A perfect circle

After reading Philip Page’s “Circularity in Toni Morrison’s Beloved”, Page makes the argument that the community that surrounds 124 is the circle that defines the story. For instance she believes that the “community acts together” in times of happiness, and in times of remorse. Page also believes that the residents of 124 Bluestone at times are members of the “neighborhood community”, but often times “isolate themselves from the community”. And in this state of isolation, “they are haunted by their past--first by the inanimate ghost of Beloved, then by the animate ghost of Beloved, whom no one but the residents of 124 [can] actually see.” The community is able to come together with the inclusion of Sethe and Denver when they exorcise Beloved. Moreover, in the end, the community slowly loses their memory of Beloved, and ultimately forget that she ever existed at 124. 

Another circle that Page believes to exist in Beloved is the family circle. Family a large part of the plot in Beloved, in that it is the sole reason why there is apparent character conflicts between the main characters. These character conflicts are recognized throughout Beloved. For instance, Paul D joining the family in the beginning of the story contributes to the conflict that is the “animated” version of Beloved joining the family as Sethe’s dead child incarnate. Another conflict that is seen only towards the end of the first part of Beloved, is when Sethe reveals to Paul D the real reason why her third child died. And as a result Paul D leaves 124, and escapes his problems through drinking. From Page’s writing, the circularity in the communities present in Beloved have their obvious flaws and beneficiary aspects. Through a psychoanalytic lens, we can see that because of the human condition, we assume the worst about ourselves and continue to be self loathing--although we may not be aware of it. The fact being that in the end of Beloved, it is presumed that the supernatural being Beloved, was a figment of the 124 family’s imagination--despite the realism that it presented. Paul D’s self loathing nature was evaluated through his calmed hostility towards Beloved, finally resolved through his reminiscing about his past mistakes. 

The human condition is something that leads people to be self destructed and poor decision makers. Page’s argument for circularity refines the meaning of the human condition, in that the communities present in 124 are victim to the human condition. This can be seen through their absence of one or all of the factors that contribute to the human condition. For instance, in Stamp Paid’s past as a slave, he had to give up his wife because the slave owner let his son sleep with her. The outcome was uncontrollable for Stamp Paid due to the fact that he was a slave, and because he was unable to prevent his wife from succumbing to the slave owners. His sense of rationality was questioned when he had changed his original name, Joshua, to Stamp Paid. Dehumanizing himself, while condemning his significant other, led him to believe that there was no attainable hope.