Adanna N. Duru
Wenwen Zhuang
Period 4
RRS
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Title: Beloved
Publication Date: September 1987
Author: Toni Morrison
Nationality: African American
Born/ Died: February 18th 1931
Distinguishing Traits of Author:
Toni Morrison was originally born in Ohio under the name of Chloe Anthony Wofford. She
received her education from Howard University then later at Cornell University. She is wedded to
an Architect named Harold Morrison from Jamaica whom she later divorced. Morrison, in 1993,
became the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature and her novels
The Bluest Eye and Sula earned Morrison a nomination for the National Book Award. Her book
Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. In present day, Morrison is currently a professor in the
Council of Humanities at Princeton University as she teaches writing for undergraduates.
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Setting
The story of Beloved takes place mainly in the year 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The flashbacks that
the characters have date back to the early 1850’s when slavery was still very popular. Most of
their flashbacks take place either at the Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky or the prison in
Alfred, Georgia
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Plot
Sethe, a former slave, lives with her 18 years old daughter Denver in their home at
124 Bluestone Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio. Sethe had four children, but her two sons, Howard and
Buglar, ran away 8 years earlier. A man by the name of Paul D comes into the story when he
stops by Sethe’s house. Sethe and Paul D has not seen each other for a very long time.
They last saw each other when they were working as slaves together at a plantation in
Kentucky called Sweet Home. This causes the two to begin reminiscing through their past for
some time. Sethe was sold to the Garners when she was only thirteen years old. The
Garners own Sweet Home. All the other slaves were men, and they all wanted her,
sexually—but she was not interested at first. These other men are Sixo, Paul D, Paul A, Paul
F, and Halle. Sethe marries Halle and they have 4 children together; their two sons, the
unnamed baby, and Denver. Mr. Garner ends up dying and schoolteacher takes his place.
The slaves then try to escape, but Paul D, Halle, and Sixo are not successful. Schoolteacher
kills Sixo and brings Paul D back to Sweet Home. One day, schoolteacher’s nephews attack
Sethe in a barn and steal her milk from her breats. Paul D ends up telling Sethe that Halle
saw the entire act, but was paralyzed in fear because he could not do anything about it. This
drives Halle mad—not being able to protest his wife and family. Paul D later sees Halle
sitting down with butter all over his face; this is the last time Paul D sees Halle. Paul D,
however is forced to wear an iron bit in his mouth. The evil schoolteacher has Sethe whipped
for reporting his nephews to Mrs. Garner, despite the fact that she is pregnant and runs
away. While running, she collapses and meets a white girl named Amy Denver, an
indentured servant. Amy finds her and nurses her back to health. When Amy later helps
Sethe deliver her baby in a boat, Sethe names this second daughter Denver after the girl
who helped her. Stamp Paid, a former slave, helps Sethe find her way to Cincinnati Ohio to
stay with Baby Suggs at 124.
Now, Sethe is happy—but, one day schoolteacher arrives and tried to bring Sethe
and her children back to Sweet Home and she flees and kills her third child, in fear of having
her live the horrible life that she had to live. Paul D moves in with Sethe and Sethe, Paul D,
and Denver look forward to a promising future together. Onenight after returning from a
carnival, they encounter a strange young woman sleeping near the steps of 124. Most of the
characters believe that the woman—who calls herself Beloved—is the embodied spirit of
Sethe’s dead daughter. Denver becomes obsessively attached to Beloved, and Beloved
becomes attached to Sethe. Paul D and Beloved hate each other, and Beloved controls Paul
D by seducing him against his will. When Paul D learns about Sethe’s murder, he flees 124
to live in the church cellar. In his absence, Sethe and Beloved’s relationship becomes more
intense and exclusive. Beloved grows increasingly abusive and manipulative, and and Sethe
is obsessed with satisfying Beloved’s demands. Worried about Sethe, Denver leaves her
home for the first time in twelve years in order to seek help from the neighbors. Their
neighbors help the family out with food and eventually organize a group to exorcise Beloved
from 124. When they arrive at Sethe’s house, they see Sethe on the porch with Beloved,
who stands there fat and naked. Mr. Bodwin comes to their house to pick up Denver to take
her to her new job and Sethe mistakes him for schoolteacher returning for her and her kids,
like what happened 18 years ago. Sethe runs at Mr. Bodwin with an ice pick, trying to kill him
but the women stop her. When they turn back, Beloved has vanished. Afterward, Paul D
comes back to Sethe, realizing that he cannot run from what he loves and accepts
everything Sethe had done in the past. The two agree to build a life together, and no one
hears of Beloved again.
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Brief Description of Characters
Sethe: Sethe, the protagonist of the story, is the ultimate mother figure and a very prideful and
respectful woman. We see the respect she has for herself when she is disgusted by the nephews
“animal characteristics” of her. She, being the only girl at Sweet Home, is hopeful and naive as
she sews herself a wedding dress after being laughed at about wanting a wedding. She looses
her trust in men, however, after Halle fails to keep his word and escape with her back at Sweet
Home. Her independence is evident when we see her moving on quickly and swiftly after Paul D’s
arrival and depart from 124. Her most stand out quality is her devotion to being a mother and her
love for her children where she would rather kill them than see them go into slavery. Her act of
killing Beloved and being tortured back in slavery leave her scared to confront her past until it
comes to her door in the form of Beloved. She continues to hold onto the past throughout the
story as she lets Beloved destroy her and take the life out of her in order to prove to Beloved that
she loves her and cares about her and she had good intentions when murdering Beloved. In the
end, we see that Beloved charges head on at who she thinks is “schoolteacher” which is also an
act that signifies her facing and attacking her past. She only had “twenty eight days of happiness”
(196) before living in eighteen years of regret and agony of killing her dear daughter.
Denver: Denver is Sethe’s second daughter who is named after Amy Denver, the lady that saved
Sethe in the forest. She is known as the “charmed child” (50) because she was born in a ship and
doubted to be able to survive. Denver is seen to be very lonely and reserved but also very
intelligent as she knows how to read and write and has taken lessons from Lady Jones. However,
she is always on her own or in close contact with the supernatural - the baby ghost and the real
life Beloved. Although old enough to venture out on her own, her isolation throughout her life and
the influence of her mothers decisions leaves Denver afraid of the world outside of her home and
hungry for acceptance.She despises Paul D and Beloved because they are not at 124 for her or
because of her and she feels uneasy when Paul D and Sethe have conversations that does not
include her. However, Denver is forced to grow up as she witnesses what is coming from Beloved
and her mother, Sethe’s relationship. She ventures out to find work and help for her mother. She
also learns with Ms. Bodwin and Lady Jones and makes plans to attend Oberlin College. Denver
becomes a mother figure for Sethe and although stunted by her mothers past and her fate, she
goes on to become a civil and mature young lady as she brings peace to 124.
Paul D: Paul D was one of the 5 Sweet Home men along with Sethe. Sethe “was [Denver’s]
secret company until Paul D came in” (242). He has forever longed for Sethe and after going
through horrific experiences of his own, came to find Sethe. His past horrifying experiences with
the chain gang and the jail left him locking everything away in his “tobacco tin heart.” However,
Paul D is powerless in the face of Beloved and her actions force him to open up this tobacco tin.
He tries to make a life with Sethe but unable to look over the past, leaves just like he leaves
everything else in his past. In the end, however, Paul D realizes that he can not continue running
away from everything and anything he comes in contact with. He ultimately returns to 124 as he
is determined to help himself and Sethe get over their past and move on.
Beloved: The ambiguity of Beloved’s character is what ultimately drives the story and the
characters in the story. She is thought of by Sethe as to be the woman that was locked up by the
white man. She is also thought to be a supernatural form of Sethe’s dead baby Beloved who has
come back as she has baby soft skin, an unquenchable thirst and sweet tooth, limited vocabulary,
and her need for attention and affection. Beloved seems to know about personal things like the
pair of earrings Sethe was given by Mrs. Garner and stories about her scar that she shouldn’t
have an idea about. The first time Sethe realized that Beloved was surely a reincarnation of her
dead daughter was when “Beloved was humming softly” (207) the song that Sethe used to hum
to her daughter. However, in a scene with Denver, Beloved is seen to be curled up in a ball on
the floor and describing what would seem like a group of slaves on a slave ship. Whether
Beloved represents Sethe’s dead daughter or the entire group of slave victims, Beloved brings
the past along with her and forces the characters to accept and move on from their past instead
of hiding in it and being afraid of it. Beloved becomes the catalyst to many characters and their
journey away from their past. When Sethe is with and engaged in Beloved, she seems to be
destructive of herself and thinking only of Beloved and not of herself. However, as Seethe is seen
towards to end to be plunging into her past and facing it, that is when Beloved disappears
because Sethe has finally come to terms with her past. Beloved also helps Paul D open up his
“tobacco tin heart” as they engage in sexual activities. And lastly, Beloved also pushes Denver to
get out of 124 and venture off on her own and trust her own abilities. Even with her departure,
Beloved helps the community and 124 come together again since before Sethes big act of
murder.
Baby Suggs: Baby Suggs is Halle’s mother and Sethe’s mother in law. Her freedom was bought
by Halle, the only son she kept, and she accepted it because she realized how important it was
for him. Baby Suggs has had eight children most with different fathers, most who she was raped
with in her torturous time as a slave. At first, Baby thought that there was no more life for her after
being free since she was so old. However, she became the community preacher at Cincinnati as
she would hold preachings at The Clearing. However, as Sethe arrived, the community started to
shun Baby Suggs thinking she was too prideful. She spent her last days broken emotionally and
mentally and waited for her death. Halle: Halle is Sethe’s husband and fortunately for her, the
father of all her children which isn’t common back in the slave era. Sethe chose Halle out of all
the other Sweet Home men because of the fact that he bought his mother, Baby Sugg’s freedom.
Halle and Sethe had planned to run away and escape from Sweet Home together but Halle
disappeared when they were supposed to leave. Up until the visit of Paul D, Sethe had thought
that Halle had abandoned her and her children but it turns out that Halle was there to witness the
horrific raping that the nephews did on Sethe in the barn when they took all her milk she had for
her children. Halle then was described to have gone mad as Paul D found him covered in butter.
Stamp Paid: Stamp Paid was originally named Joshua was one of the agents for the
Underground Railroad. He is a friend to the community and always welcome anywhere. Stamp
changed his named to “Stamp Paid” after his wife was taken to his masters son’s bed for a year.
He considers his debts paid that year and moved on. He saved Denvers life when Sethe was
trying to kill her children and was the one who showed Paul D the newspaper clippings of what
Sethe had really done.
Sixo: Sixo was one of the 5 men at Sweet Home. He was the only one that was not longing after
Sethe because he had a girlfriend thirty miles away whom he traveled by foot to see regularly. He
planned and executed an escape attempt along with Paul D but was captured and burned than
later shot to death. He had a son along the way when he died and so he yelled the words “Seven
- o!” as he was being killed.
Amy/Mr./Miss Bodwin: These three characters are the white people in the story that have
haloed the blacks. Amy Denver, was the woman that Beloved bumped into in the forest and who
nursed her back to health and also helped deliver her baby Denver. Mr. and Miss Bodwin are
siblings who are slave abolitionists and first got Sethe out of jail after she was put in there for
killing her daughter Beloved. Denver ultimately comes to them to find work in the end and Miss.
Bodwin teachers her and believes she can someday attend Oberlin University. They represent
the little glimmer of hope in a time of complete chaos.
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Symbols, Motifs, Archetypes, Allusions
Symbols: The tobacco tin: One prominent symbol in this novel is the “tobacco tin” heart that Paul
D supposedly keeps his past locked away in. Paul D begins telling Sethe about his journey after
Sweet Home but is always hesitant to move on because he does not want to bring up the past
and all of its bad memories. Instead, he says that he has locked away all the memories and all
the emotional love and attachment in his “tobacco tin heart.” This tobacco tin that Paul D uses to
describe his heart is a symbol for all the slaves past. Toni Morrison uses this symbol to show us
that many slaves who have gone through horrific times in slavery have locked away these bad
times and have not faced them so they continue to taunt them. The tobacco tin, although closing
away all the memories, does not help Paul D completely forget about them in the long run. The
tobacco tin is also a symbol of the hardships of Paul D and of him just completely beaten down by
the effects of slavery that he has locked away his emotions along with these experiences. We see
that it isn't until Beloved forces him to open up this tobacco tin and open up his memories to face
them that we see he finally realizes that he needs to stop running away from everything and face
his past and move on. There is also an reoccurring motif with numbers throughout the novel. It
beings with the line “124 was spiteful.” Making Sethe live in a house numbered 124 is a symbol
for her devotion to her children. The number 124 is a consecutive three numbers missing the
number 3 which is also a symbol of the missing and deceased Beloved from the home. Another
number comes up when Sethe describes her first days at Cincinnati as “28 days of happiness.”
28 is also how many days is in a woman’s menstrual period. Having those numbers refer to this
shows the motherly love that is evident in this story. the love and the power of love and of
motherly love. The numbers and what they stand for all allude back to the intense love and
devotion that Sethe has for her children. Choosing these numbers to use indicate that Sethe
killing her children stays with her forever and because of that, nothing seems bad to her anymore.
Beloved is a symbol of all the slaves that were forced into slavery, Sethe’s dead baby, and
Sethe’s past. We see in chapter 22 that Beloved reminisces about her experiences on the slave
ship as all the different slaves as she expresses this story in a stream of consciousness. She is a
symbol of Sethe’s past because she represents everything Sethe used to have and used to be.
She also always asks Sethe to share stories of her past, forcing her to remember everything she
wishes she could forget.
Motifs: Throughout the entire story, we see in Denver, Paul D, Sethe, and even Beloved a
reoccurring idea of the need to belong and this need to feel important in other peoples lives as
long as feel important themselves. This idea of needing to belong also leads to why these
characters seem to hold everything so tightly to themselves. We evidently see this need to be
important and possessiveness in Sethe to her children. Her wanting to kill her children show that
she does not even want to risk her children falling to the hands of someone else and would rather
kill them if that means that they will stay and be with her forever. We see this sense of
possessiveness in Denver also with the arrival of Beloved and with the arrival of Paul D. Her
possessiveness over Sethe is evident when she gets upset after Sethe and Paul D begin to
engage in conversations about their past in Sweet Home. That is a past that she is not involved in
and she doesn’t like not feeling like she belongs or that she is important and not feeling close to
Sethe. Denver also has a sense of possessiveness over Beloved both as a ghost and as a real
woman. When Beloved is still the ghost that haunts 124, Denver seems to be fine with her and
even find comfort in her presence as she is so lonely and isolated that she wants to hold on to
anything that she can. When Beloved arrives at 124, Denver seems to be the mother figure over
her, taking care of her. When Beloved tells Denver that she did not come back for Denver,
Denver gets upset because she wanted to be the reason Beloved came back deep down inside.
Throughout the novel, Morrison depicts very detailed, raw, and honest images of violence whether it is rape, abuse, or just simple violence. The use of these horrific images is Morrisons
way of exposing just how horrible the slavery era was. In this novel, we see humanity in its worst
and most horrific form - where humans do not act like humans. We see Sethe getting raped and
violated multiple times, and we see the fact that Baby Suggs has 8 children with 6 different men.
These images are all to show and prove the fact that white viewed blacks as something lower and
“animals” when in reality, they were the ones acting like animals and treating them like this and
that they were not much better than the blacks that worked for them. Also with these horrific and
honest depictions of slavery, Morrison is able to “put it all on the table” and for blacks to confront
their fears of the past they must face the true horror of it then move on. There is also a hidden
motif of numbers in this novel. One example of this is Sethe’s home address, 124 Bluestone Rd.
124 stands for all Sethe’s living children. The 1st and 2nd children are her two boys who ran away
and the missing 3 stands for her murdered child. The 4th child is Denver. Another example of the
motif of numbers is when Sethe says that she only has 28 days of happiness. This stands for the
28 days in a menstrual cycle. Sethe feels guilty having to see her period, because seeing the
place she gives birth release blood reminds her of her murderous act.
Archetypes: A reoccurring idea in this novel is the power of women. In history, women are seen
as the weaker sex, very uninfluential. However, we see in many instances that women are
extremely powerful. One instance is when we are told that Sethe kills her baby daughter. Women
are stereotypically not supposed to be capable of doing such horrible things to others. Another
instance that strength in women is expressed is with Beloved’s seduction of Paul D. She basically
forces Paul D to have sex with her multiple times against his own will. It is seen again, here that
women are very powerful. On another note, Beloved is the epitome of the “death and rebirth”
archetype as she embodies the idea of the dead baby Beloved and also the whole slave
community. Beloved’s death was the catalyst of many things - the isolation of 124 from the rest of
the community, the depression of Baby Suggs, the fearlessness of Sethe, and the loneliness of
Denver. Beloveds return, however, is the catalyst for many things also including Paul D’s opening
of the tobacco tin, Sethe facing her past, and Denvers growth into a mature young woman. The
Death and Rebirth of Beloved is the symbol of the past catching up to the characters in the novel.
The years before Beloveds return, they have all lived in seclusion from their past, not thinking
about it, and even locking it away. However, the past, in the form of the rebirth of Beloved, is the
past coming back and forcing them to face the past and get over it so they can live in peace once
more.
Allusions: There are many biblical allusions in this novel. One of the allusions are when Beloved
dies at 3 in the afternoon on a Friday. This event alludes back to Good Friday, the day Jesus
died. This symbolizes the end of Sethe’s suffering with Beloved. Another biblical allusion in the
novel occurs when Stamp Paid is bringing Sethe blackberries to welcome her to 124 and all of a
sudden, their quantity duplicates and is able to feed a feast. This alludes to Jesus’ feeding of the
loves and fishes to the stadium of 5,000 people.
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Themes
Slavery/Identity: The central story in this novel revolves around slaves and the slave trade back
in the earl 1850’s. However, in the center of the slave stories is the idea of “loss of identity.” Not
only does slavery put these characters into intense and horrifying experiences, it ultimately strips
them of who they are and their identity. The first instance of the loss of identity is the name of
Paul D and his brothers - Paul F and Paul A. Having him and his brothers named by different
letters in the alphabet parallels to things being marked and not names of people. Having their
names just differ by letters shows their lack of self identity. Paul D has also displayed a lack of
identity when he explains the time he had an iron bit in his mouth and he felt lower than the
chicken that he helped free. He explained to Sethe that he felt like the rooster was looking down
on him and that he was the animal. Comparing himself as something lower than that of an animal
so small dismisses his sense of self identity and self pride. One memory that Sethe holds close to
her and has damaged her greatly is her memory of the schoolteacher and his nephews listing
Sethes personal traits as human or “animal.” The fact that the schoolteacher would even compare
Sethes qualities to that of animals shows how little the whites thought of the blacks. The fact that
Sethe was compared to having characteristics like animals shows the absence of their identity as
human beings.
Motherhood/Power of Love: A central theme in Beloved is the power of motherhood and the
devotion a mother has to her children as evident in Sethe. You see that despite everything that
Sethe has gone through, she still is willing to give up everything for her children and for her
children to be satisfied and loved. Her extreme and passionate devotion to her children and the
happiness of her children is so evident that she is able to kill her children than to have them
suffer. Although killing her children is seen to be something barbaric and horrific, what that
traumatizing experience did to Sethe and what her reasons were behind doing it shows her
extreme love for her children. She would rather have them dead and have to suffer through
getting over their death than to have them suffer their lives like how she did as a slave. She would
rather have the entire community shun her out and believe her to be a monster and have her own
children believe her to be a monster than to have her children go through the pain and suffering
she had to go through. The courage that Sethe had to kill her children stems from her undeniable
love for her children. Throughout the novel, however, it seems as if slavery is always competing
against motherhood almost as if slavery does not allow motherhood to be prevalent. We first see
this in the detachment Sethe had from her mother who was never with her due to slavery. We
also see this in Baby Suggs and her rejection of all of her children because they were born
against her will with people she did not want to bare children with. Third, we see this in Sethe as
she has to give up her daughter Beloved in the face of slavery. Slavery not only strips people of
their identity but of the motherly love and the kind of love that only mothers are able to give to
their children. After the horrors of slavery, Paul D says that you can’t love anything as much as
Sethe loves her children because he is so scarred by the effects of slavery.
Though women can be underestimated, they are very powerful and influential people.
Once instance that reveals how powerful and precious women can be is when Amy
Denver heals Sethe’s aching feet with her own two hands. As Sethe is struggling to escape from
slavery while carrying a baby in her womb, Amy easily cures her aching and infected feet. Amy is
an indentured servant who lies very low in her social standing. Not only this, but she is just a
young girl who is not expected to be capable of such a miraculous ability. Morrison makes Amy
so low in social standing to show how such an underestimated person is capable of doing
something so amazing, just like the rest of the women in the world.
Another instance that women are presented as powerful figures is when Sethe kills her
baby. Women are stereotypically supposed to only be capable of bringing good unto others.
Having a person commit murder to her own child is one of the boldest things Morrison could have
had a character do, and she makes a woman be the culprit to this act. In doing this, Morrison
shows just how powerful she believes women are. Women are not as small and powerless as the
male species makes them seem.
In the middle of the novel, Beloved seduces Paul D forcing him to have sex with her
against his wishes on multiple occasions. This act is ironic because normally, it is the man who
pressures the women into having sex because women are seen as weaker creatures in
comparison to men. Having Beloved be the predator in this situation shows how women are
actually the stronger sex in this novel. Morrison is establishing an underlying theme of feminism
here, saying that women are the more powerful of the two sexes and that they should no longer
be seen as weak, but cause women are extremely powerful and manipulative.
They key to living a happier life is accepting and letting go of the past and focusing on
building a future.
Sethe is constantly remembering back to the time she was a slave on Sweet Home and
the schoolteacher’s nephews stole her milk from her breasts. She is still traumatized by all the
horrible things that have happened to her. Sethe is constantly in bondage to her painful past and
does not allow herself to move forward in life due to all her previous failures and misfortunes.
Although she was given a fresh new start at 124, she cannot seem to move past all the terrible
things that have happened to her.
Because of Sethe’s failed plans to live a happy life with Halle and her four children, Sethe
tells herself that she will no longer make plans for her future. She convinces herself that she has
no future and is incapable of being happy. She does not believe that she deserves to be happy.
Sethe is so attached to everything that she could not accomplish in her life. She is so attached
that instead of learning from her mistakes, she just quits and convinces herself to stop trying to
find happiness. Sethe must understand that life comes with many misfortunes and many
blessings—it is better to focus on all the blessings life throws out than all the misfortunes.
As Beloved is a symbol for Sethe’s past, it is made clear why Sethe is so attached to her.
Beloved symbolizes all the terrible things that have happened to Sethe. As she spends her time
with Beloved, she finds herself suffering through her own mental deterioration due to her past
taunting her every day. Sethe Is not able to let go of her past, and Beloved constantly reminds
her of everything she wish she has and everything she wish she never has to go through. Sethe
is not able to move on as long as Beloved is with her—as soon as Beloved disappears, Sethe is
finally able to move on.
No matter how long a journey lasts, there is always a chance of happiness if positive
lessons learned on that journey are acknowledged and applied to life.
Paul D finds himself mentally struggling through many dilemmas including questioning his
masculinity. He questions his masculinity because he dislikes the idea that he is only seen as a
man by some because his white slave owner calls him a man. Even with this, he is not seen as a
man equal to the rest. He is still seen for the color of his skin, and this diminishes his selfconfidence as a man. He eventually learns to live with this and find peace within himself and with
the woman who loves him—Sethe.
Paul D also struggles with allowing himself to love fully. He tells Sethe that she should
not love anything too much, because if that thing is lost, then she would only be left hurting. Paul
D lives in fear of loving anything too much and runs away from the person he loves the most, in
fear. Paul D’s horrible past involved many of his loved ones dying and being taken away from
him, so he trains himself to have a tobacco tin heart—cold as stone and incapable of being
broken. However, he eventually learns that this is no way to live, and returns to Sethe in hopes
that they start a new life together.
Paul D struggles through a mental journey involving a place to call his home. He
navigates from Sweet Home, to working in the Civil War, to living with Sethe, to sleeping in the
church cellar, and back to finally find home with Sethe at 124. Paul D’s struggle to find a home
has a lot to do with his struggle to realize what he is capable of doing with his future—his true
identity. Paul D, like Sethe, does not allow himself to build a future for himself because he is
mentally beign pulled behind by his dark past. He does not know where he belongs or who he
belongs with. In the end, he realizes that him and Sethe belong together and that she is his
home.
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Quotes
-“It’s gonna hurt, now, anything dead coming back to life hurts” (42).
-“A hot thing” (252).
-“But it wasn’t the jungle black brought with them to this place from the other place. It was the
jungle whitefolks planted in them. And it grew” (234).
-“124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom”
-“White people believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle. In a way
they were right, but it wasn’t the jungle blacks brought with them to this place…it was the jungle
white folks planted in them. And it grew. It spread….until it invaded the whites who made it”
-“He would keep the rest where it belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red
heart used to be. Its lid rusted shut.”
-“You are your best thing”
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Distictive Characteristics
African American oral traditions: Morrison uses this to remind former slaves of their identity
and self worth. These oral traditions unites the slaves in their haunting pasts and also allows the
characters to liberate themselves and each other from suffering. It is evident in Baby Suggs
leading the community in the clearing to remind them to love themselves. Healing Touch: The
healing touch is seen through the strength of women and how powerful the motherly qualities are.
Healing touch is evident when Amy Denver nurses Sethes feet back to health and is also evident
in when Sethe slashes Beloveds throat. Horrific Imagery: Helps the black community “put it all out
on the table”, really face the horrors of their past so they can get over it and move on
Motif of numbers: Ex: Three shadows first being Paul D., Sethe, and Denver but then being
Denver, Beloved, and Sethe. 124 is also missing the number 3 and 28 days is a woman's
menstrual period. These numbers are all whats important to Sethe and shows her devotion as a
mother and devotion to motherhood. Stream of Consciousnesses: The characters seem to all live
and connect in their past and in their stream of consciousness that they fall back to during the
story. This stream shows that each character is not free even when they are free, they are still
stuck in this mental slavery. Supernatural elements: The supernatural elements that appear
makes people think and makes them confront their past and get over it instead of just forgetting
about it. It shows the slaves that in order to move forward with the present, they must not use the
past to determine present decisions.
Chronology: Morrison does not write this novel in perfect chronology. Her style of writing makes
the reader constantly have to look back and piece events together in order for things to make
sense.