Communities are complicated. Each is more than just a group of people living together in one place: they are meant to provide their members with a sense of belonging and acceptance, but often ostracize those who are different. They often embody and amplify the human flaws of peer pressure and selfishness. The black community in Toni Morrison's Beloved sometimes creates a warm and welcoming environment for Sethe, but more often they judge and refuse to help her. In this novel, the community only offers salvation when the recipient appears vulnerable and needy, and withholds help from those who are perceived as too proud. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Before the arrival of the Four Horsemen, the community continually supports Sethe in her escape and recovery. After Stamp Paid takes Sethe across the river, Ella, who is there to meet her, not only brings her food to take care of her body, but also tries to help comfort her condition mental. She listens to "the holes [in Sethe's story] – the things [she] didn't ask for" about her children and reassures her that they arrived safely. Ella understands what's on Sethe's mind and does what she knows to relieve her of her worries. Ella and later the rest of the community care for Sethe's body and mind, helping her heal and settle. In the first month that Sethe is 124 years old, there is a "woman with [a] bonnet who...[cries] inside her." cooking” while helping Sethe take care of her baby. Despite any trauma or pain she may have experienced before arriving there, she continues to cook for others and help Sethe with the child. This woman represents the entire black community. Each member has a painful past, but it is because of this past that they are willing to help all the other escaped slaves and assimilate them into their social circle. The community's failure to warn Sethe of the teacher's arrival is the result of their resentment towards Sethe and Baby Sugg's perceived pride. Baby's celebration of Sethe's safe arrival, which began with the buckets of blackberries Stamp had picked for her, quickly turned into an "elaborate feast for ninety people", with " ten (maybe twelve) pies and “five turkeys” (161). Although the community came to the party happy, the next day, community members came to the conclusion that Baby had crossed the line between generosity and ostentation with his elaborate feast and resented his "unwarranted pride" (161). . The community viewed the amount of food provided this time as excessive rather than abundant, and viewed this as a farcical display of how much excess they could and could not afford. Additionally, many community members were unhappy with Baby's role as a spiritual leader in society, as she had never suffered the humiliation and hardships they experienced, such as "[picking] okra with a baby on my back” (162). She didn't even have to escape slavery, but her son redeemed her. They now see Baby's preaching as another demonstration of her pride and self-righteousness, and wonder what gave her the right to preach to them about self-love when she had not suffered like them. . The next day, no one in the community warned the inhabitants of 124 of the arrival of the four horsemen, although Stamp later analyzes that they were clearly slave catchers, with "justice" to their advantage.a subject that “every Negro has learned to recognize” as dangerous from an early age (185). There are many reasons why they did not warn Sethe, even though they knew why the white men had come, such as resentment of Baby's excesses, the desire to find out how "Baby was" blessed in some way” that they were not, or the belief that they were not. that others had already gone to warn them (185). However, all the reasons stem from their belief that the residents of 124, due to their "unjustified pride", no longer needed the community's help to survive (161). As a result, they refused the help they would have thoughtlessly given before the party, resulting in a tragedy that plunged Baby into depression and will forever haunt Sethe. The community refuses to support Sethe after she kills her baby because she is on her own. too proudly and refuses to show the slightest regret. As Sethe walks toward the sheriff's wagon after the schoolteacher leaves, she stands tall and proud, her profile "clean as a knife," to show that she did not regret killing her baby and having tried to kill his other children (179). For Sethe, whatever life her children would have had as slaves was worse than death, and so she fulfilled her maternal duty by avoiding suffering the horrors of slavery as she did . However, for the community, his head was “a little too high” and his back “a little too straight” (179). If they had been mad at Sethe just because she wasn't sorry for killing her child, Morrison would have simply written that her head was high and her back straight. Instead, Morrison indicates by using "also" that most members of the community would have forgiven Sethe if she were not sorry for her actions. However, they thought that she was actually proud of them and felt superior to everyone because she had killed their children. She stands proudly and refuses to let the community see her shame or weakness, even after killing her children, which is what causes the community to hold back the "singing that would [otherwise] have started." right away” (179). They were so ready to offer their support in the form of singing, because whatever she did, they would have helped her if they didn't think she was too proud to let them. would have formed a “cloak of sound… to retain and stabilize it” from its departure 124 (179). The cape, a symbol of warmth during trials, is an example of the salvation that the community is capable of providing. the people of the community are only willing to offer this salvation to those who appear to need help, and are unwilling to provide it to Sethe as soon as they see her perceived arrogance. The community is ready to help Denver when she leaves 124 and exposes her family's vulnerability and refuses to offer help to Paul D because he has not acted in the same way. The community's attitude toward offering or refusing help is summed up in Ella's assertion that "all [Paul D] has to do is ask someone » to find accommodation (219). Just as the community perceived Sethe as being too proud to ask for help, Ella and the rest of the community believe that Paul D is also "a little proud" and therefore does not willingly offer her a place to stay (219). . As difficult as the task is, as long as Paul D is humble enough to express his need and ask the community for help, the residents would be happy to “give him anything” (219). However, actively seeking help is the prerequisite for community support, which explains Paul D's cold treatment but willingness to help Denver. Sethe had completely shut down and had.