Beloved By Toni Morrison Essay

Each writer has his or her own special style of writing, some sort of technique that sets them apart from everyone else. Toni Morrison excels at scrambling the events the order in which the reader is presented information. This style of writing creates a tougher book to read, but also a more rewarding reading experience. In "Beloved", by Toni Morrison, Morrison uses nonlinear exposition to create a sense of chaos through out the book, provide her audience with multiple points of view, and provide context for the current or upcoming events.

It is apparent to the reader early in the book that the family is borderline insane. Sethe killed her own daughter whose spirit now haunts the house, Paul D is incredibly short tempered, and Denver, while

She reveals new details about the character's lives and then incorporates a flashback to explain the relevance of said details. Essentially, the book starts in the middle. The flashbacks through out the book fill in the past and new knowledge is constantly fed to the reader. One example of this is the death of Sethe's daughter Beloved. During the first chapter of the book, Sethe says, "She wasn't even two years old when she died"(5). This leaves the reader wondering how and why the baby died. This information is slowly reveled throughout the book, with small details coming here and there. But the big reveal isn't until much later in the book. There is a flashback to a shed, with Sethe and her children inside it. Sethe then kills Beloved, and attempts to kill her two sons as well. This reveal has more of an impact on the reader at the end of the book rather than if it would have been placed at the beginning because throughout the book, the reader is developing his or her own ideas about each of the characters. After reading this passage, any ideas the reader has about Sethe will have either been confirmed or blown to bits. Morrison uses this technique to surprise the reader and keep them on the edge of their seat while reading her