Cast your mind back to something like a week ago. Do you remember the scene where Denver and Beloved watch at the edge of a lake/body of water and see some turtles start to have sex? Why would Morrison add this into her complex novel about life in and right after slavery? We brought this up before class started one day and Mr. Mitchell said "if you want to write a blog post to try to explicate it, go for it". So, this one is for you, Mr. Mitchell (though I suppose all of them are in a way).
The way I interpreted this was how Paul D and Sethe are attempting to love each other. Both Sethe and Paul D are keeping things to themselves at this point. Paul D has his whole backstory; his time at Sweet Home after Sethe leaves, Georgia, Delaware, and his journey to and from these places. Likewise, Sethe at this point still hasn't told Paul D about Beloved's death, why the community isolates her, why the ghost haunts them. Both are okay with reminiscing superficially about Sweet Home to a certain extent, but if they talk too long about it, they reach subjects that are painful, and neither really wants the other's rememories interfering with their own. Sethe specifically says she wishes that her mind didn't have to take in and internalize all the things that are presented to her, including the information about Halle and the butter churn. They are both trying to open up to each other while simultaneously being guarded.
Now, back to turtles. Obviously, there's a parallel here. Turtles have hard shells to protect themselves, just as Sethe and Paul D are trying to protect themselves. And the turtles are trying to make love just as Sethe and Paul D are. But still, why is the turtle sex scene here? I believe it's all for the last line of the scene; "The gravity of their shields, clashing, countered and mocked the floating heads touching". This line illuminates something about Sethe and Paul D's relationship; That even though they are trying to have a loving relationship, heal and move forward (the loving taps of the turtles' heads together), they are hindered by their guards against the world and to each other. Not only that it hinders their love, but it ultimately overrides the love they try to have. It negates their intentions for their relationship and mocks their attempt at moving forward and deepening their relationship.
So yeah. Turtles.
this is such an interesting take on that scene! i never thought about the turtles as Paul D and Sethe, I always thought about them in use to Beloved. She goes out and watches the turtles have sex, and immediately has sex with Paul D. I absolutely love the idea of the turtles shells symbolizing how closed Sethe and Paul D are with each other, and how they can make each other "come out of their shells". I sort of wish turtles would reappear at the end of the book when they reconcile but I am satisfied with morrisons other easter eggs. This made me thing of the book in a different way, I wish I had payed more attention to the easter eggs, but love this new idea.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what the significance of this scene was when I read it for the first time, but your explanation makes a lot of sense. Considering that Morrison is very intentional in her metaphors, I highly doubt that she put that scene in randomly. The connections you make between the turtles and Sethe and Paul D seem valid and I wouldn't be surprised if it was similar to the purpose that Morrison had in mind.
ReplyDeleteThe descriptive language fits incredibly well with your ideas too. I find it ironic how it says they were "headed in the same direction", perhaps calling attention to their reunion at long last. Also, they are able to grow so much from each other because of their shared experiences which make their love even stronger though even more difficult to bear.
ReplyDeleteI think that your take on the scene totally makes sense! Both Sethe and Paul D are incredibly guarded at this point in time. Also, sidenote, but does this mean that Beloved essentially watched Sethe and Paul D making love in order to make love to Paul D? Does this mean that she is using Paul D's guarded nature against him, manipulating him using sex?
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about the turtles being similar to Sethe and Paul D. The idea that the turtles' shells get in to the way of their love making can also be seen as a parallel to the story. Both Sethe and Paul D had trouble unlocking their hearts to each other, which was a main factor in their initial breakup.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jenna, for this post. I can affirm that I hadn't previously contemplated the potential significance of this fleeting bit of nature-doing-its-thing dropped in at the end of a confusing chapter. And I'm persuaded by all these analogies to Sethe and Paul D, and the delicate fragility of their efforts to achieve intimacy. I'm thinking of Sethe's "tree", the scars on her back that represent the literal ways that Sweet Home has marked her permanently, as a kind of "shell" that has to be maneuvered around delicately. At the very end of the novel, with Paul *rubbing* rather than counting Sethe's feet, we see a hopeful glimpse of potential future closeness between them. If these turtles can manage it, maybe there's hope for Sethe and Paul D.
ReplyDeleteYo, I had chills! I had no idea what the turtles had to do with the story at all, but this makes total sense. Both of them definitely have shells up to this point, where Sethe still has her huge secret and Paul's heart is still locked in the cigarette tin, and they're trying to find ways to show each other love without breaking themselves or the other, or in this case, breaking the other's shell.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, like many others I previously gave this scene no thought what so ever. I read through the scene and I said to myself "huh" and moved on. But this interpretation makes total sense when I think about it and I really like the imagery in it (however, maybe not the image of two turtles having sex as much). It really is a great, but unusual, metaphor for the relationship the two have at this point and understanding this moment helped me to understand their relationship just a little bit better.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you actually wrote a blog post on this (Thank you). I agree with your point made about the shells that each character puts themselves in. Both characters have spent so long closing off their emotion and secrets that it takes them a long, slow time to reach out again. Another interesting aspect of this is that perhaps the author used this strange analogy of turtles on purpose. In the world of Beloved where ghosts and slavery is considered normal, maybe it's another way for the author to throw a curveball to the reader and keep them on their toes. It seems to be a common theme of making things that are out of place seem normal and vice versa
ReplyDeleteYeah this makes sense. Good interpretation. I'm sure morrison meant something with the turtles and this was probably part of it. The one part I'm not sure holds is turtles kind of need their shells to live and it's perfectly natural for them to have it, and they should still have them while having sex (or else pretty sure they're dead) whereas sethe and paul's shells are detrimental to them and their connection. But if the turtles are symbolic of that it's probably fair to ignore biology--the image definitely makes sense. Maybe if denver had seen two butterflies trying to have sex while still in their cocoons. But that's not really possible. So yeah, turtles
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