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Sethe's Strength

The book Beloved has some of the most impressive characters in all of literature. Sethe being one of the most powerful and mentally strong characters in the book, is at the top of the list. She has endured so much trauma, but pushes on with strong determination. Despite making the decision that most could not, her morality and character are judged by many other characters in the book. While it might not be possible to truly justify the decision that Sethe made, it clearly shows how driven she is by her love for her children.  Sethe is willing to do anything for her children, and pushes through several traumatic events. She had escaped slavery after being violated then whipped, and while still injured, so she could get her milk to her babies. Sethe is even forced through the worst situation of her life where she has to try to kill her children. However, many other characters are frightened by the determination that Sethe has. Of course none of us could truly imagine what it would be lik
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Pursuing Pear Trees and Bees

Throughout the story their eyes were watching god,  Janie Crawford pursues a unique idea of love through romantic relationships, which mostly turn for the worse. Janie first creates her own idea of love while watching a bee polinate a blossoming pear tree. The perfect mutual relationship she witnesses inspires her to pursue similar relationships with others. However, her journey has a rough start, Nanny, her grandmother, forces Janie to marry Logan Killicks, a man who has almost no attractive attributes, except for his financial stability. Logan Killicks is abusive to Janie, and mainly uses her for labor on the farm. He has no sense of humor and is mostly cold hearted. It is impossible for Janie to feel any attraction to him. He does not even seem to clean himself well. In every way this relationship does not meet Janie's expectations for love. It is a one sided relationship, where Janie seems to be on the giving end of, causing her to feel used. One day Janie meets a man named Joe
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Underground Looking Up

The narrator has written the entirety of the book Invisible Man  underground, which attributes to his unique perspective on things. He is able to reflect on his life in a much clearer and unbiased way, free from the influence of external pressures. Being completely removed from society allows the narrator to be free in his thoughts. This is in direct contrast to any other view he has throughout his life. He has been above the ground his entire whole life. The narrator has even had a view of the world from the top when he was extremely successful working for the Brotherhood. However, his vision has always been clouded by external pressures and motivations. Underground he is free from pressures to be successful, and the responsibilities of the world. His whole life he has been chasing his identity. In his younger years, the narrator had been pursuing the creation of identity but after his accident at the paint factory, it is clear that he instead searched for his own identity. However, t
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Rebirth of the Narrator

The narrator of Invisible Man  has gone through some crazy character changes, many that have to do with the incident at Liberty Paints. The narrator has gone through a rebirth of sorts, he was given some sort of electronic lobotomy, which had no connection to the physical injuries that he sustained during the accident. The medical treatment he is given at the factory hospital seems so surreal, it is clear that Ellison wants us as readers to think deeper about the events that lead to the narrator's change in character, and what the changes mean for the progress of the narrator towards freedom and invisibility.  The treatment that the narrator is given at Liberty Paints is incredibly cruel and nightmarish. The doctors operate on him with experimental techniques with the goal of making him more docile. This is incredibly strange as the narrator is somewhat docile to begin with, with mainly goals of success and material wealth on his mind. The treatment seems to have almost the exact o
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A Naïve Narrator

Before the narrator's fateful change of personality in chapter 11, the narrator had shown few signs of development. He has been entranced by the reward of becoming successful in a white man's world to the point that he ignores how he is treated. He accepts insult after insult, torture after torture, only for the approval of those in power, who are mostly white. He refuses to believe the words of his grandfather, that he must be "a spy in the enemy's country". However, this slowly changes throughout the chapters we have read so far. Through a harsh series of events, he is finally able to realize the lesson that he had known from the very beginning, but had never believed: his grandfather was right all along. We have only seen a couple characters recognize this odd behavior and warn against it. Those being Dr. Bledsoe, the Vet, and Young Emerson. Dr. Bledsoe and the Vet being the only ones that have invisibility. The Vet is the first one to introduce the fact that n
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Bigger Thomas's Problem With Mary and Jan

One of the biggest mysteries of the novel Native Son  is the cause of Bigger's emotions around Mary and Jan. Of all the characters in the story Mary and Jan are the ones that try to be the least racist. However, their good intentions somehow lead to Mary's death. Even Bigger himself is perplexed by this, he knows that it was because of the way that Mary acted that made him kill her, but he cannot explain why. Mary and Jan try the hardest of all the characters to not be racist, maybe even trying to hard. Jan insists on making sure that Bigger is not speaking in a way that would give Jan or Mary too much respect. When Bigger calls Jan "sir", Jan corrects him multiple times which is an odd and awkward moment. It seems clear that Bigger is not really comfortable with calling Jan much of anything except "sir". It's ironic that despite Jan trying to treat Bigger as an equal, he still orders him around. It is clear Jan is still treating Bigger differently than
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