Meaning Of Words In Toni Morrison's Beloved

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In Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, she continually employs the theme of words not being able to display the meanings they were intended to have. Her most prominent example of this is intertwined with the life of Baby Suggs. While a slave, Baby discovers her heart, and from there allows it to lead her life, effectively allowing it to take control of all of her decisions. She preaches love to her family and those in the Clearing, and is looked up to by many in the community as a special woman with infinite knowledge. Her heart leads her life so much so that when it is broken, her life is as well. Morrison allows the character of Baby Suggs to pursue a joyous journey of finding her heart and following its guidance, solely, whether that be when …show more content…
Her deep emotional ties to the place and everyone in it--friends and family alike--made the house a place many called home. 124 was, “a cheerful, buzzing house where Baby Suggs, holy, loved, cautioned, fed, chastised and soothed,” making it all the more appealing. She requested that while people were in her home, they were to abide by her rules. One of the more important guidelines was that, “Talk was low and to the point-for Baby Suggs, holy, didn’t approve of extra” (101-102). She wanted people to see life the way she did, only using language when necessary. When in her house, they were to allow their hearts to be the driving force in their actions, just as she had. Beyond her exceptional care for her friends and strangers who happened to venture into 124, her love for her family was truly extraordinary. She took in Sethe as if she were one of her own, and for the first few weeks she was there, Baby Suggs and Sethe had a beautiful, love-filled relationship. In Sethe’s opinion, “Baby Suggs’ long-distance love was equal to any skin-close love she had known,” demonstrating the power Baby Suggs held in her heart (112). She also treated her grandchildren in the same manner, showing them unmatched amounts of affection. Sending her children to Baby Suggs meant that Sethe was allowing them to experience, “the full benefit of …show more content…
She gave them literal advice, preaching about how, “the only grace they could have was the grace they could imagine. That if they could not see it, they could not have it,” not varying far from typical sermons (103). What made Baby Suggs stand apart from the rest of the preachers, however, was that she spoke mainly about love. In one of her preachings, she told those surrounding her in the Clearing to love their flesh: to love their eyes, their skin, their hands, their mouths, feet, shoulders, arms, necks. More than that, however, she told them to love their hearts, because that was the largest prize of all (104). She preached what she knew, and what she knew was to love with all she had. She “offered up to them her great big heart” and refused to let herself or her people forget that loving and following their hearts was the most important thing in life. The people she preached to loved Baby Suggs just as much as she loved them, and her faith in general made her a peaceful and happy person. In Sethe’s words, one day she, “found Baby’s old preaching rock and remembered the smell of leaves simmering in the sun, thunderous feet and the shouts that ripped pods off the limbs of the chestnuts. With Baby Sugg’s heart in charge, the people let go,” further proving how impactful Baby Suggs and her sermons were (111). Incidentally, however, Sethe is the one one to
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