Post #4

Andrews, William L., Frances Smith Foster, and Trudier Harris, eds. "Toni Morrison." The Concise Oxford Campanion to African American Literature. Oxford African American Studies Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. .

This article presents the life of Toni Morrison. It begins with her childhood in Lorain, Ohio, and continues through transformative events in her adult life, including marriage and children. The article also briefly describes some of her better-known novels, lectures, and critical writings.

Caesar, Terry Paul. "Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison's 'Beloved'" UNESP. JSTOR. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.

In his examination of motherhood in the novel “Beloved,” Caesar argues that motherhood is a form of slavery and that it is a term that cannot be defined by child or mother when occurring in a slave family. Caesar uses the relationship between Beloved and Sethe, highlighting Sethe’s enslavement to the memories of her daughter and later to Beloved herself. Caesar hoped to show that motherhood had a hard time rising above slavery, especially in consideration of the mother-daughter bond.

Koolish, Linda " 'To Be Loved and Cry Shame': A Psychological Reading of Toni Morrison's Beloved." MELUS, Vol. 26, No. 4, African American Literature pp. 169-195. Winter, 2001.

This article explores the various psychological aspects of Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved. Koolish discusses the impact of the characters inability to hide from their past's any longer, referring to them as "dream-walkers in a state of dissociation and denial..." Furthermore, the article discusses the power of maternal love, the effects of infanticide, as well as the prevalence of what looks most like Multiple Personality Disorder and also Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Wyatt, Jean. "Giving Body to the World: The Maternal Symbolic in Toni Morrison's Beloved" PMLA, Vol. 108, No. 3 pp. 474-488. May 1993.

In her article, Wyatt discusses the power of the maternal bond, and in the case of Morrison's Novel, the power of Sethe's yearning for the maternal closeness she lost when killing her child. Wyatt believes that the character Beloved is not only said to represent Sethe's lost child, but she is also meant to represent the entire history of slavery's effects on women (and mother) in particular. She cites numerous other publications, including Harriet Jacob's narrative in order to solidify her argument concisely.