Beloved Ch 1-6 Questions
1. Write a journal entry as Sethe or Denver, describing how you feel about Paul D’s arrival. How
do you think it will change life in 124?
Denver: Why does Paul D show up and what does he think he is doing? He is going to give
mama hope then crush it when he leaves. He won’t be able to deal with the baby, and I won’t be
around here when he makes everyone’s lives worse when he leaves.
2. What do you think Baby Suggs means when she says, “What’d be the point [of moving?]...
Not a house in this country ain’t packed to the rafters with some dead Negro’s grief. We lucky
this ghost is a baby.” (5)
Baby Suggs means that even if they leave, there would still be a ghost wherever they went.
They’re lucky that the ghost was only a baby in their case, because the ghosts elsewhere would
not be.
3. What are Paul D and Sethe remembering about Sweet Home? Why do you think Morrison
gives us the information little bit by little bit?
They are remembering Sethe when she was 13 years old. She was going to be picking a husband.
Morrison is giving information little by little to slowly introduce characters into the story.
4. What new information do we learn about Sweet Home in this chapter, specifically about
Denver’s birth?
We learned that Sethe ran away from sweet home while she was pregnant with Denver. Denver
was rolling around in the womb, but walking helped to ease that. Sethe collapsed from
exhaustion and was
5. Retell the night of Denver’s birth, from Amy’s point of view.
I find Sethe crawling through the woods, knowing that she shouldn’t be out here like this. She
was pregnant with a baby, so I massage her back and feet so that she can get up again. We find
an old raft and I help Sethe give birth to her child. I leave afterwards, and we will never see each
other again.
6. For each of the following quotes, explain:
a. What does it tell us literally about the characters and what they are experiencing?
b. What is significant about the quote? Does it have a deeper meaning than the one it holds in
this context? Does it contain any literary devices that make it beautiful or interesting?
1. “Risky, thought Paul D, 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, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack,
well, maybe you’d have enough love left over for the next one.” (45)
This quote shows Paul D’s hesitance to love anyone because dying or being taken is too
common, and getting hurt when this happens to someone you love is not worth the pain. It shows
the reader how damaged he is and how traumatic his past was.
2. “They were not holding hands, but their shadows were.”
This quote shows that Paul D, Sethe, and Denver were already a family even though they didn’t
show it. These people have had horrible pasts and are trying not to love anyone, but love each
other.
7. Describe the woman who walks out of the water. Who do you think she is? Explain.
She was in her early twenties, fully clothed, with black hair and a thin neck. I think that she is the
ghost of beloved. Her age makes sense because she died around twenty years ago and she walked
out of a river, coming out of nowhere.
8. Explain who is being discussed in the following quote, and why you think it is significant:
“If there had been an open latch between them it would have closed.”
The latch represents a chance for a positive relationship between Denver and Paul D. Denver
thinks Paul D is spiting her by spiting Beloved.
9. What does Sethe remember about her mother? Why does it upset her to remember? Why do
you think Beloved keeps asking her questions?
Sethe rarely saw her mother. She remembers her mother showing her a branding scar so she can
be identified when she dies. Her mother was hanged, and she tried to check if it was her by
looking for the scar, but another woman held her back. Beloved keeps asking questions because
she wants to know everything she can about her mother.