The Act of Forgiveness, Responding and Reflecting Blog by Sierra Nelson-Liner

One theme that keeps recurring as I read through Beloved is the relevance of memory and dealing with the past.  One quote I will remember is from Amy Denver when she says; “More hurt the better it is. Can’t nothing heal without pain, you know”(92). This concept of forgiveness occurring through pain can be a very hard concept to understand in the extremity of different situations. Throughout my AP Psychology class I heard of case studies varying from the forgiveness of perpetrators in war, to the relationship between others who have inflicted serious injury on an innocent bystander.  The first step is awareness. For Sethe this is when she talks about rememory. She explained this in contrast to some memories which go and pass on, while others stay. (43). I saw this as a memory that is reinterpreted into something in the real world that triggers certain thoughts and emotions bringing forth a certain remembrance or connection, that brings them once again into a place that they tried to forget. That even though they tried to forget what has happened some things can't be forgotten completely. This is very apparent in Beloved because all of her life she has been trying to forget what has happened to her due to slavery. As a slave Sethe forced herself to not avoid pain but to get “through it as quickly as possible” (46). She will only be able to move on if she deals with the pain, and over time, finds solace.

Furthermore, whilst facing her memories she has to face all of what she has lost. A big portion of this is time. As Sethe describes the crawling already? baby girl the question mark illuminates the surprise as time has passed so quickly. This amplifies the stress of dealing with the past because she has already lost so much, and by noticing all of the small things she has missed the grief gets stronger. Personally, I believe this is the only way to get over things. If you keep repressing what is going on in your life you aren't being true to yourself. When things get difficult I try to remember that I can be a stronger more experienced person once I have overcome a boundary. It shows great maturity and understanding to forgive. I think Sethe will be able to face her past and eventually let go. She will only be able to do so if she comes to terms for what she did to her baby.