-01). Via these various tobacco tins, Morrison exhibits slaverys
resilience to remain in our history as long as we allow for the tins to never close again. If these
tins were to remain closed, it would be nearly impossible for the nation to achieve the type of
communal healing Morrison promotes in her novel.
Although former slaves experienced the most horrific effects of slavery, they were not the
only ones who possessed tobacco tins within their hearts. Morrison writes the novel in the
perspective of a third person omniscient narrator for the majority of the piece to represent many
viewpoints. Because a community consisting of both whites and blacks is vital to keeping
slavery in everyones minds, Morrison displays as many of the effects of slavery as possible. For
instance, Morrison included the sheriffs interpretation of Sethes actions following the
schoolteachers attempt to bring her back to Sweet Home as the results of a little so-called
freedom imposed on people who needed every care and guidance in the world to keep them from
the cannibal life they preferred (177). Through these two literary elements, Morrison shows her
audience the truth behind Martin Luther King, Jr.s idea that slavery directly or indirectly affects
all (King 594). Just as the characters in Beloved begin to deal with their traumatic pasts and
move on with their lives, Morrison also evokes not only shared sorrow, but the possibility of
tribal and ancestral healing (Koolish 173). This ancestral healing must occur within everyone so
there can be a bright future without hate. Even though some white people did eventually realize
their discrimination against African Americans, these feelings of remorse shall never be viewed
as innocent misunderstandings. Whether there were individuals who truly experienced guilt from
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