“White people believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle. Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood. In a way . . . they were right. . . . But it wasn’t the jungle blacks brought with them to this place. . . . It was the jungle whitefolks planted in them. And it grew. It spread . . . until it invaded the whites who had made it. . . . Made them bloody, silly, worse than even they wanted to be, so scared were they of the jungle they had made. The screaming baboon lived under their own white skin; the red gums were their own” (234).
The entire plot of Beloved is based on the long lasting emotional implications of slavery on its victims. Systemic racism which essentially embodies slavery is presented as the overarching cause of the pain Sethe and her remaining friends and family feel on a momentary basis. This pain and suffering is represented by Beloved in her ghost/physical form. The novel presents an in depth analysis of the psychology behind crimes so heinous as slavery.
Toni Morrison uses specific word and phrases that provide connotations that represents the utter hatred and despair of which slavery is a result of. In order for a horrific system as slavery is to be effective on such a large scale there must be a level of hate and racial ideology that is so indoctrinated within its perpetrators that only extreme imagery and detail can present its horror. Such is prevalent throughout Beloved, Morrison refers to african Americans as “screaming baboons” and “jungle blacks” phrases that illustrate the degree to which systematic racism has been engulfed by southern culture at the time. Specifically referring to african americans as “screaming baboons” coincides with common racial stereotypes at the time that often view others as animals or subhuman. Such names and phrases could become so embedded in the mind of slave owners that they see nothing wrong with the pain and suffering they are causing.
Furthermore viewing the specific passage exemplified through a racial lense allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the text past the basic implications of slavery. Specific words in the text are consistent with racial ideology among most whites at the time. Such phrases as “sweet white blood” portray whites as genetically superior, while language such as “under every dark skin was a jungle” portray african Americans as inferior relative to their white masters. This specific example of imagery uses opposing adjectives such as “sweet white” and “dark”/“jungle” to illustrate the racial segregation prevalent in the novel. This effect is an indirect example of a juxtaposition, by comparing two ethnicities.
The passage also presents a counterargument of sorts presenting the irony of the slavery system and its effects on the white populations that created it. This portrayal of the slave master behavior is evident in the fallowing: “The screaming baboon lived under their own white skin; the red gums were their own”(234). This quote not only exemplifies the insanity and structure of systematic racism that has poisoned many people through-out the southern United States at the time but reflects the irony of the situation. Throughout the passage and the entire novel racial slurs and demeaning terms are used when referring to african slaves, but the irony of the situation is that many of the names that whites are calling slaves only reflect their own barbaric behaviors.
These instances of literary devices prevalent in the passage are a small example of the novel’s central theme. The word choice and comparisons made allow the reader to identify the structure of racism embedded throughout the text and as a result gain a deeper understanding of the text.
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