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April 10, 2007
Beloved
I would like to comment on the seeming sexual desire that Denver has for Beloved, hoping to gain a different perspective on it. I would like to consider the following passage:
"Beloved let her head fall back on the edge of the bed while she found her breath and Denver saw the tip of the thing she always saw in it's entirety when Beloved undressed to sleep. Looking straight at it she whispered, 'Why you call yourself Beloved?'" (88).
This passage on the surface seems to show Beloved's sexual interest in this strange girl, as was mentioned during class. Looking deeper into these lines, especially since the paragraph ends in a question, I think it displays more of a curiosity. Since Denver has no siblings and finds it hard to connect with her mother because of her intense history, Denver desperately needs a womanly figure to look up to, to have as a companion, to feel connected to. From a more Freudian perspective, she expresses a need for a mother. Freud believes that unconscious desires spur behavior, such as food and sex. It is not uncommon for a lack of parental presence to be exhibited for unwarranted sexual behavior, such as a young woman who fills her need for a father's presence through promiscuous behavior. I think this is insightful as to why Denver acts in the way that she does toward Denver, to fill voids that she has in her life.
Posted by hlfish at April 10, 2007 12:28 AM