Of Mourning and Melancholia

Mourning and melancholia both come out of a sense of loss and a felt disruption of the self; the one can speak of this loss and disruption, the other cannot. In order to recognize and speak of loss, the ego must feel sufficiently equipped to deal with it. Melancholia results from an inability to recognize and articulate the loss because the pain is too profound, too primitive, and hidden too deep in the recesses of the unconscious for the ego to handle. Melancholia needs to be managed by allowing mourning to finish and the ego wound to heal. But this healing itself is not sufficient; there has to be an admission that the ego is not whole and is impotent to begin with. At times however, melancholia can be necessary because the price of admitting to certain losses is too high for the ailing psyche to pay. For example, Sethe’s house number, 124, names that which Sethe herself must repress-her daughter’s murder at Sethe’s own hands.

In order to escape melancholia, one needs not so much to form new attachment relationships as to recognize one’s loss. Sethe’s “disremembering” could not exorcise Beloved. Paul D’s exorcism succeeded, if only for a while, because he could face Beloved and acknowledge the loss and impotence that she stood for while also willing to match his will against hers. The refiguring of Beloved’s murder scene at the novel’s climax allowed Sethe to finally come to terms with her memories of loss and trauma. With the community’s support, she is now able to enter her mourning period. Beloved is finally exorcised, her memory finally put to rest, and her claim to recognition finally fulfilled.