beloved.

124 was disremembered. A house encompassing the spirit of a baby ghost falls short of being a home full of new memories and joyous experiences. Instead, time stands still as its inhabitants dwell upon the past. Sethe is stuck in the rememory of her baby Beloved in hopes of keeping her image alive, while Denver is trapped by 124's false promise of security and company. The outside intruder, Paul D, sees Beloved for what she is, for she is a figment of Sethe's and Denvers rememory and lack of acceptance of the past. It is as though 124 is a tear in the fabric of time; while life is forever changing outside the walls of 124, the inside remains unchanged. 

In regards to my big question, "to what degree does chronological age influence who we are?", Beloved unveils the struggles of coming to terms with the past in order to move past internal entrapment of a specific time. If Denver's age were not specified, readers would be inclined to believe she is a child in the ways she gets lonely in absence of Beloved and Sethe. Strangely enough, grasping on to the past holds Denver back from maturing into an active person of society. Only when Beloved behaves vampire-like does Denver finally leave 124 in search of community and social interaction. The most healthy decisions for Denver was to progress away from a past predisposition of how the outside world is perceived. Only then, did Denver behave her age and assume responsibilities of an adult in society.

In stark contrast, Beloved continues to behave like the unprotected baby she is to Sethe. Beloved only took, even when there was nothing to give. She eats all the food and leaves Sethe with nothing but crumbs at the bottom of the pie pan. Sethe even quit her job to tenderly care for Beloved. Like a baby in the body of a matured woman, Beloved does not know when to stop wanting more. Her rather naive and childish behavior greatly contrasts the body she is put in, for one she even becomes pregnant! Regardless, it is clear that a mindset that dwells on the past only leads to actions that reflect the same.

Although there is a tendency to want to relive the past whether it is tragic or uplifting, the past has a way of creeping into the way we act in the present. Only in the last chapter of Beloved, when 124 and the presence of Beloved became disremembered and unaccounted, did Sethe, Denver, and Paul D begin to move towards constructive mentality of the present. It took Paul D, the only masculine figure, to save Sethe from a fate no different from Baby Suggs. He is the beacon of reality in a home encompassing past memories and feelings. Yes, it is inevitable for the past to change who we are today, but it is only debilitating to live in the present in hopes of it being the past. 

invisible man.

Throughout The Invisible Man, the anonymous narrator experiences a cycle of progression and regression as a Black man struggling to be seen in a white society. Initially, this invisible character tells the readers that he is writing from a hole underground, and at the end of his story, he finds himself trapped in a manhole.Despite his age and experience in the world, the narrator still struggles to overcome invisibility. As a child, the narrator appears naive during his speech at the battle royal; he struggles with being able to firmly say "social equality" in the face of authority. Perhaps this is a clear moment of invisibility in comparison to his deliberate speeches to the brotherhood several years after.

As the narrator ages, he believes that he is outgrowing his invisibility. Ironically, his maturity in age does not help him escape the inevitability of his predisposition. Even while he is in the brotherhood, he becomes invisible to what he is fighting for; the brotherhood sends him away for he is assigned to women's issues. Emerson explores the idea of invisibility not only to oneself, but to others. One could argue that the narrator is now visible to oneself, but still struggles with making himself seen to others. The narrator, aware of his current state (as revealed in the prologue and epilogue) has gained a strong sense of self through experiences triumphs and defeat. Unfortunately, he is still unable to present himself to others in a way that makes him visible. He is even writing this entire story from beneath a hole! In this case, chronological age does not factor into changing how others perceive him. He has personally grown through experience, but the world remains indifferent.