Morrisons Beloved: An All-Encompassing Representation of the Gothic

The objective of this paper is to explore the presence of gothic elements in the novel Beloved (1987). The purpose of gothic story often is to shock and sensitize the audience. Toni Morrison's Beloved is considered a representative of gothic novel, since it involves the gothic elements under the background of slavery. The gothic novel form has been one of the means through which Morrison addresses her concerns regarding factors of life, mainly social and cultural as well as individual. In exploring the way Morrison uses the gothic elements, she unfolds a new realm of narration, in which the tale of the supernatural is revealed through disconnected time framework and unusual happenings. The gothic elements speak of the unspeakable, incredible things like the presence of ghost and its manifestation. Morrison uses techniques that are derived from the Gothic period to master her story of Sethe, a former slave, who is haunted by the ghost of her own murdered daughter Beloved.