Guzman 1 Ricky Guzman Dr.

Jan Johnson English 483 March 6, 2012

Memory and Rememory: An Exploration from Toni Morrisons Beloved It is important to consider the past we inherit as Americans. By becoming more acquainted with our past we should hope, even if in some small way, to have a greater effect on the way that we might shape our future. It becomes important for us to remember and empathize with that past. By broadening our horizons and remembering our past it allows for the hope that we may be relinquished by the light which our future holds. We have all had the unique opportunity lately to have read Toni Morrisons novel, Beloved. The tragedies of African American slaves are a dark shadow from our nations past. This fictional novel tells a story that revolves around the true and tragic events of Margaret Garner and the infanticide which she had committed to save her infant from the overwhelming abuse and horrific events that the slaves had been subjected to. Obviously with such a sensitive subject there are bound to be memories that are haunting. The protagonist of the novel, Sethe, certainly was haunted by the memories of the infanticide that she participated in, as well as everyone that may have been associated with or who had known of the situation. Memories play a large role in everyones life and they are intangible feelings that stay with us, some for the good and some for the bad. Rememory is a made up word that is largely if not solely associated with the African American vernacular. It goes beyond the mere remembrance of things. It is a strategy that makes memory tangible

Guzman 2 somehow. In this essay I hope to be able to speak about the difference of memory verses rememory and how they can traumatize people, just as it did the protagonist of the novel, Sethe. It becomes very important to understand exactly what memories are, what rememory is, and then show how Morrison utilizes these terms throughout her novel in order to give it greater syntax, prose, and meaning. Memories are classically defined as, the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through experience (Merriam-Webster Online). Memories are events and happenings of things that have been recorded throughout history. Memories are precisely what history is, the makeup of our experiences and as they are recorded and passed on. In Morrisons novel it seems that it is pieced together by the stories and memories which illustrate for the audience the unfamiliar and obscure side of slavery. There is a distinguishable difference between history and memory that is noteworthy of discussion. History, provides the exterior view of slavery, and memory is, the personal, interior view (The Toni Morrison Encyclopedia, page 208). This is obvious in Beloved. For example, in the novel Sethe makes many attempts at trying to forget her horrific past and experiences at Sweet Home Plantation, but her memories continue to resurface and put her into a tailspin which does not allow for her to move forward with her life. Memories play a very vital role in this novel. Rememory is more than simply remembering something. The term means, to put together, or creatively reconstruct, the pieces of something (208). This definition helps to illustrate how rememory is more than just merely remembering. The definition, to put together,reconstruct, the pieces of something really help show how rememory can become something tangible. Rememory is like reliving the emotionally painful experiences of the past (351). It would seem to me that rememory gives a reader, and especially if they can relate in

Guzman 3 some way, the ability or sensation of feeling what may have been felt in the harsh moments depicted throughout the novel. That is one of the reasons why Beloved is such an epic tale. It allows you to feel, more than just the mere telling of a story. You are allowed a kind of vicarious experience through the story that is told. You are allowed an exclusive opportunity to feel through the art of rememory. Sethe throughout the latter part of the novel experiences the immense struggle it is to try and forget her past, to disremember or somehow distance herself from that which has happened to her. It cannot be done because of the haunting of her nameless child that she comes to call Beloved. Clearly the memory or rememory that she struggles with throughout this novel has to do with the infanticide that she commits. The story revolves around this single event. Though there are other meanings and appendages, like fingers to the story, it is her rememory of Beloveds infanticide that becomes the hand of the novel. I can only imagine what kind of rememory would have been ingrained within her conscience. I am a parent of two boys and I cannot even begin to imagine how much I would be haunted by the memory of one of my dead sons, especially if their blood was upon my hands. I think that she must question herself constantly, wondering if she had done the right thing. She assumed a God-like role and her actions are questioned continually by herself and others. It seems to be a great paradox: either you kill your child to save them from the treachery that you have had to endure or you save them from this world by taking their life so that they might go straight to heaven. It is interesting indeed, to see it as this lose/lose situation. It is no wonder as to why Sethe is haunted by Beloved and why Beloved longs not to be forgotten. This is clearly seen in this conversation between Sethe and Beloved,

Guzman 4 Beloved accused her of leaving her behind. Of not being nice to her, not smiling at her. She said they were the same, had the same face, how could she have left her? And Sethe cried, saying she never did, or meant tothat she had to get them out, away,That her plan was always that they would all be together on the other side, forever. Beloved wasnt interested. She said when she cried there was no oneSethe pleaded for forgiveness, counting, listing again and again her reasons: that Beloved was more important, meant more to her than her own life. That she would trade places any day. Give up her life, every minute and hour of it, to take back just one of Beloveds tears (Beloved, 284). Part of the paradox would seem to be that Sethe can either try to put her haunted past behind her, flee from the memories that derive from Sweet Home all together, including Beloved, or continue to be tormented by them. I dont want to go too in depth with this but wanted to demonstrate how this single rememory was the most important of the novel because it is what she continually comes back to and what all other memories and rememories seem to come from. She seems to physically survive the affects of slavery but it only seems possible as she suppresses the memories of the pastnamely the infanticide of Beloved. If she cannot move beyond this haunting memory than her enslavement continues as her past defines her. Sethe struggles to mentally break away from the overwhelming memories from Sweet Home that cloud her mind and ability to try and reclaim her sanity. He haunted past obviously still enslaves her and is the cause of much unrest. Clearly this unrest is the result of Sethes unending torment, has led to trauma.

Guzman 5 Trauma seems to be another important element as it pertains to memory and rememory. Rememory seems to be a way to present the unimaginable and unspeakable things we experience in life and invoke the thoughts of trauma as those memories are relived. The events that stem from memory and rememory obviously take their toll upon their victims and the result is the trauma that they are left with. Beloved bears witness, in a sustained and unrelenting way, to the horrors of the slave experience (Encyclopedia, 351). Morrison is able to depict with near exactness the traumatic events that stemmed from the oppression of the characters white owners at Sweet Home. She shows how within this culture and vernacular how the oral history was passed on, a kind of gossip at first perhaps for those that are close to the situation and already know about it, and then a story that later generations are aware of and might experience through the rememories of these characters. Due to the fact that these happenings were passed on orally, as was typical with the culture as previously mentioned, it is interesting to note that Morrison is seen as getting caught up on in the desire to tell and not tell, which typifies our cultures approach to trauma and also recalls the way trauma victims tell their stories (353). In Beloved, for example, the novel draws a clear picture of how this cycle of coming back to Sethes memory of Beloveds infanticide affected her conversation with Paul D as to why she killed their little baby girl. These events unfortunately traumatize Sethe the remainder of her life as well as the others that have to live through that tragedy. It was not a short lived either; the traumatic rememoriesthat is, her uncontrolled remembering and reliving of the emotionally painful experiences she suffered as a slave affected her until she was able to put her past behind her (351). Perhaps one of the most quoted and remembered quotes in this book comes from the end where it is said, This is not a story to pass on repeated three times (Beloved, 324). The reason

Guzman 6 that it is not a tale or story to pass on is because it is what has and would always haunt and torment Sethe if she did not wash her hands of this and move forward in her life, reclaiming herself and her life and sanity her enslavement and torment would haunt her and consume her until her death. It is interesting to note that through the satire or irony that Morrison uses here the story itself seems to kind of fulfill her own petitions to not pass story on, yet she immortalizes this story of slavery and memorialized the lives of the forgotten beloveds unrecorded in history but living and lingering in the African American collective memory and cultural imagination (Encyclopedia, 352). I think that this was her intentions in writing this story anyways. Even though the rememory that we experience when reading this story may not be as intense and traumatizing as it might be for the African American descendents of slaves, we can still feel and experience vicariously as a reader how things might have been. With even a small taste of what had happened to these unfortunate souls of the past, I hope that we can remember and do all that we can to make for better memories in our future, memories that cause the rememories of our future generations to experience joy instead of pain and suffering. Because being haunted by our mistakes and by our own Beloveds, in whatever form they may come, is no way to live out our lives.

Guzman 7 Works Cited Beaulieu, Elizabeth A. The Toni Morrison Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print. "memory." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011.Web. 5 March 2012. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage International, 2004. Print.