Circles upon Circles (upon more circles)

For this Critical Experts blog, I decided to read and discuss Philip Page's article "Circularity in Toni Morrison's Beloved," one of the psychoanalytic criticisms of the novel. Page presents an interesting perspective on the novel, one that I had not thought of during my reading. He argues that Beloved, as well as Toni Morrison's other two novels, is heavily themed around circles.

One circle, he says, is the neighborhood surrounding 124. All of the people in the neighborhood come together to form a circle, that Sethe and co. are largely isolated from. Aside from occasional moments, the family is not incorporated into the neighborhood circle, but into their own. He notes that it seems that when Sethe's family isn't part of the larger circle, their past torments them, making it important to integrate back into the larger circle. This is shown when the community comes together to rid 124 of Beloved.

Another example, perhaps the most important, is the circular pattern in which Sethe walks as she reveals the details of her daughter's death to Paul D. She erratically and nervously circles the kitchen as she admits that she killed her own daughter. This scene, the ending to part one of the novel, is quite a pivotal part of the story, so the use of circles here shows how important that theme is to Morrison.

I am inclined to agree with Page's argument that circles are central to the actions and lives of the characters in the novel. There is sufficient evidence of circular themes, not only in the above examples, but also in the circular boxwood tree that Denver visits, among other things. It is clear that Morrison uses this theme to illustrate the thoughts and feelings of her characters as well as the paths of their lives.