A Study of Sethe in Beloved from the Perspective of Trauma Theory

Abstract：As Toni Morrison’s masterpiece，Beloved not only tells the physical and psychological sufferings of the slaves under the oppression of slavery，but also reappears of the enormous trauma that still remains in their memories even after the emancipation.Through an elaborate study of Beloved，it can be seen that Morrison carries out a profound reflection on this African-American history and actively explores the path of the reconstruction of self-identity of the black.On the basis of trauma theory，this paper attempts to analyze the causes of the protagonist Sethe’s trauma，to explain the symptoms of her trauma as well as exploring the ways of recovering from trauma.

Key words：Beloved;slavery;trauma;recovery

1.Introduction to Beloved and Trauma Theory

Beloved centers around an infanticide tragedy about a slave mother Sethe.In order to get away from the slave owners’inhumantreatments and get freedom，she runs away from the plantation named Sweet Home when she was still carrying a baby.However，slave hunters find her.In order to relieve her children of the doomed fate as a slave in the future，she kills her child.In later life，Sethe is tortured by the infanticide incident all the time and suffers great psychological trauma.

Derived from Greek，“trauma” originally refers to a kind of physical wound.In the late 19th century，the definition of trauma gradually changed from physical wound to the mental disease with Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.Later，American scholar Cathy Caruth first introduced this theory into literary criticism.Since the mid-1990s，based on the trauma theory，the research on how to present the trauma process of victims in literary works and guide them out of the shadow of trauma has become the focus of current trauma literature research.

2.The Causes of Sethe’s Trauma

According to the trauma theory，trauma makes victims deal with severe mental problems.Slavery is the most dehumanizing system in the history of the United States.It destroys the value of black women as mothers and leaves an indelible trauma to black women.

2.1 Memories of Childhood

The heroine Sethe suffers psychological trauma from her childhood.As a slave，Sethe’s mother is raped many times by the white and has to do a plenty of heavy work.She has no time or energy to take care of Sethe.When Sethe recalls her mother，she says：“She must of nursed me two or three weeks—that’s the way the others did.She never fixed my hair nor nothing.She didn’t even sleep in the same cabin most nights I remember”（Morrison，2000：61）.From that，it can be seen that Sethe is extremely lack of maternal love from her childhood.Taking a sip of mother’s milk even becomes a luxury thing let alone other care.Therefore，the lack of milk becomes her eternal pain in her heart and rich milk is the symbol of maternal love in her unconscious mind.

What’s more，in order to gain love and attention from her mother，Sethe asks to mark the slave mark on her body just like her mother’s but she gets a slap in her face，which hurts her deeply and leads her to believe that her mother is cold and indifferent.And later the experience of finding her mother’s dead body from the pile is another bold blow to her young mind.

The lack of maternal love causes her first psychological trauma in her mind.The slavery deprives her of the appeal for maternal love and care in her childhood.These memories have a profound effect on her life，leaving her with a deep sense of insecurity.

2.2 Experiences in Sweet Home

In addition to the shadow of her childhood，Sethe also suffers enormous physical and psychological trauma in Sweet Home.Schoolteacher，a slave owner of Sweet Home，carries out a high-pressure policy on slaves.He uses measuring string to measure Sethe andtreatsher as animals instead of human beings.Sethe feels her dignity is injured and decides to escape.

What’s worse，Setheis raped by Schoolteacher’s two nephews and her milk is taken by them before she runs away.For Sethe，the milk is the symbol of maternal love and is thefood nourishing her children.What thewhite have done deprives her of right to be a mother and causes an aggravation of her trauma.Besides，they beat her with a whip even though she is pregnant.The scars on Sethe’s back in the shape of a flowering tree imply the huge physical trauma she suffers.

For Sethe，the event of milk grabbing makes her decide to run away from the hellish place because this experience leads her to remember the traumatic memories in her childhood and exacerbates her mental trauma.She is on the verge of nervous breakdown.

2.3 Incident of Infanticide

There is no denying that the infanticide incident causes the most severe psychological trauma to Sethe.She can’t bear that her own children would suffer the terrible physical and psychological treatment that she has experienced.Therefore，in order tokeep her daughter from being a slave，Sethe slits her favorite daughter’s throat with a handsaw.From then on，Sethe is entangled with the painful memory to kill her child all the time.

For a mother，this love is too thick.And Sethe says “love is or it ain’t.Thin love ain’t love at all”（Morrison，2000：164） But this kind of love is an alienated love.Sethe has no other ways to express her love under the slavery system.Therefore，Sethe’s mind becomes distorted and she becomes a sinful mother.Nothing causes more serious psychological trauma than killing her own child.All in all，it is the slavery that causes great psychological trauma of Sethe.

3.The Symptoms of Sethe’s Trauma

Herman classifies the post-traumatic stress disorder into three main sorts：hyperarousal，intrusion and constriction.Hyperarousal reflects the persistent expectation of danger;intrusion reflectsthe indelibly imprint of the traumatic moment;constriction reflects the numbering response of surrender.（Herman，1992：35） These three symptoms can be easily found in Sethe.

3.1 Hyperarousal to Trauma

The symptom of hyperarousal is reflected in the end of the novel.Sethe sees Mr.Bodwin wear a black hat and come into the yard with a whip in his hand.This scene is the same as the situation when Schoolteacher comes to catch her.Therefore，she tries to stab Mr.Bodwin because she is so nervous that she mistakes Mr.Bodwin for Schoolteacher.She cannot bear the pain of losing her daughter again，thus she wants to kill him without hesitation.Although it has been a long time since her infanticide incident，she still keeps permanently alert for the return of danger.This action is the perfect example of her traumatic hyperarousal.

3.2 Intrusion of Traumatic Memories

The intrusion of traumatic memories is reflected in Sethe many times.She recalls the painful memories of the past unconsciously even though she does not want to bring those memories back.The unhappy memory about her mother in childhood，the inhuman experiences in Sweet Home and her infanticide incident often intrude into the consciousness of Sethe as flashbacks in waking states.Even a small event and some common words will make her stuck in the horrifying past.

In addition，after Sethe kills her child，she cannot help continually thinking about her infanticide.The repetitive traumatic experiences make Sethe behave abnormally.In order to make up for the guilty of infanticide，she sacrifices herself to sleep with the engraver for seven letters that would be engraved on her baby’s headstone at thefuneral，which bring further harm to herself.

3.3 Constriction of Traumatic Experiences

Moreover，the symptom of constriction can be clearly seen in the broken relationship between Sethe and the black community.On one hand，she distrusts the black becausewhen Schoolteacher reaches 124 to catch Sethe and her children，no one tells her and the black betray her.On the other hand，because of the infanticide incident，the black community cannot understand her and isolates her.Although Sethe has trouble in relieving her mind from infanticide，she does not ask the black community for help and never associates with others.She never goes out of the house except to work and confines her and Denver in 124.In order to make up her guilty，Sethe even gives up her work and does everything she could to satisfy Beloved at the end of the novel.She becomes numbed and indifferent.She only pays her attention to Beloved and ignores another daughter that she should give the best care.

Therefore，it can be seen that she cannot return to the normal life because she avoids telling people her traumatic story and is lack of the care from people around.

From the symptoms of Sethe’s trauma，it can be seen that helpless and isolation are the core experiences of psychological trauma.Sethe’s heart is seriously injured due to the slavery system.

4.The Ways of Recovering from Trauma

According to American scholar Herman’s theory of Trauma and Recovery，there are three stages of recovery from trauma：the establishment of safety，remembrance and mourning，and reconnection with ordinary life.（Herman，1992：45-60）

First of all，there must be a safe place or a safe person to rely on.Secondly，victims must bravely confront the trauma through reflection and reminiscence.And lastly，they should reconnect with people around and seek for help.Then they will work through the trauma.Therefore，the recovery process of trauma is complex and long.Fortunately，with the help of Paul D，Beloved，and Denver as well as the black community，Sethecomes out of the trauma of infanticide by speaking about her trauma，confronting it head-on，and reconnecting with the black community.

4.1 Care of Paul D

With Paul D’s arrival，Sethe feels a sense of safety and her physical and psychological trauma，especially psychological pain，are relieved.Sethe is entangled with past memories and sees no hope for the future before Paul D comes.Paul D arrives at 124 and becomes a good listener because he has the same terrible experience as Sethe.Paul D gives her a sense of security and is willing to share the painful past with her.When Paul D hears the awful experience of Sethe’s stolen milk，he comforts Sethe.“Behind her，bending down，his body an arc of kindness，he held her breasts in the palms of his hands.”（Morrison，2000：17） Paul D makes her begin to release the grief that she has accumulated in her heart，rediscovering and trying to be herself.

What’s more，Paul D firstly takes Sethe and Denver back to the black community.It is Paul D that helps her try to return to the normal life and releases her unspeakable pain in her heart for years.

4.2 Appearance of Beloved

If the arrival of Paul D setsSethe on a journey of healing and self-awareness，the arrival of Beloved setsSethe on a journey of healing in a much more intense way.

After Sethe kills her baby，the house 124 is haunted.The ghost of Beloved in the 124 symbolizes unhealed trauma in Sethe’s heart.Then，the appearance of Beloved in the form of human being forces Sethe to confront her trauma directly.Beloved is always interested in questioning Sethe’s past stories，which opens up her repressed memories.Although Sethe is mostunwilling to face up to her infanticide，she has to strip away her inner pain under the questioning of Beloved and rebuild her identity and value in the course of recollection and story-telling.

In order to make up for Beloved，Sethe takes great care of Beloved and does her best to meet Beloved’s demands.However，Sethe，who seems to be coming out of the trauma，is caught up in terrible memories with the growing desire of Beloved.And finally，the love of Denver and the black community becomes indispensable thing for Sethe to work through the trauma.

4.3 Love of Denver

Denver is the important bond between Sethe and the black community.At the beginningof Beloved’s arrival，Denver dedicates all her energy and time to taking care of her.At the same time she tries to keepSethe away from Beloved because she thinksSethe would hurt Beloved again.She even keeps vigilant from her mother because she thinksSethe may alsokill her one day.

However，when Denver realizes Beloved continues to torture Sethe and try to devour her mother，she decides to save her mother.The job she starts out with，protecting Beloved from Sethe，changes to protect her mother from Beloved.She overcomes the fear and steps out of the 124.And finally she merges into the black community.It is Denver that leaves the yard and goes out to ask for help to protect Sethe from being destroyed.Therefore，to some extent Denver saves Sethe from the horrible past life.She cures the trauma left by slavery haunting in her mother’s mind and serves as the symbol of hope and a bright future.

4.4 Help of Black Community

The love of black community plays a significant role in helping Sethe recover from trauma.Although they betray Sethe before，when Denver goes out of the 124 to ask for help，the black community gives everything that they could.They give them food and help Denver find a job.When they hear the bad condition about Sethe，they come to 124 to pray and sing and expel Beloved together.From then on，Sethe reintegrates into the collective and rebuilds the relationship between her and the black community.

At the end of the novel，Paul D tells Sethe that she is the best thing.And Sethe replies “Me？ Me？”（Morrison，2000：273） The ending implies that Sethe finally comes out of the trauma caused by slavery and awakens from nightmare.She is truly free physically and spiritually and gets a new life.

5.Conclusion

Beloved reflects the living conditions of African Americans at that time.Through the description ofSethe’spersonal trauma，Morrisonalso depicts the pain of the whole nationcaused by slavery，which is not only physical，but also exists in the psychological aspect.Sethe works through the trauma with the help of Paul D，Denver and the black community.But more importantly，her own courage to confront the trauma and love from the collective make her successfully recover from trauma.It is love that makes Sethe and other black people go out of the trauma and regain the confidence of life and creating a better future.

To conclude，this paper is an active endeavor to discuss the ways to reconstruct Sethe’s self-identity and to walk out of shadow of trauma in light of trauma theory.What’s more，this paper also helps the readers to get a deeper understanding of the novel and arouses their concerns about the living conditions of the black people.

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作者簡介：王琳，1995年4月30日出生，女，漢族，籍貫山東省博興縣，現就讀于陜西師范大學外國語學院2018級外國語言學及應用語言學專業，碩士研究生，主要研究方向：英語教學。