It is embedded within human nature to keep secrets, lock away memories, and hold truths only fully known to oneself. Yet, the human body is not impermeable to fully concealing these truths. The eyes have always been known to be the windows to the soul, yet, in the book Beloved, Toni Morrison takes that ideology to an entirely new level. She demonstrates that the eyes can contain the pains and joys of the past, as well as the pain and the joys of the present. A whole new understanding of significant characters such as Sethe, Beloved, Paul D., and Denver is revealed, which helps the reader immerse themselves even deeper within the complex and dense themes of Morrison’s literature. Within the entirety of the first portion of Beloved, occurrences of paranormal and supernatural nature are seen, yet Morrison incorporates no tone of fear. She writes of broken mirrors, dismantled dogs, mysterious handprints, and yet, these happenings hold a lack of horror to them than they would had they been encountered in other stories.
The first time that readers are met with this appropriate feeling of discomfort and unsettlement is not in an act of horror, but instead through the simple description of Beloved’s eyes. When “Beloved’s eyes flew wide open”(66) at Denver’s presence and contained “no expression at all”(66), there is a new kind of tone introduced into the story that is telling to what kind of character Beloved is going to be as the story continues. The eyes act as a way for Morrison to set the tone of a scene without blatantly having to lay it out. The utter obsession and craving for Sethe that Beloved embodies is shown without her even needing to speak a word. Readers can feel this uncomfortable passion as “Sethe was licked, tasted, eaten by Beloved’s eyes”(68). This suggests that her eyes are living beings of their own, like animals hunting desperate for a taste of their prey. In a time period of repression and where silence for the black community was enforced, they eyes are a portal of expression, where feelings and thoughts show themselves without fear of being brutally inhibited. For many slaves, their ability to see was one of the last fundamental rights and survival ability that they had. Whether they were trying to stay “out of Master’s sight”(125) or being entrapped in chains and muzzles, the eyes acted as s source for freedom. It is for anyone to notice that Sethe refuses to accept her past and allow the memories from that time to survive. Paul D once noticed that “Sethe’s eyes were closed….she would keep them closed like that”(31). This can be seen as a metaphor for how Sethe is constantly closing herself off from the past and refusing to see the conditions of her reality. Just as the expression of the eyes are telling, the color of which they are described is just as vital when interpreting a deeper understanding of a character.
In Beloved, there is a constant theme of black vs. white, which is especially visualized within the irises of the character’s eyes. Black and white are commonly known for being binary oppositions, yet the human eye contains both colors simultaneously. Representing balance between purity and darkness, an eye containing both tones would represent someone who is balanced in perhaps their emotions, well-being, and soul. This biological commonality makes it all the more apparent when a character lacks one of the two colors. Morrison uses this largely significant yet tiny detail in her haracter sketches to reveal intimate understandings of a character’s state of mind in that particular scene, or in some cases the entire book. Paul D notices this in Sethe when “In his shame he avoids her eyes, but when he doesn’t he see only black in them-no whites”(269). The lack of white in Sethe’s eyes could suggest an extremity in her emotion. The imagery of someone with a fully black dilation brings a tone of wildness to the surface and, in this case, strips Sethe of any innocence and purity that she might have. It may also lead to suggest a racial commentary through a new meaning of words. White representing Caucasians, it would make sense that Sethe would lack either the sympathy for or similarity to the psychological ways of the white people. Regarding Beloved, Denver notices that “the eyes were big and black”(66). It is interesting to note that Denver says “the” eyes
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