A quest for spiritual wholeness: A study of male characters in Toni Morrison's "Beloved"

In all of her novels, Toni Morrison has chosen Black women as the principal characters. These women possess a unique spiritual bond unlike any other culture. As manifested in Morrison's fifth novel Beloved, Black women strengthen their bond by re-creating their own history through rememory. Within their newly defined history, the women in Beloved develop in their ability to nurture which includes tenderness and forgiveness. Their bond is also fortified through an intimate relationship with their foremothers by way of the supernatural. The focus of this study will show how the quest for spiritual wholeness in male characters Stamp Paid and Paul D, both ex-slaves, hinges heavily on the quality of their relationship with their Black female counterparts. Based on these relationships, these men develop in memory and in the ability to nurture. Although they do benefit from supernatural presence, their exposure to the supernatural is limited.