Manifestations of Black Rage

     In my last post, I talked about the ways the trauma of slavery had affected the characters Nanny and Sethe. Their stories shared a number of common themes, most notably the way each person's consequent actions led to the direct harm of those they loved and had intended to protect, an unfortunate outcome brought about by judgement clouded, or rather influenced by trauma. With this post, I want to go in a different direction, and talk about the ways this pain can manifest a different way. Retaliation: less protective by nature, though in a way still a means of defense, the bubbling up of years of frustration and racial injustice culminating in an act of violence towards the oppressor. These moments of violence can be observed in a number of instances within Beloved, Paul D's attempt at killing Brandywine for example. Sethe's attempt at killing Bodwin, and the slave prisoners biting off pieces of their captors genitals are also examples of retaliation in Beloved. Each of these moments come from intense rage stemming from enslavement, but they're also related in that each attempt at retribution proves fruitless. Some instances evoke rage or discomfort in the reader, whereas others are simply depressing in that the outcome was all too expected. While in Sethe's case it is fortunate, both she and Paul D are stopped before they can kill their targets, and in the case of the enslaved men, their small yet nauseating revenge costs them their lives. 
    Expanding our view, we could recognize Sethe's action of infanticide and Sixo's exclamatory laughter at the stake as alternative forms of retaliation. Sethe refuses to let Schoolteacher have her child, and she succeeds. Sixo, though perhaps unknowingly, denies his murderers satisfaction with his uncanny disposition in the midst of being burned alive. He dies knowing that his child "Seven-O" will be out of Schoolteacher's grasp. Both instances could be viewed as success stories, but I wouldn't count them as victories. Sethe says she achieves her goal. "Schoolteacher ain't got 'em," though it's at a heavy price that many are unable to justify. It's a success, though unsatisfying, unsettling, and much like in Sixo's case, deeply sad. The price Sixo and the slave prisoners paid was their lives. Paul D was thrust into a more horrifying subjugation. Little victories, each costing so much, impossible to view as worth the loss.