Death in Beloved vs. The White Boy Shuffle

Death is a concept that is explored in depth in Beloved. The idea of death as an escape route is explored, especially in Sethe’s killing of Beloved. Also, Sethe’s claim that nothing ever dies seems to represent her views on death as something that is not permanent. This is also reflected in the way that Beloved keeps haunting Sethe and her family no matter how she tries to get rid of it. The book really explores what death is and how it changes a person.

This can be contrasted with Gunnar’s opinion of death in the White Boy Shuffle. Gunnar sees death as an escape route, as a way out from a world that will never be fair to his people. Sethe seems to see it in a similar light, as her killing of Beloved sends Beloved to a place where she is safe from the horrors of schoolteacher and slavery in general. However, there are some differences. Notably, in the White Boy Shuffle, there seems to be a much greater feeling of the permanent end that death brings. There is no overlap between the dead and the living, whereas in Beloved, the concept of death seems to be much more complex. This is really driven home by the way the book is written; giving us different pieces of the story at different times and intentionally not writing the book in chronological order along with the aspect that Beloved has literally not died, as she is present in the story in flesh. In the White Boy Shuffle, there is a finality that is represented by death being the final choice, when anyone dies, it has consequences in the world of the novel, but the rest of the characters move on. Death is a catalyst for things in the White Boy Shuffle, it leads to a safer path, but in Beloved, while death seems to lead to a safer path, it also poses the question of what death means, and what it means for someone to truly die.

Sethe's Decision

Beloved is a very complex novel, and the climactic scene in the novel is the most striking of all. Sethe’s decision to kill her children to keep them safe seems astounding, and unbelievable on the surface, but as you begin to understand the situation she was in and her history, we can see that while still a very debatable action, her killing Beloved isn’t as obviously horrific and terrible as it initially seems. Sethe is literally trapped, in a woodshed with schoolteacher and his party approaching, and she faces the seemingly inevitable possibility of being returned to slavery. She seems to lash out, and knowing that resisting schoolteacher and his party would be futile, she kills Beloved instead.

The killing is a bit more complex than the immediate horrified response due to the context of the situation. Sethe’s inability to escape combined with her remembering the horrors of slavery cause her to take the drastic measure of killing Beloved. In many ways however, the ploy actually works. While the cost is immense, she convinces schoolteacher that she is damaged goods, leaving nobody to take care of Denver if she is taken back to slavery. Howard and Buglar are covered in blood, and as a result deemed unfit to help around Sweet Home as well. She successfully protects the rest of her family and herself from a return to Kentucky, and puts Beloved where schoolteacher cannot reach her. Beloved, along with the rest of her family, is safe from slavery, and as a result, the decision accomplished what is was supposed to. Obviously, it is still an objectionable action, as we see when Sethe and Paul D part and Paul D basically calls Sethe an animal for being unable to control her emotions and find another way. This is significant, because even Paul D, who understands the horrors of slavery in a way few do still finds her actions despicable and unexplainable.

Her whole life (and the whole book) seems to revolve around this moment. This day is ingrained in the events of the future, as seemingly everywhere Sethe goes and is, she is reminded of it. Denver suffers from the social stigma attached to Sethe’s deeds as well. The ghost is a constant reminder to Sethe of her choice on that day, and when Paul D returns and drives away the ghost, it returns in flesh to Sethe, although she doesn’t seem to realize it at first. It is really interesting that Sethe doesn’t connect the fact that the name of their guest is Beloved to the gravestone initially, because it seems that a mysterious person appearing shortly after the ghost disappeared whose name was Beloved should ring bells. Its almost as if Sethe truly wants to forget, but cannot seem to no matter what she does. She tries to ignore the name and strangeness of Beloved at first, despite Beloved’s strange, obsessive fascination with her.

Style Wars

Style Wars was an interesting movie because of the perspective it provided on the origins and growth of hip-hop culture and graffiti art. It traced the development of the art form and showed us a variety of different artists along with insight into the ongoing fight against authority. It seems troubling to me that authority figures seemed intent on removing the graffiti and stopping the artists, even going to lengths such as using dogs and barbed wire fences, and devoting resources to washing the trains. It may seem like a way to make people feel safer, but it seems like the police should put less time into stopping graffiti artists from putting up art that makes passengers feel unsafe, and instead devote that time and resources to making the subway rides safer. One interesting dynamic that we touched on in conversation after the movie was the racial diversity on display in the groups of graffiti writers. While rappers and break dancers seemed to be solely made out of minority groups, mostly blacks and some Latinos, there were a surprising amount of white graffiti artists. It was cool to see how the artists learned from each other and were able to give a history of the different innovations and when they came, almost like a history of graffiti art. The concept of style was very central to the culture, hence the term “Style Wars”. I think this clearly shown in the way the artists interact with each other. It seems like the worst thing somebody can do is steal from someone else; each person had their own individual style and technique that made them different. Its also interesting to see how much street art has evolved from the days when the movie was shot. The development of graffiti art and the idea of chronicling the different innovations shows just how quickly the art form evolved. This rapid growth and evolution is a product of the nature of the art; when it is on trains, it is seen by a lot of people, and thus ideas seem to spread so quickly.



This movie also brought up the question of crime, and what it really means. The idea of defacing public property seemed to be the reason that people considered graffiti art crime. However, the art did no harm to anyone, and it seems unfair to consider it a crime. The writers didn’t exploit, harass, or hurt anyone; they just wanted to express their feelings in art and let the world see it. On the surface, it seems strange that these writers do what they do; they aren’t paid for it in most cases, run the risk of getting thrown in jail, and don’t get any material gains from graffiti writing. It doesn’t even seem to be about recognition, its more about expressing themselves. I think that graffiti art and hip-hop culture gives a voice to groups of people who often find themselves unable to express their ideas. It gives anyone an ability to express themselves through art, they don’t need permission from anyone else, it is their own work. This dynamic seems to draw people to graffiti writing.