How to Cite:

Atu, R. A. K., Hussein, A. L., & Hussein, N. M. (2022). Stylistic analysis of sarcasm in
some selected extracts of schoolteacher in Morrison’s beloved. Linguistics and Culture
Review, 6(S2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.21744/lingcure.v6nS2.1888

Stylistic Analysis of Sarcasm in Some Selected

Extracts of Schoolteacher in Morrison’s Beloved

Rusul Abdel Kareem Atu

University of Misan, College of Education for Human Sciences, Iraq

Abbas Lutfi Hussein

Mutansiriyah University, College of Arts, Iraq

Nadia Majeed Hussein

Middle Technical University, Technical instructors Training Institute, Iraq

Abstract---Sarcasm is a manipulative concept which can be utilized in

different forms and different senses to express different intentions.
Toni Morrison makes full use of linguistic and figurative tools to
express her sarcastic events and situations. Thus, this paper
investigates the stylistic use of sarcasm in some selected extracts of
Schoolteacher in Morrison’s ‘Beloved’, focusing on the purposes
behind the use of sarcasm in this novel. Five extracts are selected to
be stylistically analyzed in terms of Leech and Short’s (2007) model.
The paper concludes that Morrison utilizes lexical, grammatical and
figurative devices to depict the schoolteacher’s sarcastic views and
events concerning slaving black people.

Keywords---beloved, sarcasm, schoolteacher, stylistics, Toni

Morrison.

Introduction

One of the most haunting characters Morrison has ever created is the ruthless
slave-holder she portrays in Beloved. She pictures Schoolteacher as the merciless
representative of the horrendous institution of slavery, and thereby subverts
Euro-Americans myths of whites’ benevolence and high merits. By relating and
dramatizing Schoolteacher’s behavior and deeds, she exposes that beneath his
seemingly civilized pretense exists a malicious racist ironic mentality that is more
callous and inhuman than racialism of many other slave-owners. His devastating
scientific attitude toward Sweet Home slaves presents them subhuman creatures
that should be studied and scrutinized to know exactly what they are, to detect

Linguistics and Culture Review © 2022.

Corresponding author: Atu, R. A. K.; Email: smmerlyu65@gmail.com
Manuscript submitted: 18 July 2021, Manuscript revised: 09 Oct 2021, Accepted for publication: 21 Nov 2021
1
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whether they would be fit by applying scientific methods to train them, and to
invest their body as the means of production more profitably.

The schoolteacher does “invest” the body of Sweet Home slaves as the “force of
production”. He investigates their behavior and attributes and tries to “train”
them like animals. When they disobey him or their behaviors do not match his
expectations, he uses “instruments of violence” against them and tortures their
disobedience, non-subjugated bodies in the most brutal ways that do not tone
with his initial seemingly “pretty manners.” To exert his power over Sweet Home
slaves and to exploit their body more profitably. Schoolteacher mostly tortures
their body in the most brutal ways, and thereby his charade of civilization
disintegrates (Bogler, 2002; Schoeps et al., 2019). The demeanor of this
supposedly civilized subject of knowledge does not only epitomize the appalling
institution of slavery. It seems that Morrison often resorts to various stylistic
devices to express Schoolteacher to attain the purposes behind issuing sarcastic
scenes (Madden, 1995; Wall, 2007). Thus, the following pages are devoted to the
presentation of a summary of Beloved, the concept of sarcasm and its overlapping
terms, the concept of stylistics, focusing on the stylistic features (Adachi et al.,
2004; Justo et al., 2014).

Beloved: Synopsis

Beloved takes us back to the present and to memories of the past. It is “about the
desire to forget and the necessity to remember”. The novel begins by saying that
the house, in which former slave Sethe and her daughter Denver live, is "full of
child poison". The child is the dead daughter of Sethe whose spirit haunts her
home in 124 Bluestone Road. Sethe was driven beyond most people's
imagination, seeing her children die by her hand rather than being killed mentally
and spiritually, and most likely also physically by white slave owners. Sethe's
deepest fear is that her children will grow up amid the dehumanization of slavery,
and thus, she escapes from Sweet Home Farm where she and her children are
held as slaves. She decides to kill them all including herself, and only succeeds
with her eldest daughter. Her act protects the children from slavery, but the
family is torn apart and the spirit of the child that Sethe manages to kill is
angered. The spirit of the child returns to haunt Sethe's home and is uninhibited
by her two sons, Howard and Boglar.

Sarcasm

The word “sarcasm” comes from the Greek “sarkasmós” from the verb “sarkázein”
meaning “to tear flesh, bite the lip in rage, sneer.” Sarcasm is a form of ridicule or
mockery that tends to be harsh, cruel, and contemptuous and is often described
as destructive (Nilsen & Nilsen, 2018). It is a verbal irony that expresses negative
and critical attitudes toward persons or events (Kreuz & Glucksberg, 1989). So,
the sentence ‘Your shirt would totally suit my 5 year old nephew!’ is sarcastic
because it is ironic with an implied negative sentiment, and ridicules the listener
(Joshi et al., 2018).

To get an impression of how the general public understands sarcasm, Rockwell

(2006), defines sarcasm as a way of mocking, joking, or smiling that one shows
 3

against someone else. It is “said to be expressed through vocal intonation such as

an overemphasis on an actual phrase or specific words”. In other words, being
sarcastic means making fun of others using a special vocal tone accompanied by
certain facial expression (Cheang & Pell, 2008; Persicke et al., 2013).

From a linguistic viewpoint, Giora (1995), describes sarcasm as a form of negation

in which an explicit negation marker is lacking. In other words, when one
expresses sarcasm, a negation is intended but a negation word like ‘not’ is absent.
An interesting implication of this is that a sarcastic sentence can be converted to
a non-sarcastic sentence by applying an appropriate negation. For example, the
sarcastic sentence ‘I love being ignored’ is equivalent to the non-sarcastic
sentence ‘I do not love being ignored.’

Sarcasm & overlapping concepts

Sarcasm has been utilized in different fields (social, political, religious…etc.) to

predict different types of meanings; therefore, there have been some terms
overlapping with sarcasm. In one occasion, it can be used interchangeability with
humor, in another with irony, yet in a third with satire. Thus, the following pages
are devoted to displaying the concepts that are associated with sarcasm (Burke,
2017).

Humor

The word “humor” comes from Latin humor, which means liquid, including body
fluids. Ancient doctors asserted that an individual’s well-being depended on the
balance between four such fluids: blood, sputum, black bile and yellow bile. When
these bodily fluids are disproportionate, various personality traits appear; excess
blood, for example, makes one an optimist or a pessimist. In this way “humor”
was associated with the idea of a person whose temperament deviates from the
norm. These people were considered cranky (Carroll, 2014).

Based on the psychological state of humor, Meyer (2000), defines humor as a

cognitive state of fun. Focusing on an appreciation of humor, Weisfeld (1993),
defines an appreciation of humor as "a distinct and enjoyable effect often
accompanied by laughter." Laughter is the most obvious behavioral expression of
humor as it includes a distinct behavioral pattern that also has
psychophysiological associations. Ruch & Ekman (2001), describe laughter as an
expressive sound signal which provides an overview of laughter in terms of
breathing, expression, facial movement, body movement, mechanisms, and
element definition. In line with Weisfeld (1993), humor-induced laughter is
associated with a pleasant emotional state associated with joy and joy.

According to Long & Graesser (1988), humor is "anything done or said, purposely
or inadvertently, that is found to be comical or amusing". Martineau (1972) adds
that humor can be manipulated to refer to any communication that is perceived
as humorous, Similarly, Romero & Cruthirds (2006) describes humor as amusing
communications that create a positive cognitive and emotional reaction in a
person or a group.
4

Irony

According to the Dictionary of Literature in English (2002), irony is a term used to

describe words or situations charged with a layer of meaning that differs from the
literal or direct meaning, and the sub-interpretation that a speaker or participant
can or may not be aware of. The least subtle form of irony is blatant sarcasm.
Among the many famous writers who used a lot of irony in their writing are
Austin, Chaucer, Dryden, Fielding, Hardy, Henry James, Johnson, Milton, Pope,
Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, and Wu. A good example comes from the famous
sentence:

“It is a universally recognized fact that a single man with good fortune
must be in need of a wife.”

Irony here is based on the assumption, from a feminine point of view, that such a
man must wish to marry, and the reader understands that this "truth" is by no
means true. The "truth" is that unmarried women desire wealthy husbands, and
the irony of Austen's way of expressing this was not lost on readers of her age
(ibid). According to The Sterling Dictionary (1998), irony is a character in speech in
which what is said in reality is the opposite of what is intended (Fischli et al.,
1998).

Grice (1975), asserts that ironic phrases convey the opposite meaning of what the
speaker actually wants to express. He regards irony as an implicature condition
obtained by mocking one of the two quality rules: "Do not say what you think is
wrong." Grice indicates that the listener realizes that what the speaker is saying
is not true. Then, following the principle of cooperation, the listener assumes that
the speaker's contribution must coincide with the principle of relationship, thus
seeking a suitable interpretation. Later, research has shown not only that
violation of other principles may also lead to ridicule, but also irony can be
achieved while respecting all principles (King & King, 2002).

Satire

There are many ways of looking at life: sarcasm is one of them. Responding to the
world with a mixture of laughter and indignation may not be the best method, nor
is it most likely to result in good deeds or great art; but it is the way of satire.
Satire, is referred to as “the use of ridicule, irony, sarcasm, etc. to expose, attack
or ridicule vices, stupidity etc.” (Hodgart, 1969). Satire is dedicated to exposing
human folly and its goal is to inspire critical thinking and rational social
engagement. It is often accompanied by irony, parody and wordplay. It is regularly
mixed with sarcasm, irony and ridicule. These different comedic and critical styles
are often found side by side, which means that a comedian might make a sharp
point of sarcasm, one moment to turn around and sarcastically attack someone
the next time (McClennen & Maisel, 2016).

Stylistics

According to Leech & Short (2007), stylistics is mainly the “linguistic study of
style, simply as describing the use of language”. Usually, style is investigated as
 5

one intends to explain something, and in general, literary stylistics has, implicitly
or explicitly, the goal of explaining the relationship between language and artistic
function (Armstrong, 2002; Boje & Rhodes, 2006).

In the same vein, Spencer (2007), illustrates that stylistics refers to the use of
linguistics as a tool of literary criticism through which aesthetic effects of
language can be investigated. Both literary and linguistic studies are concerned
with the study of language, and more specifically, style. However, linguistics may
only use a literary work as a source or document composing the history of a
language. Linguistics becomes a tool for literary criticism when the aesthetic
effects of language are also examined. To be a part of literary criticism, “the style
itself must be an object of contemplation (ibid).

For Verdonk (2002), stylistics is concerned with the study of style in language. It
can be defined as analyzing a distinct expression in language and describing its
purpose and effect. How to conduct such an analysis and description, and how to
establish the relationship between them, are matters on which different scholars
of stylistics, or stylisticians agree or disagree. The relationship between stylistics
and linguistics is that stylistics uses language models, analytical techniques, and
linguistics methodologies to facilitate the study of style in its broadest sense.

Finally, Wales (2001), maintains that a stylistic approach in the study of style can
be viewed in many ways, so there are many different stylistic approaches. This
diversity of style is due to major influences of linguistics and literary criticism,
and by far the most common type of material studied is literary text (Suryasa,
2019). The main aim of stylistics is not simply to describe formal features of texts
for their own benefit, but to demonstrate their functional significance for text
interpretation. It intends to relate literary influences to linguistic "causes" where
they are felt relevant (Vowel et al., 2017; Britsyn et al., 2021). Stylisticians want
to avoid vague and impressionistic judgments about the way formal attributes are
manipulated. As a result, stylistics is based on models and terminology provided
by whatever aspect of linguistics feels appropriate (Sharma, 1998).

Methodology

The study involves the stylistic analysis of sarcasm in some selected extracts of
Schoolteacher in Beloved. The analysis is carried out following the heuristic
checklist of linguistic and stylistic categories presented by Leech & Short (2007).
The checklist provides a ‘systematic basis’ for the collection of relevant linguistic
data from the text for the purpose of stylistic evaluation and offers levels for
analyzing linguistic choices made by the novelist. These levels include lexical,
syntactic, and semantic features and figures of speech. Leech & Short (2007),
point out that while the list itself is selective one, leaving out a lot of detail, it
allows the reader to reach the significant and relevant features of the text through
linguistic survey.

Model of analysis

Leech & Short (2007), begin their book, "Style in Fiction" by defining a method
that refers to the way in which a person "uses language in a given context for a
6

purpose or cause". For them, style is a crucial method for analyzing literary texts
(novels and stories) by exploiting methods and techniques related to linguistics.
Looking at style as merely a study of stylization, it is described as an "exercise in
describing the use of language", and an attempt to clarify the relationship
between "language and the technical function", directly or indirectly (ibid: 11).
However, their focus is on "written literary texts because they are the best
representative of their author, period." In addition, in written texts, "how language
serves a particular artistic function can be explored”.

Further, Leech and Short affirm that the selection of linguistic structures (words,
phrases and sentences) is not done in isolation from the context in which the
choice is made. Then, stylistics is more concerned with deviations from the rules,
or as they describe (ibid: 55), "the phenomenon of internal deviation in the text
through which the features of the language within that text may deviate from the
standards of that text". There is no perfect way to suggest a stylistic analysis for
conservatives and identify all the important features, but they understand that
each text has a technical result in general, and this shows the way to the
linguistic aspects to be present in the whole. So, they (ibid: 61-64) assume their
inferential model as they call it, consisting of a checklist of four headings: lexical
categories, grammatical categories, speech forms, coherence and context. They
justify the surplus of semantics as a separate class that can be accessed via other
classes, or in other words, all classes interact with semantics, thus, the heading
styles in the analysis are:

Table 1
Leech and short’s (2007) model

Stylistic Contents
Categories
Lexical General (simple-complex, formal-colloquial, idiomatic phrases,
Categories dialect- register, rare vocabulary? Are any particular
morphological categories noteworthy (e.g. compound words,
words with particular suffixes)? To what semantic field do words
belong?
Nouns (abstract-concrete, nouns referring to events, perceptions,
processes, moral qualities, social qualities, proper names uses ,
collective nouns).
Adjectives types: frequent, attribute adjectives (physical,
psychological, visual, auditory, color, referential, emotive,
evaluative, etc.) restrictive or non-restrictive adjectives, gradable
or non-gradable, attributive or predicative.
Verb types stative (referring to states) or dynamic (referring to
actions, events, etc), movements, physical acts, speech acts,
psychological states or activities, perceptions, etc., transitive,
intransitive, linking (intensive), factitive or non- factitive.
Adverb may be frequent, the semantic functions they perform
(manner, place, direction, time, degree, etc), their significant use
(conjuncts such as so, therefore, however, disjuncts such as
certainly, obviously, frankly)
 7

Grammatical Sentence type

Categories Sentence complexity
Clause type
Clause structure
Noun phrase - Verb phrase
Other phrase types
Word classes
Figures Grammatical and lexical schemes (formal and structural
of speech, repetition, anaphora, parallelism, etc.)
Phonological schemes (rhyme, alliteration, assonance, etc.)
All the Tropes foregrounding and deviation and traditional poetic
foregrounded figures such as metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy,
features in all etc.
linguistic levels
come under
this section
Cohesion Logic link between sentences
and Linguistic clues of addresser-addressee relationship
Context

Based on Leech and Short’s model (2007), the study tends to stylistically
investigate the lexical, grammatical categories, cohesion and context and
figurative features of English and Arabic novels. That is:

 Lexical features include noun, verb, adjective and adverb.

 Grammatical features include sentence types and sentence complexity.
 Cohesion and context include grammatical and lexical ties.
 Figure of speech include metaphor, simile and metonymy.

Essentially, the stylistic analysis begins with the linguistic level then moves
toward literary criticism and evaluation of the text based on the objectivity of the
linguistic analysis. To provide a more illustrative description of the model of
analysis, consider Figure 2.
8

Figure 2. Model of analysis

Data Analysis

In terms of the proposed model presented above, the data of the present paper
involves five extracts which are selected to be stylistically analyzed.

Extract (1)
''He would have to trade this here one for $900 …. With the money from
‘this here one’ he could get two young ones, twelve or fifteen years old”

Analysis

After his failed escape, Paul D hears schoolteacher make plans about what to do
with him and how to get back Sethe and her children. Schoolteacher’s reflections
over his options drive home the monetary aspect of slavery. He feels himself to be
part of the Sweet Home community. Ironically, slavery means that Sethe, her
children, and the others are just like any other animals on the farm, only valued
 9

for their ability to labor and produce. Sarcastically, this scene shows how slavery
reduces all humans and destroys humanity.

Lexically, the writer uses the stative verb (get) to make fun of the slaves who were
playing with them as if they were animals for trade and profit. Ridiculously, the
abstract noun (money) is employed to reveal investment and contempt of slaves’
body as a means of production, the long-exploited slaves were impelled to regard
their own bodies as the properties of slave-owners, and consequently no sense of
selfhood was formed and developed in them. Ironically, the word (trade) describes
slaves as merchandise which could be sold around in order to increase the profit
of the masters.

Grammatically, the writer uses a declarative compound sentence which includes

the coordinating conjunction (or) to choose between slaves '' two young ones,
twelve or fifteen years old'', as if they were merchandise for sale, not humans.
Ironically, to look at slaves without humanity is reflected in a way as if they were
a commodity to sell for profit. Cohesively, the writer uses references in her speech
' this here one' to refer to Paul D as it reinforces slavery’s view of slaves as
bartered objects. Figuratively, the repetition of (this here one) in '' He would
have to trade this here one for $900 …. With the money from ‘this here one
'' is employed to make sure that slaves are just animals whose bodies are invested
for profit.

Extract (2)
'' See how he liked it; see what happened when you overbear creatures God
had given you the responsibility of…. the trouble it was, and the loss. ''

Analysis

The schoolteacher truly believes that blacks are a class of animals, and that he is
responsible for both their wellbeing and positive contribution to society. He
believes that blacks will run wild and wreak havoc in white people’s society.
Slaves are not human beings; they are mere animals who must be tamed.
Sarcastically, blacks are likened to slaves; they are animals in the eye of the
writer.

Lexically, the writer uses a concrete noun (creatures) to indicate slaves whom he
considers subhuman. Ironically, slaves are compared to creatures, (i.e. animals).
With this use, the writer ridicules black people and sees slaves as no more than
animals. Ridiculously, the abstract noun (responsibility) is manipulated to refer
to the schoolteacher who truly believes that slaves are a class of animals, and
that he is responsible for both their wellbeing and positive contribution to society.
Grammatically, the writer resorts to the simple sentence beginning with the verb
(see) to give an idea about schoolteacher who considers slaves as subhuman
creatures whose bodies should be invested – the means of production more
profitably. Figuratively, the writer uses metaphor to compare the slaves with the
creatures (animals) to make fun of slaves because slaves are compared to animals
they own. The verb (see) is repeated in ' See how he liked it; see what
happened ' to mock at the slaves by likening them to creatures.
10

Extract (3)
''The very nigger with his head hanging and a little jelly-jar smile on his face
could all of a sudden roar, like a bull or some such, and commence to do
disbelievable things. Grab the rifle at its mouth; throw himself at the one
holding it—anything. So you had to keep back a pace, leave the trying to
another. Otherwise you ended up killing what you were paid to bring back
alive. Unlike a snake or a bear, a dead nigger could not be skinned for profit
and was not worth his own dead weight in coin.''

Analysis

The transformation from child to bull results in an unbelievable thing. The word
Morrison uses here is an amalgamation of disobedience because it is a deliberate
rejection of the assumptions of white supremacy and power in the very face of it.
Sarcastically, the negro-animal must be captured carefully, like a horse or mule,
he is only useful when alive. His flesh cannot be used; his skin cannot be sold. In
this way, he is less than domesticated livestock or game.

Lexically, the animal names (snake, bear, bull) are used for mockery; in this
sense, slaves are compared to animals by the Schoolteacher. The slave captured
carefully is only useful when alive. Hi cannot be used for meat, his skin cannot be
sold. Ridiculously, the concrete noun (roar) is used to compare the voice of slaves
to the voice of a bull. She uses the dynamic verb (skinned) to indicate that the
skin of slaves cannot be used, unlike animal skin, it can be profitable. The non-
gradable adjective (alive) is employed to mock at the negro-animal which must be
carefully captured, because he is less than domesticated livestock or game.
Morrison depicts the investment of slaves’ body as a means of production and the
ruthless abuse of them by slaveholders, as one of the horrendous aspects of
slavery (Sy, 2021). Besides, she shows that as the result of that callous
maltreatment, the long-exploited slaves were impelled to regard their bodies as
the property of slave-owners and thus no sense of selfhood was formed and
developed in them.

Grammatically, the writer uses a compound sentence where more than one
conjunction is involved. The first coordinating conjunction (or) is used to ridicule
the slaves by imitating his voice with the voice of an animal and to give
alternatives between the bull and other sounds. The second is (and), used to give
more details about the derision of slaves by comparing them to animals. (For) and
(so) are also manipulated to consolidate mockery and give a reason for the slaves
to stay alive because they are not like animals.

Figuratively, the writer uses simile to make comparison between a nigger voice
when smiling and the sound of a bull's roar. It is ironic to liken the voice of slaves
to the sound of a bull's roar. Morrison depicts slavery’s hideousness whose
practitioner schoolteacher is only different from other slave-holders in his
scientific attitude toward slaves and his allegedly civilized sham (Chandio et al.,
2019). However, angry when slaves’ behaviors do not match his expectations.
Repetition is clear in ''The very nigger with his head hanging and a little
jelly-jar smile on his face could all of a sudden roar….Unlike a snake or a
bear, a dead nigger could not be skinned for profit and was not worth his
 11

own dead weight in coin.'' Here, the word (nigger) is repeated to mock at the
black people, showing contempt towards them.

Extract (4)
''I told you to put her human characteristics on the left; her animal ones on
the right. ''

Analysis

The schoolteacher viewed a slave as any animal on the farm whose only value is
the production of labor and physical reproduction. His words show the theme of
the dehumanization of slavery. Ironically, slave owners believed that their slaves
were savage animals .

At the lexical level, the concrete nouns (animal, human) are used because the
schoolteacher taught his pupils that slaves were more animals than humans and
had his pupils categorize his slave’s characteristics as either animalistic or
human. He tries to maintain his power over Sweet Home's slaves by
dehumanizing them and identifying them as invalid, non-human creatures that
are closer to animals than humans.

Grammatically, the writer uses the simple declarative sentence where she gives
one idea about how the schoolteacher mocks at the slaves, labelling them as
having animal characteristics. Sethe is talking about what schoolteacher was like,
and how he treated the slaves at Sweet Home like animals when he uses the
phrase “animal characteristics” on the right side of her. Ironically, slaves were
not treated like human beings, instead they were treated like animals. It is hard
to imagine treating someone as an animal. This is what schoolteacher and his
nephews treated the slaves at Sweet Home; they thought that they are animals
that had no right to be in their presence.

Figuratively, metaphor is used to make an indirect comparison between two

objects. Schoolteacher borrowed the word (characteristics) refer to Sethe’s body,
describing the physical "characteristics" of slaves as one of the basic traits of
slavery. This is because slaves were considered goods that are evaluated by their
physical trait; price that can be used in profit and reproduction.

Extract (5)
'' Schoolteacher had chastised that nephew, telling him to think—just
think—what would his own horse do if you beat it beyond the point of
education. Or Chipper, or Samson. Suppose you beat the hounds past that
point that away. Never again could you trust them in the woods or anywhere
else. You’d be feeding them maybe, holding out a piece of rabbit in your
hand, and the animal would revert—bite your hand clean off. ''

Analysis

Beloved points to the way the whites treated the African Americans, both during
and after slavery. Their view that these people were no more than animals is
emphasized in the many images used to depict the slaves. Ironically,
12

schoolteacher views the slaves as animals; at times, in fact, he saw them as

inferior to animals. Another statement he makes about Sethe that makes her
seem like an animal is his belief that overbeating animals will make them run
away. This view dehumanizes the slaves. When animals are badly beaten, their
response is unpredictable because they lack reason. For him there is no
difference between beating horses, hounds and female slaves, because everyone
acts instinctively. Black slaves were considered savages, because whites viewed
them as having animals’ traits.

Lexically, the stative verb (think) is employed to express sarcastic views of

dehumanizing slaves and comparing them to animals. Ironically, animal names
like (rabbit, horse, hound) are exploited to compare slaves to animals when
excessive beating of animals makes them run away. The adverb of frequency
(never) gives negative meaning as it implies the idea that slaves are like animals,
and when you hit them, they will not (never) trust you again. Ironically, Morrison
has not given schoolteacher and his nephews any names to diminish them
contemptuously to the level of non-human creatures that merely function as the
agents of inhuman forces of slavery.

Grammatically, the writer utilizes a complex-compound sentence including more

than one conjunction to describe mockery and contempt by comparing slaves to
animals. The subordinating conjunction (if) is used to give a consequence of the
reason he did as the teacher explains to his nephew how excessive beating
generates distrust. The coordinating conjunction (or) reveals alternatives
(Chipper or Samson) which the schoolteacher uses to distinguish animal names
from the slaves Finally, (and) gives more details about how the teacher compares
slaves to animals when he wants to give an example to his nephew of excessive
beating .

To make the statement coherent, the writer resorts to some cohesive devices. The
coordinator (and) adds more information concerning comparing the slave to
animal; (or) introduces alternatives about how schoolteacher distinguished
animals from slaves. As for the use of references in the excerpt ' hounds past
that point that away. Never again could you trust them', the pronoun (them)
refers to the (hounds). Ironically, the pronoun (them) refers to persons but used
to refer hounds because the schoolteacher intends to compare slaves to animals.

Conclusions

The stylistic analysis of the extracts derived from the verbal statements given by
the schoolteacher has leads to the following findings:

 Contextually, Morrison’s Beloved, revolves around true events concerning

the story of Margaret Garner who, like the heroine of the novel, Sethe,
escaped from slavery in Kentucky and decided to kill her children for fear of
slavery and the harsh life that slaves lived on their farms and the mockery
and humiliation they faced from the owners of slaves to the extent that they
see the life of animals as better than their lives. This made her take indirect
speech as a way to express the ironic, sarcastic events that took place in the
novel. Such bitter circumstances and events arouse a sort of conflict inside
 13

those miserable and wretched people, creating a sense of sarcasm which is

worth-observing by the researcher.
 At lexical level, the American novel records the use of nouns, verbs and
adjectives. Concerning nouns, Morrison resorts to the use of animal names
like (snake, bear, horse) to reveal ridicule and mockery. He uses the concert
nouns more than abstract nouns like (animal, human). Recording verb,
Morrison uses the stative verbs more than the dynamic verbs to reveal
sarcasm in the extracts. Finally, only one proverb (never) is employed to
display the manner in which ridicule or mockery is being done.
 At grammatical level, the three types of sentences (simple, compound, and
compound-complex) are exploited in Beloved to express various sorts of
meaning. Morrison relies heavily on the compound sentence to combine two
ideas that express mockery using the conjunction (and), or to combine two
contradictory ideas to express sarcasm using the conjunction (but) or to give
a number of choices that have to do with irony or sarcasm using the
conjunction (or, nor) to give the reason for mockery or the result that leads
to the irony by using (for, so). The simple sentence is also used in some
excerpts to express a simple and clear idea associated with the sarcasm.
Finally, the writer resorts to the complex-compound sentences (if+ and) to
express the forms of irony and mockery in a complex manner. Functionally,
these extracts are realized in declarative sentences; no cases of imperative,
interrogative and exclamation sentences have been recorded in data.
Declarative sentences are preferred when a sarcasm is intended to make
statement or convey certain information or ideas concerning mocking or
ridiculous.
 Cohesively, the writer resorts to the use of conjunctions to a great extent to
give a coherent form to the meaning that indicates sarcasm. This is one of
the reasons for ridicule that these conjunctions help in constructing
sarcastic ideas.
 Figuratively, Beloved has reaped the kinds of figurative resources (i.e.
metaphor, repetition, simile). These tools are mainly exploited to express
ridicule or to convey a vivid idea or image concerning sarcastic scenes and
events.

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