Story Style

There is something to be said of this way of telling a story. The ambiguity and the shifting perspectives allow for something a more straightforward (Beginning, then middle, then end) cannot. It allows the audience to decide when and where the parts of the story are and how they fit in a story structure. The way my english teacher called it was, "it hides its conclusion." For instance, if we were to take this story in chronological order, (Sethe at sweet home, Marries Halle, Raped, Escapes, Kill her Beloved, escapes to freedom, Beloved haunts her, then Paul D shows up to make her remember everything,) that places all of the importance on Sethe, and limits the focus and the meaning of the book. The turning point would be when she killed Beloved, the conclusion would be the rest of the story. But, the way the book is presented, all of these differing perspectives, the shifting, ambiguous narrative becomes something a little more exploratory. It's able to channel the force of the story, and present the story with more depth. Indeed, the climax of the story would be when Beloved, Sethe, and Denver speak in the same voice the same perspective, the past present and future coming together at once. The structure of the story lends itself to the meaning.