Toni Morrison's Beloved portrays a snapshot of our collective history as a nation. This history is something that we would all like to move past and forget, an idea which is a theme of Beloved; don't let the past consume you. Unfortunately the past is hard to forget, but it we can move past it and learn from it. Slavery occurred because people were dehumanized, treated as objects that could be worked and abused in any way that the owner saw fit. The downfall of slavery is that all though these people are treated as object they are still human and human nature says that a people as a whole can only go so long being mistreated before someone fights back. These people are the Stagger Lees.
Stagger Lee is a prominent archetype through history, "Every era has had a Stagger Lee". There is folktale in which a black man shot another man for knocking his hat off. This myth on it's own is not much to look at but Will Powers turned this legend into something more with his musical Stagger Lee. Will Powers suggested that though Stagger Lee is big and bad and can be a destroyer "sometimes Stagger Lee is the protector". This Stagger Lee "energy in our community is necessary" and was especially necessary during the time of slavery. Stagger Lee stands up to societal ideas without fear. Not enough Stagger Lee accomplishes nothing, too much Stagger Lee is dangerous and reckless, and the perfect balance of Stagger Lee makes a difference.
Baby Suggs is a Stagger Lee. She stood against the ideas of slavery and taught people how to love and be human when there lives were filled with nothing but pain and hate. Baby Suggs started out with the perfect amount of Stagger Lee energy. She was promoting change and infusing humanity into the community. This energy was necessary for all these people who were trying to find out who they were and what they were beyond the chains of slavery. Unfortunately the community felt that the feast was too much Stagger Lee energy. The were angry and also a little scared that Baby Suggs had so easily raised herself up to be a Christ figure, as though she was better than everyone else and no one could touch her. According to Will Powers , too much of this energy causes us to "turn on each other and destroy ourselves." The events of the morning after the feast emphasizes this idea.
Stagger Lee energy is what has moved us past slavery. Hate and discrimination became a societal norm and were perfectly accepted. If no one speaks up against the norms then no one will acknowledge them as being anything but normal. Though hate and discrimination are no longer norms they still live on. We are not past the need for Stagger Lee energy, something the musical really demonstrates. If we learn from our past while fostering a balanced Stagger Lee energy, we can wipe out slavery and discrimination of all types. Unfortunately, this isn't as easy as it sounds. If it was we would be living in a utopia.
Secondary Source: http://www.theaterjones.com/ntx/features/20150123114224/2015-01-25/Deconstructing-Stagger-Lee
