After reading Beloved by Toni Morrison I reflected a lot on the mother-daughter relationships in the novel, which seemed to indicate you can love someone too much. The parasitic relationship between Beloved and Sethe illuminated to me that a love with all the best intentions, could still prove harmful. A relationship such as theirs weakens the individuals, taking and taking with out giving anything back. Specifically I noted that possessiveness proved detrimental to the relationships of Beloved. The repeated instances of the phrases “She is mine” and “You are mine” though intended to display dedication and love, made the recipient a possession rather than a human. A relationship centered on possession can initialize dominant and submissive roles in the relationship—as seen with Beloved and Sethe. The novel is depicted through magical realism and therefore the results of possessiveness and then dominance are illustrated as such. Sethe’s draining and withering away and Beloved’s gorging and vitality both manifest physically, providing a more tangible evidence to the effects of too much love turn to possession.
I keep returning to the notion that it’s not the relationships built on the worst pretences or with unfortunate people that create the most harmful environments. But it’s rather the ones so filled with love and passion that create a storm that can deliver the most damage.
