Custom «The Style of Toni Morrisons Beloved» Essay Paper Sample

Morrison doesn't seem to unnecessarily overcomplicate her writing, but nevertheless, this author varies her wording enough that much of the work in the book does not sound repetitious although the author talks about the something more often. Morrison refers to Paul D's trembling as a flutter, rippling and shaking (pg 106) and says that his hands 'quit taking instructions'. In this way, the author keeps her readers involved by maintaining a high level of interest in the story. The phrase 'his hands quit taking instructions' shows how she states facts the way they are. Because of her straight forward nature, this author's words come with a lot of power. She just tells the plain and simple truth.

The author's characteristic straightforwardness is well captured by the phrase "The miracle of their obedience came with the hammer at dawn." Born into an inherently detestable and unenviable life of slavery, Paul D tries to inwardly rebel against the world he has lived in all his life. He is not ready to obey the white people any more. He is so enraged against them that he has lost his limbs and yet he knows that he has to do what he must do, which he eventually manages by controlling himself. Paul D quickly gains the ability to completely disguise his inner feelings but despite his rage, he keeps a warm composure whenever he is with his masters. This is deliberate fashion the author uses and this way, she lends credence to everything she says and thus makes the story sound like her own account of the episodes without embellishing it for the purpose of creating the dramatic effect.

A closely related technique that this stylistic author uses is shock through simplicity. A good example of this is the sentence '...would not hold his hands to urinate...'. This sentence, though written in simper grammar and basic vocabulary, delivers the author's point in a more meaningful and much stronger way than if she had used big words. It sounds somehow shocking as such things are rarely talked of in everyday conversations but since the author uses simple language in her writing, this anathema seems almost out of place. Due to the unexpectedness, the reader is left worried and has the most dramatic impact that no more advanced vocabulary can cause.

A similar case of language use appears is depicted in the phrase 'He was sent there after trying to kill Brandywine, the man schoolteacher sold him to'. Here, Morrison is calmly narrating the ability of Paul D in maintaining physical fitness but incidentally makes a reference to a criminal attempt. The suddenness of this sentence creates a state of mental double-take in the reader since it seems to appear from nowhere. This way, the author's work carries an apparent forcefulness that verbosity cannot attain.

The author never uses any words that she doesn't she does not have to. She narrates her story in a very plain and simple manner and with a touch of bleak sadness. Because of this simple and yet powerful technique, Morrison's language portrays an uncommon power and her nature-of-factness makes the story seem more real. The unexpectedness shocking of one-sentence stories makes the reader think about what she could knows. With this totally unusual style, Morrison's novel, Beloved exhibits an enthralling intensity that is rarely depicted in other literary works.