Each individual on the planet is shaped into the person he/she is because of their own life’s experiences. Their environment, community, and friends and peers help mold who they are and who they will be in the future. In the book “Beloved”, many of the main characters come from a similar background; however, their lives lead them in different directions based solely on their own experiences in their lives. Lucy Lippard’s “Naming” concept can be shown through the characters in the book “Beloved”. Sethe, Denver, and Beloved reveal to the reader who they see themselves as, who the communities they live in see them as, and how race may play an issue with their development.
The main protagonist of the story is Sethe. From what Morrison tells us about Sethe’s past, we understand she was a slave woman on at least one farm. This is the beginning of where Sethe, to the reader, begins her transformation into what she will become in the end. Along the way there are several people that she becomes as she goes through her journey in life.
When Sethe arrives at Sweet Home, all the male slaves look at her as a woman they want to be with. This is partly because there are not many females on the farm; the other reason is because they are very much attracted to her. However, they all decide to stay away from her and let her choose which one she may want to be with. As a woman, in general, this has to be very hard on the mind. Sethe is a slave, which is cruel punishment enough, but now she is almost completely alone in this place where she lives at first. All she sees are the males staring at her and there has to be some fear building up inside of her because she doesn’t know who these men are or what they are thinking of doing. Luckily for her, she gets to know all them individually and becomes friendly with them. She falls for Halle, whom she will ultimately she will marry and bear his children. This is how the reader understands Sethe during her past life at...