Figurations of Rape and the Supernatural in Beloved by Pamela E. Barnett focuses on some of the most unsettling and traumatic aspects of Beloved. Some of the first supernatural acts that occur in the novel are the ghost of the child she has killed, the “re-birthing” of characters, and the destructive relationship between Beloved and Sethe nearing the end of the novel. The ghost of the murdered baby is the reminder for Sethe of what she has done. The ghost itself was a reflection of her struggle to let go of what she had done to her child. Interestingly enough, Paul D was able to scare the ghost away because he caught Sethe off guard and began her process of circling back to the past and understanding why she did what she did. The re-birthing occurs when Sethe relieves herself just as Beloved returns and drinks cup after cup of water. Re-birthing can also symbolize purity which can allude to Beloveds character to purify or change the characters she interacts with. In other words, she brings the characters to see themselves for who they are.
One interesting figuration of the supernatural that Pamela E. Barnett suggests is that Beloved is actually a succubus. This is another word for a demon who sucks the life out of its victims. Beloved does this to Sethe by forcing her into regression, stress or guilt that induces childish behavior, and Beloved herself into a dominant character. She sucks so much out of Sethe that she looks like a child next to Beloved who looks like a pregnant mother. This connection reflects further into the bond between mother and daughter. As Sethe feels unbearably guilty for the murder of her child, she struggles to move forward without being able to explain herself to her child, or Beloved. She is also faced with years and years of disruption of her family. She grew up where Baby Suggs puts it as a place where African Americans were treated as “checkers” where mothers were separated from daughters, fathers, and sons. Nearing the end of the novel Sethe lets Beloved know that she killed her in order to protect her from slavery. It became an argument through the characters whether this was Sethe’s decision. From a mother’s perspective, how do you let your child be taken away from you to a place that had emotionally and physically traumatized you for life?
Rape is also very apparent in the story. This happens both for male and female characters. While the story progresses the trauma from the experiences are always present within the minds of the characters. It seems as if they completely deny what has happened to themselves which is why they can't discuss it. For instance Paul D and Sethe both repress their memories of rape, and in turn it keeps them farther apart because they can’t face their past. This viewpoint on the exploitation of slaves is suggested to focus on the fact that “rape was and often still is a racial issue.” While the slaves were owned by their masters they were forced to give away every aspect of their lives, including their bodies. For certain characters in Beloved their way to retaliate against this was to not nurse babies born from rape. A character who does this is Ella. She was frequently taken by a father and son which she referenced as ‘the lowest of the low.” In a defence mechanism of displacement she blamed the children born of rape and refused to nurse.
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