Mine

The sense of self-possession -- the inner freedom, power, and sense of control -- involved in what the narrator of Invisible Man's ultimate laughter represents and Bigger's ownership of his murders as a manifestation of part of his identity resonates with the significance of Sethe's claim to her actions in Toni Morrison's Beloved. 

Sethe believes her actions -- killing her daughter and attempting to kill her sons -- manifest the power of her love in the way Bigger considers what he killed for "must've been good" because although he cannot articulate what it is exactly, he felt something hard enough to do it. It is the evident power of Sethe's full-fledged belief in her perception of love that scares Paul D, thinking, "This here Sethe talked about safety with a handsaw...more important than what Sethe had done was what she claimed"; much like how Bigger's perception of what constitutes his identity intimidates Max. 

This suggestion of finding an inner power or freedom in fully embracing or submitting to a truth or "reality" is depicted again through Stamp Paid's contemplation of Baby Suggs' weariness and ultimate rejection of "the word,": "..and she could not approve or condemn Sethe's rough choice. One or the other might have saved her, but beaten up by the claims of both, she went to bed."

Stamp Paid's thoughts get at the inextricable difficulty of Bigger's near-enlightenment, or any philosophy and belief system; the idea that we can never really know if we are close to the truth or simply better at coping as Stamp Paid implies when he says that either approving or disproving of Sethe -- but fully embracing one or the other -- would have "saved" Baby Suggs. To Stamp Paid, being"saved" seems to signify the ability to stay sane despite circumstance.

While there is a certain inner freedom in this self-possession, as it makes Bigger readier to die, Sethe able to live with the ghost, I think it is pretty evident that Sethe is still far from free as Bigger is similarly unable to be completely free. Sethe remains haunted by her past; perhaps never able to truly embrace her interpretation of love. However, when she realizes who Beloved is, the exhilaration she feels and freedom from part of what has haunted her is derived from the affirmation of her motivations she receives; as she thinks, "Beloved...she mine." In this way, the role of freedom in fully claiming something, or the power of the belief behind it manifests itself, especially considering the circumstance Sethe lives under, having been considered property of others for most of her life; still in many ways claimed by them. She begins to fantasize about all her children coming back to her and most significantly, their understanding; being misunderstood a significant fear of all the protagonists of the novels we have read so far this semester. I wonder then to what extent this inner freedom comes with claiming a reality or if one ever fully claims one at all.

This isn't a completely developed idea however because I was also thinking about how the feeling that Sethe articulates -- which Bigger would describe as what she felt "awful hard" enough to kill -- is love, carrying the implications of a haunting investment in the potential of life (even if it's on the "other side") and  people, why she still holds on to her past; as she thinks of herself as belonging to Beloved as well, thinking, "I wouldn't draw breath without my children." Perhaps that is why Bigger seems less haunted, more free; although still not completely. I'm not sure how I would articulate exactly what Bigger felt hard enough to kill but his murders are less influenced by human connection and  seem to resonate more with a nihilistic motivation which paradoxically is what gives his acts meaning.