...the Middle Passage, against the pull of America's forgetf ulness. As Morrison has said, "[The book] is about something that the characters don't want...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember. I mean, it's national amnesia."12 One small vignette in Morrison's story speaks...

...Morrison described her then most recent novel, Beloved,1 in this way: "I thought this has got to be the least read of all the books I'd written because...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember. I mean, it's national amnesia."2 The object of this wish for forgetfulness...

...a logjam. A lot of people died. Half of them died in those ships. ... I thought this has got to be the least read of all the books I'd written because...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember. I mean it's national amnesia.11 As Mae G. Henderson points out, Morrison's...

...presents. Sne has said in an interview that she expected Beloved to be the least read of all her books because "it is about something that the characters...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember, I mean, it's national amnesia" (Angelo, 120). However, because Beloved insists...

...willingly placed under erasure by what she calls a "national amnesia": "I thought this has got to be the least read of all the books I'd written because it is about something the characters don't want to remember, I don't want to remember, black people don't want to remember,...

...Memory Politics1 In a 1989 interview, To ni Morrison remarked about Behved,"l thought this has got to be the least read of all the books I'd written because...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember. I mean it's national amnesia."2 Clearly, Morrison's prediction about her book's...

...the fact that Beloved, according to Morrison, is a story about something no one wants to remember: "The characters don't want to remember, I don't want...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember."8 What no one wants to remember, she thinks, is slavery, and whether or not...

...African American writing. She is quoted as suggesting that this omission is the result of slavery, which "black people don't want to remember, white people won't want to remember — [I]t's national amnesia" (Bouson 131). Nevertheless, despite her misgivings and her fear that Beloved...

...that the 6 Byatt, Ibid. 7 Morrison, Beloved, 56 8 Morrison, Beloved, 335 9 Morrison, Beloved, 44, 45 characters don't want to remember, I don't want to...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember, I mean, it's national amnesia."90 In conclusion, it can be said that one of...

...feelings during slavery, their fear, anger, and despair, they were all dis-remembered "because it is something that the characters don't want to remember,...black people don't want to remember, white people don't want to remember. I mean, it's national amnesia" (Angelo). What is left are the bare facts of...