“He thought what they said had merit, and what they felt was serious. Deferring to his slaves' opinions did not deprive him of authority or power. It was schoolteacher who taught them otherwise. A truth that waved like a scarecrow in rye: they were only Sweet Home men at Sweet Home. One step off that ground and they were trespassers among the human race” (147).
Scarecrow in a field of crops, similar to the one described in the quote above from Beloved
When someone reads a text through the Marxist lens, they are observing how the social classes of the book interact and how their social classes affect one another. By doing this, the reader is able to see which social class has power over the rest, and how this changes interactions between characters from different social classes.
One of the moments in Beloved where this is shown clearly is when Paul D began to look back on his time at Sweet Home. Paul D quickly realized that the world of Sweet Home and the rest of Southern America at the time were two very different places. With the realization that even though Mr. and Mrs. Garner treated them like men, “they were only Sweet Home men at Sweet Home”. Toni Morrison used diction and the use of similes in this quote to convey Paul D’s realization of just how differently they were treated at Sweet Home, than anywhere else.
Sweet Home plantation in Alabama, similar to the plantation in Beloved
If we read this passage through the Marxist lens, we can see how Paul D’s experiences at Sweet Home has changed his views of how Social Classes affect people. It’s important to note that this scene takes place during the times of slavery in Southern America. This resulted in social classes to be very impacted by your ethnicity, with the Caucasians usually on the top and the African Americans on the bottom. This was because at the time African Americans were seen by many as subhumans, or as Paul D put it, “trespassers among the human race”. Which led to strong discrimination and thus they suffered financially even after slavery was abolished.
We can also see in this quote that Toni Morrison uses diction and smart word choice to help convey the point that at the time slaves were the lowest social class. The main part of the quote where diction is used is the final sentence in which Toni Morrison writes, “one step off that ground and they were trespassers among the human race”. She chooses the word “trespassers” because earlier we can see that plantations tend to be societies of its own, with their own ideals and treatment of slaves. In the case of Sweet Home, Mr and Mrs. Garner treat them with respect but if they trespass outside of Sweet Home they’re no longer welcome, nor treated with respect. Not only that but we can also see how the word choice of “human race” conveys the point that Toni Morrison was trying to show us. I believe that she chose the word “race” because during this time the African American race was looked down upon almost like non humans, which is shown here because Toni Morrison talks about how African Americans are “trespassers among the human race”, in other words, only unwelcomed guests of the human race, and not a part of the human race, but something worse.
We can also see that Toni Morrison uses similes to convey her point throughout the book. We can see this when she writes about how African Americans have no power compared to those higher up in the social chain then them, which is, “a truth that waved like a scarecrow in rye”. I believe that Toni Morrison chose the simile of a scarecrow in the rye because Sweet Home was often described in the book as a beautiful place full of fields. However, the truth of just how oppressed the slaves who lived on the land were still apparent, and casted a shadow over the fields, like a scarecrow. Also, African Americans were compared to crows many times during that era, mainly because of the Jim Crow laws that made African Americans second class citizens. Another example of this is in Dumbo with the crows who are portrayed in a very racist way. So we can see that Toni Morrison chose the Scarecrow because it perfectly represented the obvious oppression of the African Americans despite the beauty and the fairness they experienced sometimes at Sweet Home.
In conclusion, we can see how if we read through Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved through the Marxist lens we get to see how social classes affect everyone, especially the African Americans in early America. We can see this in the passage shown above, and in many other places throughout the book. Thanks to reading through the Marxist lens I now have a deeper understanding of the social classes of that time.
To learn more about the Jim Crow laws click on this link: Jim Crow laws
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