Beloved Passage – Toni Morrison

Context
- Takes place in the beginning of the novel on a day Paul D comes to visit Sethe and her
daughter at 124 Bluestone Road.
- Relay their experiences at Sweet Home, the place where they served as fellow-slaves for
Mr. Garner and later schoolteacher and his nephews
- First time in 18 years that Sethe relives certain moments of her past
- Passage highlights an intimate interaction where Paul D witnesses for the first time the
signs of suffering that Sethe had to endure before escaping Sweet Home

Symbolism
- the chokeberry tree - a sign of pain, suffering as well as hope, healing and growth
o ancestry, intergenerational pain
o Amy Denver story: hope in times of hardship
o “decorative work of a sculptor” – a work of art

- breasts and breast milk - maternity, reclaiming the ownership over her body and
motherhood. Sethe has always been defined by her motherhood, something that she
fought mightily for as a slave. Her concern over her “milk” = prioritizing of her children
above all else – her fight against the attempts of slavery to break down the filial bonds
of families

- the responsibility: love is a form of guardianship – rep love that Paul D has for Sethe as
well as his personhood. He is defined by the novel as someone who is able to liberate
women’s hearts
o the fact that someone loves her is reassuring for it represents the fact that Sethe
does not have to go through motherhood alone and that someone is there to
protect her

- back skin/scars
o it is dead. a part of her that is dead = symbolic of what the trauma of slavery has
done to not only her but also a generation of black folk
o scars- testament to how past trauma affects us in the present - they affect Sethe
psychologically in a sense that she represses her memory and the history of
slavery in effort to move on in her life
o Sethe has lost the feeling of her back scarring - this is symbolic of Sethe’s
dormant feelings regarding her prior life at sweet home and the death of her
third child
o the scars are something she cannot feel which shows a disconnect between
mind and body, which represents the disconnect between Sethe and her past

Analysis
 - the first time that Paul D and Sethe intimate and Sethe letting Paul D into a very
vulnerable place: basically, exposing herself and her secrets
- there are many words with positive connotations that are attributed to Paul D – revealing
his kind-hearted good nature
- this act is very significant as Paul D is confronted by something that otherwise would be
considered ugly, but he somewhat embraces it, and sees some kind of beauty in it
reinforcing the positive interpretation. the reference to ridges and leaves may signify
Paul being able to see their beauty more than the scarring.
- Paul D is willing to see and interpret the past? This is ironic because this also highlights
the potential for Paul D himself to harness the fears from his past, face them and move
forward, in spite of his present refusal to open up his metaphorical rusted tobacco tin of
his heart where he stores the emotional trauma and fears inflicted on him at sweet
home and the impact on his self-image and value as an individual

- Paul is taking the weight of her breasts off of Sethe, so she might reclaim her own
identity. she is free from the overbearing pressures of motherhood in this moment and
has a chance to reconnect with the person that is not defined by anything other than
her own desires, and not by her child, those who sexually assaulted her…
- “Paul D’s presence works to help Sethe reclaim authority over her own past. Sethe has
always prioritized others’ needs over her own. For example, although she suggests in
her story that schoolteacher’s nephews raped her, Sethe is preoccupied with their theft
of her breast milk. She privileges her children’s needs over her own. When Paul D
cradles her breasts, Sethe is “relieved of their weight.” The narrator comments that the
“responsibility for her breasts,” the symbols of her devotion to her children, was Paul’s
for a moment. Usually defined by her motherhood, Sethe has a chance to be herself for
a moment, whoever that may be. Paul D reacquaints Sethe with her body as a locus of
her own desires and not merely a site for the desires of others—whether those of the
rapists or those of her babies.”

The Lady from Lucknow Passage – Bharati Mukherjee

Context
- The first-person narrator introduces to the audience the background of her story and
journey to America
- The history that the first-person narrator provides is also significant to the context as it
highlights one of the themes on patriarchal oppression in which the story revolves
around
- The story is significant as it highlights a time in Nafeesa’s life where she is acquainted
with an understanding of love in which her later adult self would interpret as a
“standard of perfect love” – representing intense passion and transcending the
 expectations and boundaries set up by patriarchal society, and the submissiveness that
Nafeesa is taught

Symbolism
The heart:
- army doctor’s daughter - connotation: merely extension of the father
- description of the heart breaking is very clinical and technical - signifies the impact on the
way the daughter thinks
- doesn’t think of it metaphorically, but rather literally (how can someone die from
heartbreak? maybe their heart itself was defective and damaged physically - 4 yo
Nafeesa) – ofc this could also just be a result of her naïve age but it is interesting to see
how Nafeesa’s thoughts are shaped by her father, which the author seems to emphasize
- at this stage, it was hard for a young girl to imagine heartbreak causing death. she
envisions a more violent and literal one
- this part is extremely significant for it mirrors the ending of the story when Nafeesa
commits suicide and hangs herself from the balcony - she herself is heartbroken from
rejection from society, from true love, treated as something lesser than her equals
- the choice that is being taken away from love - something that is instinctual, human
nature, infallibly innate - that can be defined only as a personal right one should be
entitled to and be able to act upon. being taken away choice is like being taken away
love in its entirety

Analysis
- in the present, Nafeesa is not satisfied with her current marriage to her Iqbal who is
regularly absent which pushes her to pursue an affair with James Beamish, this
passionate interracial affair is an instance of transcending love much likes Husseina’s
love with the Hindu
- longs for belonging in a white community in Atlanta, Georgia, to assimilate in spite of the
varying degrees of prejudice and racism she faces
- another instance of lack of autonomy and free choice; Partition was imposed on the
entire subcontinent - no choice on who gets what land and how the subcontinent
should be divided. the choice is taken away from both Hindus and Muslims
- another form of oppression that is felt by all who are brown and affected by partition
- racism and oppression come in different degrees; can be experienced by a whole people
or by an individual at different social situations etc. the effects are horrible across the
spectrum however
- shows that there are different forms of oppression that can be related - against people of
color, against women of color
- Nafeesa’s love for James Beamish is pure authentic passion but is under great scrutiny,
mockery and is deemed as something “not quite”
- Nafeesa is not seen as an equal and Kate’s dismissal of her love comes from a position of
power, she is a part of a dominant white community
- Kate cannot take her seriously which makes Nafeesa feel worthless like “a shadow
without depth or color, a shadow-temptress who would float back to a city of teeming
millions when the affair with James had ended.”
- she feels like she doesn’t have to spare her anger or jealousy bc Nafeesa to her will always
be lower than her. the love they have for each other is impossible
- repression of the brown woman’s passion
- a lack of choice; lack of autonomy
- the imposition of the male-centric view
- “I was just another involvement of a white man in a pokey little outpost, something that
"men do" and then come to their senses while the memsahibs drink gin
- and tonic and fan their faces. I didn't merit a stab wound through the heart. “
- Nafeesa’s language in the end is a little more elusive and vaguer, interpretive, capturing
her life that is fading much like how her love for a man faded. She is narrating an
experience of heartbreak and emphasizes on the pain that she experiences in her chest.
The pain is synonymous with heart break – definitely contrasts deeply with the vivid and
literal language she uses as a child