Beloved RRS

Title: Beloved

Publication Date: 1987

Author: Toni Morrison

Nationality: African American

Authors Birth/Death Dates: February 18, 1931- present

Distinguishing Traits of Author: Toni Morrison is an American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are
known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best-known novels are
The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon and Beloved. Morrison’s Beloved earned the Pulitzer Prize, and she was
awarded the Nobel Prize later. She is the first African American to win the award.

Setting (Time and Place of Work):

Sweet Home
Sweet Home is a slave plantation in Kentucky, referred to in the form of flashbacks. The name is ironic because
the atrocious events that inhabit and haunt Sethe and the others’ minds took place there. Sweet Home is the
embodiment of slavery and oppression, so to say that the place is sweet is blatantly misleading. However, Sethe
admits that Sweet Home “never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too
. . . boys hanging from the most beautiful sycamores” (18). Sweet Home is not entirely despicable, as the
surrounding nature is beautiful. That such repulsive events ranging from bestiality to rape occurred in a tranquil
setting reveals an unsettling juxtaposition that suggests that the name “Sweet Home” encompasses more than
just Southern hospitality.

124 Bluestone Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio

Most of the story takes place in the blue and grey house of 124 Bluestone Road, on the outskirts of Cincinnati,
Ohio. The house itself is personified: Sethe observes that “124 was spiteful” (1), “124 was loud” (25), and “124
was quiet” (47), suggesting that the house is reflective of the mood of its inhabitants. The number 124 itself can
present a symbolic meaning, representing the number of Sethe’s children residing in the house: there is Denver,
Howard, Buglar, and Beloved; then there is Denver and Beloved; then it is just Denver. The number also hints
at a deeper meaning since 1+2+4=7, and there are 7 letters in Beloved’s name, implying further connection
between the house and the spirit that haunts it and its inhabitants’ past. The majority of the present action
revolves around the house of 124 Bluestone Road, highlighting Sethe’s self-imposed isolation.

Brief Plot Synopsis:

Part 1: The story begins with an introduction to 124, the house in Ohio that is haunted by the spirit of a baby.
Sethe and her daughter, Denver, are the only ones staying in that house since Baby Suggs, Sethe's mother-in-
law, is dead, and Howard and Buglar, Sethe's two sons, ran away. Sethe sleeps with the gravedigger in return
for engravings on the headstone for her baby. When she returns home, she finds Paul D, an old friend from
Sweet Home, at her porch. In Sweet Home, there was Paul D, Paul F, Paul A, Halle, Sixo, and Sethe, the only
girl. The boys at Sweet Home satisfied their sexual desires by having intercourse with the cows in respect for
Sethe. Baby Suggs worked at Sweet Home as well, but Halle, her son and Sethe's husband, bought her freedom.
Sethe tells Paul D the schoolteacher's nephews stole her milk and how the schoolteacher whipped her back,
creating a chokecherry tree. Paul D scares the spirit out of 124. Denver goes to her bower, created by a hollow
column of shrubbery, which acts as her secret hiding place. Sethe tells Denver about the white girl named Amy
Denver, for who she was named after, and how she helped her escape to Ohio and give birth to Denver. Willing
to stay at 124, but rejected by Denver, Paul D brings them to the carnival. Sethe observes their shadows and has
hopes for a family with Paul D. When they return, they find a young woman sleeping on a stump in front of
124. Her name is Beloved, but she is too tired to answer any of the other questions. Denver volunteers to take
care of her. Beloved recovers and spends all the time in the house watching Sethe, never taking her eyes off her.
Paul D feels uncomfortable around Beloved because her "shining" makes him sexually aroused. He tells Sethe
that Halle had been there when the nephews had taken her milk. Denver knows that Beloved is her sister, the
dead baby whose spirit haunts the house. Baby Suggs used act as the preacher of the community in Ohio,
creating a cathartic environment for the ex-slaves. Sethe takes Denver and Beloved to the Clearing, where Baby
Suggs gave her sermons. She has a flashback to when she Stamp Paid ferried her across the river and her arrival
at 124. Her baby girl was crawling already and she was able to give her milk. At the clearing, on Baby Suggs’
rock, Sethe asks her to massage her neck, but she ends of getting strangled. Denver blames Beloved for choking
Sethe. In Denver's memory, Nelson Lord asks her if Sethe and she had gone to jail. Paul D remembers the time
when he was part of a chain gang. The chain gang was able to escape during a rainy night and sought refuge at a
Cherokee reservation. Ever since he left the chain gang, he has been following trees until he ended up at 124.
Paul D starts sleeping in different rooms of the house, avoiding sleep in the same room as Sethe. He ends up
sleeping in the shed where Beloved seduces him into having sex with her. Paul D asks Sethe to have a baby
with him, strengthening their relationship. In a flashback, Stamp Paid risks his life to collect a bucket of berries
for Baby Suggs, initiating a mass celebration in the community. Instead of appreciating the feast, the
community feels spite towards the inhabitants of 124 for being too generous. Baby Suggs remembers when she
was freed, she was brought to the Bodwins, who provided 124 as a home. A month after Sethe arrived at 124,
the schoolteacher, a nephew, a slave catcher, and a sheriff came to retrieve the runaway slaves. Sethe collects
her children and attempts to slaughter them, but only succeeding in killing the crawling-already baby. The
sheriff took Sethe and Denver to jail, but the schoolteacher did not want her back. In present time, Stamp Paid
finds the newspaper article about Seine's crime and shows it to Paul D. Although Paul D denies it is Sethe, he
questions her about it. Even after her explanation, he leaves Sethe and 124.

Part 2: Stamp Paid feels he has driven Paul D away from 124 and feels bad that he ruined a chance at happiness
for Sethe. He tries to go to 124 to apologize but he cannot get himself to knock on the door. Peeking through the
window, he sees Beloved and wonders who she is. Sethe decides to let go of the past and have some fun by
going ice skating with Denver and Beloved. After she hears Beloved hum a song she only sang to her children,
Sethe realizes Beloved is her daughter. Stamp Paid finds out Paul D is staying in a cellar of a church and is mad
at the community for not offering him a place to stay. Sethe talks to Beloved in her mind, telling her about life
in Sweet Home and their plan for escape. In one memory, Sethe overhears the schoolteacher tell his pupils to
list her animal and human characteristics. Paul D remembers the plan between the slaves at Sweet Home to
escape. He regrets waiting to ponder on the decision to escape or not. When the time comes to leave, Paul A
goes missing and Paul D and Sixo get caught by white men. Sixo goes insane and leaps at the armed white man,
who refuses to waste a slave by killing him. The schoolteacher burns Sixo to death. Stamp Paid finds Paul D
and the church to apologize for the things he told him about Sethe. He tells the story of his wife, Vashti, who
slept with their owner and why he changed his name from "Joshua" to "Stamp Paid." He also asks Paul D about
Beloved, which makes him realize that he should return to Sethe.

Part 3: Beloved and Sethe develop a very close relationship that excludes Denver. Their relationship was
healthy and playful at first, but turns sour when Beloved becomes defiant. Beloved is angry at Sethe for leaving
her, refusing to accept any excuse from her. Sometimes Sethe tries to assert herself, but Beloved's temper grows
even worse. Nobody could discipline her, so they just relented to her. The inhabitants of 124, except for
Beloved, who grows bigger, begin to starve because Sethe loses her job at the restaurant. Denver goes to Lady
Jones to ask for a job because she needed to take care of her mother. Lady Jones, as well as other women in the
community, drops off food at 124. Not wanting to rely on other's kindness, Denver goes to the Bodwins to ask
for a job. She tells Janey, the housekeeper at the Bodwins, about Beloved and what she is doing to her mother.
The word gets out in the community that the spirit of murdered baby has come to 124 to get revenge on Sethe.
All the women come together to drive the spirit out of 124. When they arrive, the women's singing reminds
Sethe of the community she experienced when she first arrived in Ohio. Mr. Bodwin arrives at 124 to pick up
Denver for her job. Sethe mistakes him for the schoolteacher and tries to kill him. All the women try to stop her.
After the commotion dies down, they find that Beloved has disappeared. Paul D goes to 124 to tell Sethe that he
is coming back for good. Before long, the community forgets about Beloved like she is a bad dream. Those who
knew her well, such as Sethe, Denver, and Paul D, stop thinking about her, but do not forget her.

Brief Description of Characters:

Sethe: She is the protagonist of the novel who is a round character and a slightly dynamic character whose
change is witnessed through her action. Sethe was once a slave who lost her mother at a young age, and had
moved to Sweet Home when the Garners bought her. At a young age Sethe decides to marry Halle, thinking that
she would have a wedding and becomes exposed to the harshness of slavery. Sethe's past with slavery
influences her to the point where she becomes enslaved to it. Even though Sethe bravely made the choice to run
away while pregnant to a better life, she is still suck in the past and horrors of the world where she was once
brought up. When Paul D tells her that her husband had seen her get raped, she is distraught by such a notion
and memory that "her brain was not interested in the future" (83). Sethe is a strong and independent character
who is able to get as far as she had in her life all alone, without the help of her husband. Sethe's deep love for
her children and fear of the unforgettable past causes her to kill her only daughter. She is a misunderstood
character that deals with the shunning of the neighborhood where she lives. When Sethe's daughter comes back,
she loses herself and neglects herself because of the love, guilt and devotion she has towards her children. She
lives with the consequences of her actions, reimagining the horrors. She wants to make Beloved understand
before leaving “what it took to drag the teeth of that saw under the little chin; to feel the baby blood pump like
oil in herh ands; to hold her face so her head would stay on; to squeeze her so she could absorb, still, the death
spasms that shot through that adored body, plump and sweet with life” (187). This is when Sethe fully changes,
and literally becomes the slave to her past, the past being the daughter of hers that is supposed to be dead. At the
end of the novel when Beloved disappears, Sethe comes to some form of realization that she should look
forward to a tomorrow because she too means something.

Denver: The youngest daughter of Sethe who is around 18 years old in the novel, and named after Amy
Denver, the woman who helped Sethe deliver Denver just as Sethe was running away. At the start of the novel,
Denver is a quiet, shy, and reserved child. All she does every day is “stay home and [go] to her emerald closet"
and never step a foot outside of her house (70). As a child, Denver used to go to school, but once a child asked
her if her mother had killed her sister. From there on Denver was fearful of the answer, stopped going to school
-even though she had potential and was very bright-, and became deaf for a year. Denver is not used to company
and only finds the ghost inside 124 as the thing that brings her company. When Paul D comes, Denver does not
like him because he drove out whatever she had. But as Paul D takes her and her mother out to the carnival and
once Denver comes back home she "was swaying with delight" (59). She ends up liking Paul D. But once
Beloved comes, Denver becomes devoted to her and does everything she can to take care of her, because she
never had anyone in her life. She lies for Beloved when Paul D asks her to reveal the truth because Denver has a
fear of losing her. Denver wants Beloved to be hers and listen to her as she talks about herself. Denver does
have a sense of narcissim, but it is a very light form. She wants Beloved for herself. Denver does reveal that she
is fearful of her mother and feels as if she must protect Beloved so hat they can wait for their father to come.
She lives in an illusion, but she changes when she realizes that she must take care of her mother and Beloved.
Denver finally steps out of the house and calls for help from the women in the neighborhood, and they do help
her.

Paul D: He is the only man of Sweet Home that is still living. After 18 years he comes back to Sethe, where the
desire he had ever had for her becomes rekindled. Paul D was one of the "men" of the Sweet Home, who had
lived there for a long time. Paul D is a wanderer and spent most of his time running away and moving to
different places. He had too been through the ineffable harshness of slavery. On Sweet Home, he was tied with
a bit when School teacher came. He had tried to kill his slave master and was sent to jail for 86 days where he
had escaped. His heart then became a "tobacco tin" (79). He tied down all of his emotions and preferred to be
emotionless and nothing like human so that he wouldn't have to remember or suffer. Paul D is another character
that becomes enslaved to his past. Paul D himself doubts his manliness because his own perception of what a
man should be is distorted. He feels as if he needs a family and children in order to be a man and thinks he
finally has the chance when he goes to 124. But Beloved tempts him and breaks his heart apart and
subconsciously causes him unrest in 124. Once he discovers what Sethe had done to her children he leaves and
stays in the church basement. After Beloved disappears he comes back to Sethe where he tells her that she is
important because he truly does care about her.

Baby Suggs: She is the mother-in-law to Sethe, the mother of Halle, and the grandmother of Denver, Beloved,
Howard and Buglar. Baby Suggs was a free slave who was freed by Mr. Garner in the payment of 5 years of
Sabbath by her son Halle. Baby Suggs left Sweet Home when she was very old and had a chronic hip problem,
and left to Cincinnati Ohio. Baby Suggs “[takes] care of Sethe's [three] children” when Sethe was still in Sweet
Home (87). She is the motherly figure, and a spiritual leader. She tries to look for the best in people and is very
patient in the way she deals with things. But once Sethe kills Beloved and people begin shunning them Baby
Suggs steps back and becomes obsessed with colors. She dies before Beloved comes back, but her words and
presence remain as an influence on the lives of those from her neighborhood and her family.

Beloved: She is deemed to be the spirit of the dead daughter of Sethe. She first appears after the carnival in
front of Sethe's house Beloved is the physical, human form of the slaughtered baby. Although the "crawling-
already? baby" (93) is unnamed, the human form of the spirit calls herself "Beloved." The goal of this spirit is to
get close to Sethe and take revenge on what she had done to her child. Residing in 124 as a spirit, she did not
have the power to affect Sethe physically. After Paul D drives the spirit away, she returns in the human form
with the ability to do much more on the inhabitants of 124 than she could when she was a spirit. Before she can
get close to Sethe, she needs to get rid of Paul D, which she succeeds in by seducing him. Her purpose at 124 is
at first unknown, but is foreshadowed when she strangles Sethe at the Clearing.Beloved and Denver develop a
close relationship, but Beloved claims her rightful role as the older sister, advising Denver to "don't tell me what
to do. Don't you never never tell me what to do" (76). When Sethe finds out Beloved is the baby girl she had
slaughtered, the situation in 124 changes. Beloved's purpose is no longer hidden as she makes Sethe suffer for
what had been done to her. Resembling a pregnant woman, Beloved grows bigger and bigger as Sethe becomes
smaller and smaller. She is both literally and metaphorically sucking the life out of Sethe, taking revenge on
her. Chapters 22 and 23 are completely in Beloved's point of view, where she talks about her death, the white
people she sees, and Sethe leaving her. Beloved's departure from 124 is as mysterious as her arrival, making
people question if her presence was real or imagined. Beloved represents the memories of the past that haunt
Sethe. Her departure symbolizes Sethe's ability to let go of her past and look towards her future.
Yet while Beloved can be interpreted to be as the ghost of Sethe’s baby returning to haunt her, she can
simply be an escaped slave. When she first appears, she has “new skin, lineless and smooth” (89), is the same
age Sethe’s baby would have been if it lived, and has the same name is same as the baby (the name carved on
the baby’s tombstone). Furthermore, Beloved knows questions a stranger could not possibly know, such as
“where your diamonds?” (108) or “your woman she never fix up you hair” (109), and wheedles uncomfortable
stories out of Sethe. She further demonstrates an “anger that ruled when Sethe did or thought anything that
excluded herself” (90). However, Beloved also states later that she came from somewhere with “nothing to
breathe down there and no room to move in” (148), and imageries from the past such as a “little hill of dead
people” (150) are apt descriptions for a slave’s journey through the Atlantic passage. The fact that the book’s
preface talks of “Sixty Million and more,” referring to the number of blacks who died during the Middle
Passage of the slave trade, further substantiates this interpretation. Ultimately it is left to individual
interpretations on whether or not Beloved is the manifestation of the dead baby’s spirit, but the effect on Sethe
remains tangible in that she is forced to confront the actions of her past.

Garners: Mr. and Mrs. Garner act as the foils to the characters of schoolteacher and his nephews. Unlike the
stereotypical slave owners, the Garners were compassionate towards their slaves, never starving, beating, or
killing them. They even allowed Halle to buy his mother's freedom, resulting in the loss of a slave. Although the
Garner's were not cruel like other slave owners, Morrison still opposes even their kind of slavery. The Garner's
were included in the novel to show the flipside of slavery, but it does not make the concept of slavery
acceptable. "But you got my boy and I'm all brokedown. You be renting him out to pay for me way after I'm
gone to Glory" (146). Although Baby Suggs was offered freedom, her son is still a slave. The compassion of
one slave owner is not enough to help the slavery cause.
Stamp Paid: Stamp Paid is an ex-slave who helps other slaves escape from slave to free territory. He has a high
reputation in the community of Ohio because he had helped so many people. In return for his help, "he took the
liberty of walking in your door as though it were his own" (172). Stamp is a compassionate character, based on
his actions in the story. He is willing to risk his life to collect berries for Baby Suggs' family, he care for Sethe
and her feelings, and he feels bad for what he had told Paul D about Sethe, destroying their relationship and
potential happiness in the future. Although his compassion and kindness exemplify Christ, he is not portrayed as
the Christ figure, as is Baby Suggs. He is portrayed as the Good Samaritan who is willing to help any of his
people in need. He acts according to a set of morals and concepts of justice he holds. When he finds out Paul D
has been staying in the church cellar, he questions the community "Why he have to ask? Can't nobody offer?"
(186). To him, hospitality is the most important aspect of their community and it surprises Mm that no one takes
it as seriously as they should.

Amy Denver: She is an indentured servant who stumbles upon Sethe as Sethe is running away. She finds Sethe
on the floor with bloody and swollen feet. She massages Sethe's feet saying " anything coming back alive hurts"
(92). Her words foreshadows the coming of Beloved and the pain it will bring upon Sethe. She helps Sethe with
her back and assists her in delivering her child. Amy then continues on her journey to Boston to get carmine
colored velvet. Her desire to see the beautiful fabric is an attempt to escape from her life in servitude. She helps
Sethe escape, and Sethe names Denver after her.

Bodwins: They are brother and sister who were abolitionists that helped slaves come up North to Ohio. They
used to live in 124 and gave the home to Baby Suggs to live in. They “[are not] like other white folks” and are
the only white people living in the town who provide many of the jobs to those who need it (132). When Denver
comes for help they provide her with a job and Mrs. Bodwin encourages Denver to get an education. Mr.
Bodwin witnesses the disappearance of Beloved and becomes appalled to the point where he wants to sell 124.

Schoolteacher and Nephews: The schoolteacher and his nephews, the second owners of Sweet Home, are the
epitome of cruel slave owners, typical of those in the South during this time period. They abuse the slaves,
deprive them the life and identity of a human being, violate Sethe, and kill Sixo. "What would his won horse do
if you beat it beyond the point of education?...You just can't mishandle creatures and expect success" (149-150).
Although the schoolteacher shows slight compassion and humanity towards the slaves, it still shows that he sees
them as property and animals. Their ownership and management of Sweet Home are the complete opposite of
the Garners'. Both are extremely hypocritical because they both become shocked when Sethe kills her own
children and find her insane after everything they had ever done to slaves, they don't realize how far they have
gone.

Ella: Ella is a former slave that helped Sethe on the last of her journey to the North. When Sethe killed her
child, Ella was very critical of Sethe and shunned her the most. But after a while, her outlook on Sethe's
decision changes and she realizes that she must call upon all the women to help Sethe and get rid of Beloved.
She states that it is no right for" the baby to kill [her] momma" (234). She too went through a period of extreme
harshness in her life where she was shared by her slave master and his son.

Lady Jones: Lady Jones is a half Negro and white woman with “gray eyes and yellow hair, every strand of
which she [hates]” who is shunned by the white community and criticized for her blonde hair (291). Lady Jones
does not feel superior because she is half white and is instead disgusted by it. She is a teacher who teaches the
little kids in the neighborhood for a nickel a day. She used to teach Denver, and when Denver come to her for
help she responds with efficiency and calls upon all the women in the neighborhood to bring food to Sethe and
her "children".

Sixo: Sixo is one of the men from Sweet Home, who was very close to Paul. Sixo was hard working and always
had a sense of humor. He would travel thirty miles at times to meet a "lover" of his by the nickname of "the
thirty mile woman" (68). Him and Halle plan out their escape, but when he escapes with Paul he ends up getting
caught by school teacher and sings and laughs till he gets shot. Sixo ended up having a child with the thirty mile
woman and his sacrifice for her makes him a man.

Halle: He is the husband of Sethe and the son of Baby Suggs. Halle was the youngest son of Baby Suggs, and
“the only son that stayed with [her]” (112). and bought her freedom. Sethe chooses Halle to marry after a year.
They ended up having 4 children together. Halle ends up disappearing during the plan and time to flee to the
north and is never seen or heard of again. Sethe finds out in the novel that Halle had witnesses her rape and lost
his mind. Halle was diminished to a state of an animal and lost control of himself after seeing his wife get raped
and knowing that he did nothing, because he couldn't.

Symbols:
Sethe's milk - Sethe's milk represents all the burdens of being a slave and a mother. Not only is she unable to
nurse her children, but she also has her milk taken away by the schoolteacher's nephews. "There was no nursing
milk to call my own. I know what it is to be without the milk that belongs to you; to have to fight and holler for
it, and to have so little left" (200). The importance of the milk lies in its exclusivity; it belonged to her and no
one else, and it was the source of food for Beloved that she alone could claim and provide. The taking of her
milk is therefore an act akin to rape, as her sense of self-worth and identity is further shredded apart, degraded,
and stolen when the men suck her dry. Furthermore, when Paul D holds Sethe's breasts in the middle of the
kitchen, this action symbolizes his desire to take the burden of the past from her shoulders. Her breasts have
even become a burden because of the trouble and emotional turmoil that her milk has caused in her past.

Paul D's tobacco tin - Paul D's tobacco tin represents all the events and memories of his past that he stores
away. When "its Hood is rusted shut" (73), he is trying to keep these disturbing memories from invading his
mind, affecting his ability to move on. By storing them away in this box, he can avoid dwelling in the past. The
tobacco tin does not open until Beloved seduces him into sleeping with her. Her invasiveness revives all the
memories of the past, causing the "contents," his emotions, to come out. He leaves Sethe because "if she got a
whiff of the contents with would shame him." Paul D's tobacco tin exemplifies the theme that the past should
not be forgotten, but it should also not be ignored.

Motifs:
Colors - Images of color are mentioned throughout the book, especially in regards to Baby's Suggs death. The
colors represent the world outside of the slavery, everything besides the black of the slaves and the white of the
slave owners. "He hoped she stuck to blue, yellow, maybe green, and never fixed on red" (181). Red, as it
suggests, symbolizes the bloodshed between the black and white. Sethe has always been "starved of color" (38)
because she continues to think about her past experiences as a slave. Once she gains the ability to a look for and
appreciate colors, like Baby Suggs, she fully acknowledges and puts away the past.

Trees - The recurring motif of trees represent distinctly different meanings to each character, but ultimately
highlight the shared grief of slavery. The bushes were where “Denver’s imagination produced its own hunger
and its own food, which she badly needed because loneliness wore her out” (24). The pains and sufferings
Denver feels is somewhat mitigated by her imagination while in the bushes. Yet while rubbing the chokecherry
tree on Sethe’s back, Paul D learns “her sorrow, the roots of it; its wide trunk and intricate branches” (20). The
scar in the form of a tree on Sethe’s back represent her ugly past, and the harsh and inhumane treatment she had
to endure as a slave, as the tree grew by the number of whiplashes against her skin and flesh. Paul D believes
“trees [are] inviting; things you could trust and be near; talk to if you wanted to as he frequently did since way
back when he took the midday meal in the fields of Sweet Home” (56). Once again, the trees, while soothing,
remind Paul D of his days at the Sweet Home—an unpleasant experience overall that further alludes the pains
and sufferings black slaves faced during the era.

Archetypes:
The Fall - Sethe's slaughtering of her children upon the arrival of the schoolteacher and the sheriff represent her
fall in the community. When she arrived at 124, she was greeted by the community and accepted because she
was an ex-slave, as well as Baby Suggs' kin. “Only 28 days after her arrival”, the coming of the schoolteacher to
take her and her children back to Sweet Home prompted her to quickly and instinctively kill her children so that
they will not have to return to a life of slavery (212). Her brash actions caused the community to look at Sethe
through a different perspective, shunning her for her inhumane and atrocious reaction to the situation.

Troubled/Haunting Spirit - Beloved is the troubled spirit that haunts people. Initially Beloved makes an
appearance as a ghost of red light that Sethe describes as “not evil, just sad” (10) and by Denver as “Rebuked.
Lonely and rebuked” (16). The description is perhaps fitting because of the tragic nature in which her life was
sacrificed. She died in the hands of her own mother, not out of hatred but out of protection. The loving nature of
such a violent crime may induce conflict that leads to the troubled spirit of Beloved. Later Beloved literally
reincarnates into flesh and blood (according to some interpretations), unable to stay buried in her grave without
compensation from Sethe for the actions she committed. Later Beloved indirectly sucks the life energy out of
Sethe, becoming “beautiful… taken the shape of a pregnant woman, naked and smiling… Thunder black and
glistening, she stood on long straight legs, her belly big and tight” (200), implying that she had enacted her
revenge on Sethe. The revenge takes place through love and adoration by warranting all of Sethe’s attention—
an ironic death when considering that Beloved’s own death was enacted out of love.

Allusions:
The creation of the world in 4 days - In the bible, the physical manifestation of the world was created in four
days. When Beloved comes to 124 "Four days she slept"(64). By her sleeping for four days it is seen as if she is
preparing for a new world that Sethe and Denver are going to step into and live. This allusion to the creation of
the world connects to that of Sethe and Denver along with the new journey they are to embark in their lives.

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse show the destruction of Sethe’s world. When “the four horsemen came
the house on Bluestone Road was so quiet they thought they were too late” (174). The reference to the biblical
prophesy of the four horses resembles the end of Sethe’s life as she knows it. The harbingers of destruction and
tragedy in the bible are also the destruction to Sethe’s life with the arrival of schoolteacher. Sethe eventually
ends up killing her child because of their presence, bringing the tragedy that changes her life. Her family and
children all suffer from the appearance of these horsemen who bring with them the bane of Sethe’s happiness
and hopes of loving her children fully. That such an atrocious act would warrant comparison to a biblical event
implies that the Christian society exercised very un-Christian values.

Themes:
1. The ineffable cruelty of slavery has the power to diminish and dehumanize any person that must
endure a life dominated by it.
When Sethe is pregnant at Sweet Home, she is taken and raped by the nephews. She is milked as if she
is an animal. She is stripped away from any aspect of humanity and treated as one of the lowest aspect of living
on the earth. Sethe was once taught a lesson by schoolteacher on her “animal characteristics” (123), and slavery
“punched the glittering iron out of Sethe’s eyes, leaving two open wells” (5). This experience diminishes her
and even though she tries to move on, the cruetly of such a thing ties her down and forces her to hold herself
back from ever progressing in life.
When Sethe is raped, Halle was actually there and witnessed it but was not able to do anything about it.
He was mentally diminished and his manhood was taken away from him from such an event. He could not even
stop them and protect his wife, causing him to go insane. When he is churning the butter he lets it splash all
over his face because he is consumed by the devastating and cruel event.
As Paul D is in Ohio and is alone, he beings to think about his manhood. Paul D begins to question if he
was ever a man because he believes that Halle and Sixo are men because they have children and he does not. He
thinks that as a slave he was never given the chance to be a man. Paul D is affected by slavery in that he shut all
his memories "where it belonged...buried in his chest where a red heart used to be. Its lid rusted shut" (87); his
experiences in life cause him to lock his heart up and consider it as a tin. He tries his hardest to not be a human
and feel any emotions. The harshness of slavery caused him to become void of every connection and emotion
ever, making him want to not be a human.
2. If one stays in the past and consistently brings it up and involves it in their lives, they will become a
slave to it.
When Sethe discovers that Halle had witnessed her being raped, she becomes entirely consumed by the
memory of it that she can barely function. She solely thinks about the memory and finds herself not wanting to
look forward to any sort of future that she could have because she cannot forget and let go of what happened in
the past. When Beloved comes to Sethe, Sethe's guilt of the past causes her to literally become enslaved to
Beloved, the daughter of her past. Even when Paul D comes to settle down with Sethe, her past haunts her once
more. He is shown a newspaper by Stamp Paid. Stamp Paid “made up his mind to show him this piece of
paper—newspaper—with a picture drawing of a woman who favored Sethe except that was not her mouth”
(118). Paul D realizes the actions Sethe took to protect her children from slavery, and the two argue together—
only for Paul D move out eventually.
Denver, early on in her life, discovers that her mother had killed her younger sister. Before Beloved
came and when Beloved arrives, Denver lives in constant fear of her mother because of the past. She knows that
her mother had killed her brothers and does whatever she can to make her mother not be upset with her because
deep down inside she is scared of her because what she had done in the past. Denver is driven by the past and
feels the need to protect Beloved from her mother because she fears that she will leave her.
When Paul D is in Ohio he begins to ask and question his manhood. He looks to his past, a past of
extreme hardship and wonders if he is a man. Paul D allows his actions of the past to dictate whether he is a
human or not. The past does not allow Paul to see himself in a better way or believe that he is a man. He cannot
advance on in his life believing that he is a man because of his past.
When Sethe lies in her death bed at the conclusion of the novel, Paul D offers words of comfort that
reveal the necessity of moving on from the past. To her, “‘Sethe,’ he says, ‘me and you, we got more yesterday
than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow’” (273). He realizes that the extents of the past has had such a
strong grip on Sethe that it had tired her emotionally, psychologically, and physically. She had become so
entrenched in her decision of violent love that she was now lying on her own death bed. Paul D’s statement that
they needed a tomorrow reveals not only the strength of the past horrors of slavery, but also of the resilience
and hope within his character, and the need to overcome the shackles of the past--no matter how tightly they
wound around one’s mind.

Memorable Quotes:
• "If a Negro got legs he ought to use them. Sit down too long, somebody will figure out a way to tie them up,"
(10)
• "I was talking about time. It's so hard for me to believe hi it. Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay. I
used to think it was my rememory. You know. Some things you forget. Other things you never do. But it's not.
Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it' s gone, but the place — the pictures of it — stays, and
not just in my rememory, but put there, in the world. What I remember is a picture floating around out there
outside my head. I mean, even if I don't think it, even if I die, the picture of what I did, or knew, or saw, is still
out there. Right in the place where it happened." (35-36)
• "Risky. . . very risky. For a used-to-be-slave woman to love anything that much was
dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love. The best thing, he knew, was to love just
a little bit; everything, just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe
you'd have a little love left over for the next one." (45)
• "But they are seeds in which the whole generation sleeps confident of a future. And for a moment it is easy to
believe each one has one—will become all of what is contained in the spore: will live out its days as planned.
This moment of certainty lasts no longer than that; longer, perhaps, than the spore itself." (84)
• "And when she stepped foot on free ground she could not believe that Halle knew what she didn't; that Halle,
who had never drawn one free breath, knew that there was nothing like it in this world." (141)
• "Whitepeople believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle.. .The more
coloredpeople spent their strength trying to convince them how gentle they were, how clever and loving, how
human, the more they used themselves up to persuade whites of something Negroes believed could not be
questioned, the deeper and more tangled the jungle grew inside." (198)
• “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.” (1)
• “Winter in Ohio was especially rough if you had an appetite for color. Sky provided the only drama, and
counting on a Cincinnati horizon for life’s principal joy was reckless indeed.” (2)
• “What he knew was that when he reached the inside part he was saying, ‘Red heart. Red heart,’ over and over
again. Softly and then so loud it work Denver, then Paul D himself. ‘Red heart. Red heart. Red heart.’” (117)
• “Mixed in with the voices surrounding the house, recognizable but undecipherable to Stamp Paid, were the
thoughts of the women of 124, unspeakable thoughts, spoken” (199)
• “I am Beloved and she is mine.” (214)
• “She was my best thing.” (272

Distinguishing Characteristics of the Work: This three-part novel is based on the true story of theAfrican-
American slave, Margaret Garner, who had escaped slavery during 1856 in Kentucky by fleeing to Ohio. Along
with Toni Morrison's speech upon accepting the Frederic G. Melcher Book Award for Beloved, the novel
initiated the Toni Morrison Society to install benches at significant sites of slavery in American history. The
story also highlights the cruelty of slavery and the slave trade, especially because of its aftereffects. Stream of
consciousness is utilized throughout the novel. In fact, most of Part 2 of the novel is written in a stream of
consciousness narrative, by which the mindsets of characters are revealed lucidly. Readers can not only see the
thoughts and feelings each character has toward each other, but also witness the terrible and far-reaching effects
slavery has on each individual, as when Sethe repeats “You are mine” (180), implying that her masters have
taken everything valuable from her, and that she was forced to give up Beloved’s life in an act of desperation,
and that she now wishes to keep Beloved by her side, safe from slavery, safe from whiplashes, safe from
random rapes—safe so that she can now reconcile and apologize for her murder.