Cultural Hegemony In Beloved

Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved is a story of hardship, regret, evil, and motherhood that is compelling and reveals the issues caused by slavery. Morrison’s message is based on the evils of slavery and its effect on society as well as the individuals who are victim to it. In order to uncover the deeper meaning behind Beloved, I unveil the issues behind slavery itself, its origins, and the meaning behind it in Beloved. In a published analytical article trying to uncover the same issue, Heather Duerre Humann analyzes Beloved and the issues of racism within the novel. In the article, “Bigotry, Breast Milk, Bric-a-Brac, a Baby, and a Bit in Beloved: Toni Morrison’s Portrayal of Racism and Hegemony.” Humann analyzes Beloved through a perspective similar to that of the Marxist lens. The article discusses, and focuses on, the issues of cultural and societal hegemony that originates from racism.

Examples of hegemony in modern day society

Humann reveals that racism is a form of cultural hegemony in the novel connecting the ideology of racism to cultural hegemony in her analysis of a quote from the novel: “She could mean "white people" as the "them," but she could also (or alternatively) mean racists. Although various white people have markedly different interactions with Sethe and although they further individualized agendas, all contribute to the foundation of a cultural hegemony.” When Humann analyzes this quote (describing Sethe’s experiences with white characters), she enforces the notion that the theme is, in fact, that slavery and racism plays an instrumental role in determining cultural hegemonies in the novel. Morrison reveals the presence of cultural hegemonies in multiple instances, most of which are stated clearly for the reader to interpret. In the novel, the dominance of the white race is clearly seen in the memories of Sethe’s Sweet Home, which was a plantation. In one instance, Mr. Garner, a white slave owner, proclaims his view of his slaves with a surprising response from one of them:

"Y'all got boys...Young boys, old boys, picky boys, stroppin boys. Now at Sweet Home, my niggers is men every one of em. Bought em thataway, raised em thataway. Men every one.”

"Beg to differ, Garner. Ain't no nigger men" (1.14).

Slaves being forced into the bowels of the ship as the slavers stand above them on the deck

This statement from a slave owner, stating that the slaves are men, not boys, is a statement that goes against the societal norms of the time period and betrays the ideology of cultural hegemony. This excerpt, however, only further increases the power in which slavers and white racists have instilled into the slaves. One of the slaves even responds to Mr. Garner with “Beg to differ, Garner. Ain’t no nigger men.” This shocking statement from a slave who is, for once, being treated slightly more humanely (although this still does not come close to actual humanity) as the slave does not accept that he is being lifted to a higher social status via title. Instead of being called the derogatory name of “boy,” Mr. Garner speaks to his slaves as they were closer to his social status by titling them “men.” The slave denies this title as the ideology of social hegemony has been so ingrained in the life of the slaves that they cannot see a life of equality. This is significant as it reveals the prevalent theme in the novel that racism plays an instrumental role in the creation of cultural hegemonies and that there can be no humane society where people are equal as long as cultural hegemonies are still present in society. Humann focused on the idea that racism creates cultural hegemonies in her own article, which sites an analytical professor of Beloved, Bouson, who states “that Morrison examines the white supremacist ideology.” Through this citation from a different article within Humann’s article, Humann returns to the parts of the theme which persists throughout the entirety of the article as she interprets Morrison’s writing in Beloved as focused on racial profilings in society as well as Morrison’s apparent views on African-Americans in society both in the time period of slavery and in the modern-day. Humann uncovers the fact that Beloved was not only written as a message to its readers about the cultural hegemonies behind slavery and racism, but also about how those beliefs transfers into the modern day. In an interview with Morrison, stated in Humann’s article, Morrison proclaims that, “We've had to distinguish among [whites] because our lives depended on it. I'm always annoyed about why black people have to bear the brunt of everybody else's contempt. If we are not totally understanding and smiling, suddenly we're demons.” Humann articulates that Morrison is frustrated with the lack of knowledge on both “sides” of society. Humann continually analysis Morrison’s views as having a strict and pronounced “them and us” when Morrison discusses the issue of racism and slavery. This is abundantly apparent both in Morrison’s interview and in her works such as Beloved. Morrison aggressively writes about slavery with a strong social hegemony associated with it. She writes about Sethe’s struggle and abuse by white people and about the various owners of the Sweet Home, all of which contribute to the ever-evolving theme about cultural and societal hegemony, that whites are dominant and higher than blacks in terms of social class as a result of racism.

Through both the article and Beloved itself, the theme clearly revealed. The main point that Toni Morrison attempts to convey to the reader is that racism creates a society in which cultural and societal hegemony is created, a society in which people are discriminated and fearful. A society that contains social structure to the point of cultural and societal hegemony leads to only negatives for the class who is not dominant. Both Humann and Morrison state this in a similar way. Morrison uses Sethe as a prime example of a person who is part of a society in which cultural hegemony is present and is part of the non-dominant group in the society. Through Sethe, Morrison reveals the tragedies of a society containing cultural hegemony as well as describing the evils of slavery, which is a society in which cultural hegemony is present. Humann reveals a similar theme in her article by using Morrison as her messenger instead of a character like Sethe. By using Morrison as her example, Humann concludes that cultural hegemonies are often a result of racism by analyzing Beloved and Morrison’s own views and beliefs on slavery. I came to the conclusion that racism is, in fact, a major cause for cultural hegemony and that Beloved’s main message to the reader is that racism leads to cultural hegemonies and that cultural hegemonies, in their own right, are evil. There is a constant reference to evil in the novel, all of which are tied back to slavery. Slavery, however, is not the core cause. The core cause for this evil, behind the issue of slavery, is cultural hegemonies. I believe that this was the message that Morrison wished to convey to the reader and is the message referenced in Humann’s analysis of the text.