Beloved is one of the central characters in Toni Morrison‟s novel and in the simplest
terms, she is the ghost of the baby daughter that Sethe killed in the toolshed. The structure of the
book is based on the fragmented thoughts of Beloved who died a baby. At the same time,
Beloved also represents the “sixty million and more” Africans who were shipped across the
Middle Passage, forced to “crouch” and watch “piles of dead.”
Chapter 1
In the first chapter, Beloved does not come forth except when “the sideboard took a step
forward” as a reaction to Sethe and Denver‟s attempt to make the ghost of 124 come out. Instead
of introducing Beloved as a character on her own, she is introduced through Sethe and Denver‟s
views of her as well as a foreshadowing to Sethe‟s “too thick” love. Even though Beloved is not
alive anymore, “for a baby she throws a powerful spell.” So in the beginning, Beloved is
revealed to be dead due to the number 124 with the missing 3 and also because Sethe states that
Beloved, “ wasn‟t even two year old when she died.” Then when Paul D arrives, he feels the evil
spirit that is lingering in the house. Paul D senses the evil, and “a wave of grief soaked him so
thoroughly he wanted to cry.” At first he thought that it was Baby Sugg‟s spirit, but then Sethe
tells him that it‟s Beloved‟s spirit. The anger and sadness created by Beloved‟s spirit causes Paul
D and Sethe to end up kissing each other because they feel tension and longing to be touched
again after all these years. Even though Beloved is only mentioned as a lingering spirit, she has a
big impact on all the characters emotionally. She also affects Denver because Denver feels that
the baby‟s spirit is her friend so when Paul D intrudes and forcefully kicks out the baby‟s spirit,
Denver gets mad and angry for Paul D‟s invasion. Denver tells Paul D that the spirit isn‟t sad,
but more “lonely and rebuked.” There is a use of subtlety throughout as Sethe implies her crime
to Paul D and the dirty deed of sexual favors for a headstone. Nothing is said outright as any
conversation involving Beloved is skirted around with light comments. However, there is a shift
to an angry tone as Paul D kicks Beloved out.
Chapter 5
Beloved first appears in a human form in the fifth chapter as “a fully dressed woman
walked out of the water.” The water is a symbol for life which she is coming into and leaving
the world of the dead she had been in for the last eighteen years. Her spirit having been kicked
out of 124, she can only return as a person. Although she died at two years old, she returns at the
age she would have been, around twenty years old, showing she is more than just her baby spirit.
Her “new skin, lineless and smooth, including the knuckles of her hands” show that she may “be
… one of the Sixty Million, since she has memories of the Middle Passage.” (Scarpa 94)
Beloved is “smiling” because she has finally escaped simply haunting 124 and returned as a
person who is now able to find “her face,” the mother who was taken away from her, the mother
who killed her. Regaining the strength to approach the “slate-gray house,” she sits on “a stump”
and practices to keep her eyes open. Like a child, she has a short attention span as her neck
“kept bending and her chin brushed the bit of lace.” Her eyes, which are used to create a visual
memory of her life are very important to her as she “negotiate[s] the weight of her eyelids.”
Finally, Denver, Sethe, and Paul D return from the carnival and see Beloved, dressed in a
“black dressed, two unlaced shoes below it.” Her black dress is archetypal for the mystery that
surrounds her, the death she had already gone through, and the knowledge she has of slavery
within her. Her unlaced shoes show that she is not accustomed to this world like a child who has
not yet learned how to tie her shoelaces. Here Boy is “nowhere in sight,” which is a clue to the
evil that surrounds Beloved because dogs can often sense such things. Also, when the ghost was
present in 124, Here Boy was also absent, signifying that Beloved has some relation to this ghost.
As Sethe lays her eyes on Beloved, she feels her “bladder filled to capacity” as if her
water is breaking all over again. She is remembering when she gave birth to Beloved, the first
time “she had an emergency that unmanageable.” “The dynamic suggests a mother being
drained by the child's greedy, excessive need. “ (Schapiro 198) She relates it to how it feels like
“flooding the boat when Denver was born” and it is one of the first confirmations that this is
Sethe‟s daughter. It is also a foreshadowing of what will happen as Beloved further drains Sethe.
As Sethe reenters the house, she finds Beloved drinking “cup after cup of water,” as if she is
trying to get as much „life‟ into her as possible. She drinks four cups, representing the solidity of
the earth, trying to keep herself permanent in this world. The three vertical lines on her forehead
like a mark of slavery, which shows how she is also one of those Africans sold into slavery.
For such a young girl, her “voice was so low and rough” from disuse as the three look at
her. They do not put much weight on her name and instead find her voice odd. No one has
made the connection with the dead baby from 124. However, Sethe feels “deeply touched by her
sweet name” and remembers the headstone, showing the love she still holds for her dead
daughter. Denver‟s obsessive love is introduced as she looks “at this sleepy beauty and [wants]
more.” Denver is the only one who realizes Beloved is someone special as she passionately
denies that Beloved is sick. Beloved, who is still regaining energy, sleeps for four days, a
repeated number as she tries to ground herself in the physical world. Here, Beloved‟s influence
is already beginning to impact Denver who cares for her “out of love and a breakneck
possessiveness” that “she forgot to eat.” Beloved feels “heavy” as she had been a floating spirit
for so long, she does not know how to function as a human anymore. She finds comfort in the
oranges patches in the quilt because they express the hope and passion she holds towards the idea
that Sethe will one day smile at her. Still, Denver cares for Beloved as if she is her “patient” and
tries to push Sethe out of the picture.
“Beloved‟s eyes flew wide open,” a sudden movement sparked by Sethe‟s presence in the
room. Her eyes are big and black, as if bottomless and full of mystery. The blue-white in her
eyes reflect the blinding truth that many characters ignore, the past full of slavery they force
themselves to forget. However, it is none of these that Denver is startled by, instead, it is the
lack of expression. For such a child, being nurtured and taken care of, she has no response to
Denver. But Denver gives her the sweet bread and Beloved “smiled then.” “Denver‟s heart
stopped bouncing and sat down,” as if she has reached her goal. The irony of this is that Beloved
is happy at having something Sethe made and continues being happy on account of the more
sweet foods Sethe makes for her. Sethe‟s aid in healing Beloved cheers her up as she goes on
“into glowing health” but still “slow-moving.” Like an older or heavier person, she moves
awkwardly as she is not accustomed to her body and by saying it was “too heavy for a neck
alone,” the narrator refers to when she had her head cut off.
The noticing of mismatched actions to a young body begins the corruption of Paul D as
he brings this up. It is a two against one argument when Denver and Sethe both love Beloved
already. This chapter introduces the effects Beloved has on Paul D, Denver, and Sethe that she
will continue to push forth, slowly draining the life out of them, yet also saving them.
Chapter 6
After Beloved stayed at 124 for a while, she became attached to Sethe. Beloved wanted
to know everything about Sethe and she would always be close to Sethe just like how a baby
would act towards her mother. Beloved could not take her eyes of Sethe because she was amazed
by everything Sethe did and she wanted to find out more about Sethe. The diction in “Sethe was
licked, tasted, eaten by Beloved‟s eyes” expresses just how attracted Beloved was to Sethe,
emphasizing the desire involved. In a way, we can see that Beloved wanted to be a part of Sethe
because she followed everything that Sethe did and kept her attention on Sethe .
We can see that Beloved begins to obsess more and more over Sethe to the point where
she even waits for her to come back from work “at two.” The part of “their shadows clashed and
crossed on the ceiling like black swords,” shows that Beloved tries to take over Sethe and to be
like her because their shadows were like black swords which shows fighting and conflict.
Beloved gets to the point where she wants to be with Sethe every moment of her life and what
times she gets back home so they could walk back together.
To Sethe, having Beloved being this devoted to her made her feel “flattered.” Sethe
believes that if it was Denver, she wouldn‟t have approved because Denver‟s dependence would
have started to annoy her. Here, she clearly states the difference in her love for Denver and her
love for Beloved. Sethe enjoys how Beloved is always with her because she feels satisfaction
from getting such praise from this “sweet, if peculiar, guest.” It is the beginning of the feeling of
forgiveness that Sethe has been searching for that she appreciates from Beloved. At times,
Beloved‟s devotion may seem empowering, but Sethe knows that it‟s just the way Beloved is and
she wasn‟t going to ruin that for her.
As Sethe was falling asleep, she feels Beloved touching her. Beloved is trying to feel the
mother she had lost for so many years. She wanted to know more about Sethe and from that
touch, it had the power to get Sethe to tell her things. Even though Sethe was tired, she couldn‟t
decline Beloved because in Beloved‟s eyes was a longing that seemed bottomless. Beloved
wanted to help Sethe and she couldn‟t control herself around Sethe since she had a strong desire
to look inside of Beloved as well. The mutual feeling of need towards each other is beginning to
show.
In this conversation, we can see how Beloved tries to get to know more about Sethe by
asking her questions. We know that Beloved doesn‟t know anything about Sethe, except for
fragmented facts, such as how she knows about diamonds. Beloved searches Sethe‟s face
because she wanted to find some recognition in her face. Sethe finds it weird that Beloved knows
about the earrings because even Denver never knew about the earrings. This shows how Beloved
is also Sethe in the representation of mother-daughter relationships. Beloved wants to ask these
questions because she felt a need to know more about Sethe‟s past and for Sethe, she found
satisfaction from telling these stories. Beloved wants to make up for all the time she was gone,
to learn about her mother and recreate the relationship of nurturing a child as they grow.
Sethe finds out that Beloved liked hearing about her past. Beloved found pleasure in
listening to Sethe‟s stories and she fed off these stories like the sweet things she was addicted to.
She was pleased when Sethe told her about her past because she knows that it hurt Sethe to talk
about the past, but at the same time Sethe was happy to be telling Beloved. In this, Sethe is able
to face her past because of Beloved, even before she learns that this is her daughter. Beloved,
who represents the slaves who had to go through the pain of the Middle Passage, is slowly
making Sethe realize facing the pain is the only way. Even Denver noticed that Beloved found
satisfaction from hearing Sethe. To Beloved, it was also a way to get inside of Sethe because she
was digging up the hurtful memories that Sethe had hidden away and now, it makes Beloved feel
even more close to Sethe since she was telling her everything.
Beloved was making Sethe happy by making her tells these stories because Sethe “found
herself wanting to, liking it.” She was helping Sethe get in touch with her past even though she
knew that it was painful for her to talk about it. Sethe is able to reveal these things to Beloved
because Beloved was never around when these things happen so she feels less afraid about
talking it and also because Beloved wanted to hear about it so badly. Beloved‟s “thirst for
hearing it” made Sethe feel good since all these bad memories have been hidden in her for
forever and it felt good to let someone listen to her once. Even though she could‟ve told Denver
these things, Sethe feels that telling Beloved pleases her more because she had such a deep
longing to know about her and also because Beloved was a stranger so she knows that Beloved
wouldn‟t judge her as much.
Sethe and Denver are still not use to Beloved‟s voice because they find a strange sound to
it. Beloved wants to know more about it because she‟s curious about how Sethe‟s mother has
never braided her hair. Beloved refers to Sethe‟s mother as “your woman” showing her
perspective of what mothers are, a claim by their daughters. Sethe finds it strange that Beloved
wants to know more because she didn‟t talk about Baby Suggs much. Beloved is more curious as
Sethe keeps on telling her about her past and she starts asking more questions to Sethe. Denver
begins to fully realize there is something odd about Beloved who knows things about Sethe no
one should; Beloved knows all of this because of how she is Sethe in a sense, as she represents
the broken mother-daughter relationships due to slavery. The effect of telling Sethe‟s past is
slowly helping Sethe accept the things in her past, the things she tried to forget about but have
always stayed in the back of her mind. Sethe walks away and she starts folding things to keep
her occupied. She didn‟t know that telling Beloved these stories were going to make such a
impact on her because she was bring up something she had forgotten form such a long time ago.
Sethe had to keep her mind busy because she was ashamed about “The slap on face and the
circled cross.” She was shock that she was actually telling these things to Denver and Beloved.
From this, we see that Beloved has a power over Sethe in her ability to make Sethe face her past.
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
In the beginning of chapter 8, Beloved‟s personality comes out as she was “dancing.” Her
dancing upstairs with Denver shows how very joyful and childlike Beloved can be. Although she
was characterized and judged as a mysterious disturbance to the house, she actually came out and
Denver “had never seen Beloved this happy.” Beloved starts to dance around and invites Denver
to dance along with her, which portrays Beloved‟s innocence and willingness to invite people in.
Beloved‟s mood and tone switches as she explains the origin of her name. She says that
only “in the dark, [her] name is Beloved.” She thinks of herself as small only “in that space.” She
describes this place as hot and hard to breathe in with little room to move in. Through this,
however, her persona switches from happy and energetic to insecure and uncomfortable. The
tone changes in the way she acts and talks. Although she explains this place and makes it seem
bad, she never literally says that it was bad. She replies in a constant calm voice, even when
talking about how “some..dead” people are there, which shows her self-control.
The reader finds the answer to Beloved‟s return, which is that she only came back to see
Sethe‟s face again. She explains how she waited for a “long time” once she got out only for the
need of seeing her mother‟s face again.
As Denver tries to convince Beloved not to tell Sethe who she is, Beloved has yet another
mood change and orders Denver not to tell her what to do. “Don‟t you ever tell me what to do” is
repetitive to show Beloved‟s tone and defense for herself. This reveals how independent she is.
Beloved seems hard-headed and straight-forward. Beloved also reassures that she will never
leave because, she says, “This is where I am.” This shows her sense of belonging.
Once Denver tries to come back to dancing again, Beloved refuses and just replies with “I
don‟t want to.” Beloved is very blocked off from emotions. Beloved is then very interested in
how Sethe made Denver in the boat. She constantly asks questions as to what happened and how
it happened. This shows another mood change to Beloved. As Beloved continues to show interest
and asks questions about Sethe, she helps Denver realize and see how her mother feels. This
conversation brings both Denver and Beloved close together. The reader begins to see Beloved‟s
acceptance and strong interest in Sethe. “Denver spoke, Beloved listened…”
Chapter 9
Sethe is choked by a mysterious ghost thought to be Baby Suggs. Denver recognizes the
bruises, however, with the help of Beloved.Beloved is then hinted and described as the answer to
who choked Sethe and who was kissing her. This shows that Beloved wants to be with Sethe and
can do things to people of what she wants. Beloved reveals how much she is willing to be
noticed by Sethe and her affection for her mother also comes out through these actions.
Beloved is compared to a two-year old once she becomes agitated that the girls had saved
her. This shows Beloved‟s whild attitude and uncontrolled expressions. The knowledge of
Beloved towards other characters is expressed and is said that she only knew that she would do
everything for Sethe and that Denver and she were really close and made good company for each
other.
Throughout the chapter, Beloved‟s lack of attention from Sethe begins to really trouble
her. She finds that Sethe is getting distracted by Paul D, and Beloved turns insecure in a way.
This shows that Beloved takes this lack of attention very personally and how angered she can
become. She blamed it on “Him” repetitively. The repetition reveals Beloved‟s jealousy and
immaturity. She seems, in a way, selfish because she just continuously blames “Him” for the
lack of attention.
Beloved is blamed for choking Sethe and constantly denies the accusation. She seems
very defensive, which shows Beloved‟s guilt. The reader can see how dangerous Beloved may be.
Beloved‟s attitude causes an allegation against her through Denver. Beloved makes the
characters confused on whether or not she is guilty. Beloved still remains in her mysterious role
throughout the chapter. Although Denver is accusing Beloved for hurting Sethe, she still tries to
find a sign of forgiveness from Beloved. This portrays Beloved‟s strong control over people.
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 revolves around Beloved‟s control and jealousy over Paul D. She begins to
seduce him in order to get him to leave Sethe. The more time Paul D and Sethe spent, Beloved
would feel abandoned and think that she might be forgotten by her own mother. Beloved
approaches Paul D, yet Paul D “refused to turn and look.” Beloved continuously tells Paul D to
“touch me on the inside part and call me my name.” She tries to get Paul D infatuated by her
words and actions. Paul D reminds Beloved of her mother‟s love for her , yet Beloved explains
how much larger her love for Sethe is. This shows beloved‟s lack of confidence in herself.
Beloved persists the seduction and tells Paul D to “touch me on the inside part” continuously
although Paul D constantly refuses. This shows how much Beloved is willing to do to get what
she wants. It shows her great control over people and how she can get people to do and be
anything she wants.
Beloved‟s attack against Sethe and Paul D is described to be like a “nightmare,” but in
“daylight [they] can‟t imagine it.” For Paul D, he feels like Beloved is “fixing [him]… and [he]
can‟t break it.” Beloved forces him to go through the pain of remembering, to face all that he
feared from his past. In a way, it is risky, if he cannot handle it, he may go crazy but he survived,
and wakes up as if it was just a nightmare that left him „fixed.‟
Chapter 12
Morrison begins to describe Beloved as Denver‟s security. Beloved gives Denver the
attention she has desired and Denver appreciates it. Beloved starts to show how much she means
to some and how she can truly be like a real sister to Denver. Although the need for something
was mostly describes and pointed on Denver, Beloved starts to show her wants and needs as well.
Although never really expressed verbally, many could see it “deep down in her wide black eyes.”
Beloved is questioned about what she knows and remembers. Beloved confesses that she
doesn‟t precisely remember all details. Although Beloved never literally says that she doesn‟t
remember, she has short diction as to what she remembers. She “[scratches] the back of her
hand,” which indicates deep thinking and remembrance. The only clear memory she had was the
bridge and she repeated it. This shows the significance within this specific memory Beloved
keeps telling. Sethe‟s opinion of Beloved is that she was locked up by some whiteman, which
would explain her actions toward Paul D. Beloved never answers back and neither does she deny
nor agree with this speculation which keeps every character‟s opinion individual. Keeps the
mystery in her character.
Beloved asks Denver about flowers in the dark. This indicates that Beloved still thinks of
going back to where she was from which was “dark.” Beloved also keeps a somewhat positive
thought, which represents the flowers she asked for. Beloved is described as “private and dreamy,
or quiet and sullen.” She only focuses her attention to Sethe, which shows her great relationship
she thinks she has with Sethe and her expectations of having Sethe look at her the same way.
Morrison describes Beloved in a different way: “She will forgo the most violent of sunsets…if it
comes from her Beloved.” In this approach, Morrison explains the need for Beloved and the
importance she is to the family, mainly Sethe. Sethe cannot overcome anything, without the help
and relationship with Beloved. With Beloved, however, Sethe can overcome some personal
problems or challenges she needs to overcome.
Denver shows more relation and care for beloved. She begins to ask for her help more.
Once a room turns dark, Denver starts to look for Beloved. Beloved randomly disappears. This
shows that Beloved really is from the “dark” and that is where she should be, yet refuses to be.
“There is no sign of Beloved,” which makes Denver worry for a bit. Denver then sees Beloved
and says, “I thought you left me.” This shows that Denver only sees Beloved as being there only
for her, which hints at Beloved‟s strong influence and relationship with Denver. Once Beloved
appears however, she explains how “[she] don‟t want that place. This is the place [she is].” Once
again Beloved demonstrates how small she is in the dark and how she doesn‟t belong there.
Beloved‟s face is then compared to the dark which reminds Denver that she is just a spirit.
Chapter 14
“Beloved, who had not moved since Sethe and Paul D left the room,” becomes very
controlling over what she wants. Beloved will do whatever she needs in order to acquire
whatever she wishes. Beloved‟s anger towards Paul D comes out once again and tells Denver to
“make him go away.” This shows the extreme jealousy she has and the desire for Sethe‟s
attention. Beloved loses a tooth and begins to worry, thinking “this is it.” She exaggerates and
predicts that she will soon lose an arm then a leg until she has nothing physical left. Her greatest
fears are exposed here as she has nightmares of exploding into many pieces or being swallowed
and becoming a part of someone else. As if she does not know human emotion, Beloved just sits
there holding her tooth as Denver asks why she doesn‟t cry. Then, Beloved begins crying as she
thinks of the loneliness that consumes her when Sethe choose Paul D over her. She fears losing
her identity that she is trying to create and disappearing without leaving a mark or changing
others.
Chapter 16
In this chapter we discover the death of Beloved. The “four horsemen” came and went to
the shed to discover “two boys [bleeding] in the sawdust and dirt at the feet of a nigger women
holding a blood soaked child to her chest with one hand and an infant by the heels in the other.”
The four horsemen that came to 124 were there to claim Sethe‟s child because they wanted more
slaves. So the only way that Sethe could have saved Beloved from the treacherous world was if
she killed her. Everyone was shocked to see that Sethe would do such a thing and even the
sheriff questioned, “What she want to go and do that for?” The sheriff carries the baby out and
everyone watches as the baby is taken away. Sethe is affected by this because at the time she
thought she was saving Beloved from the world, but she was actually taking away her life for her
own selfish reasons. Sethe doesn‟t budge when the sheriff tries to take her in because she‟s too
shocked to move. That‟s when Baby Suggs “with the flower in her hat entered.” As the death
scene plays on, Baby Suggs goes to help the boys who have been traumatized by their mother‟s
killing while another old man went to go help Sethe. Sethe is glancing at a baby that the old man
is holding and realizes that she‟s made a big mistake. She holds on to “her crawling already?
baby” because she‟s afraid of also losing Denver. Sethe is in remorse and devastation from the
realization that she just made a big mistake in trying to kill all her children. Baby Suggs tells
Sethe to “nurse [her] youngest” because Sethe still has a responsibility to take care of her other
baby child. Sethe doesn‟t clean up her bloody mess and Baby Suggs gets enraged by that because
it‟s indecent. When Denver drinks the blood of her dead sister, it connects her to Beloved
because now Beloved‟s blood is also in her veins. As Sethe is taken away, people start
murmuring about her and saying bad things. It almost seems as if she‟s walking away with pride
and confidence for murdering her baby because she thought she was doing the right thing. After
Sethe is taken away, Baby Suggs life is forever changed because she not only lost one child, but
also Denver. Beloved was going to be a part of her old life, but now it seemed like everything
was taken away from her. “The hot sun dried Sethe‟s dress stiff, like a rigor mortis” because it
relates to a death of baby. Rigor mortis is what happens when the muscle stiffens and is difficult
to move. It‟s also a sign of death, so as the wagon is going away, we see Sethe being taken away
by the stiffness of death from Beloved. Everything is lost.
Chapter 17
From the last Chapter, we can put together that Paul D is trying to go back to confirm if it
was Sethe or not. He doesn‟t believe that Sethe would do such a thing to a baby because he knew
Sethe better then that. He grew up watching her with other men and he knew how she was, so
when Stamp Paid brings the newspaper to tell, he‟s taken aback that Stamp Paid would make
such an accusation. “The print meant nothing to him so he didn‟t even glance at it,” refusing to
believe that the women the loved now was the one that had committed such a crime. Even
thought Beloved is not mentioned in this chapter, we can see how the death of Beloved has on
Paul D because it reflects back to Sethe. Paul has always seen Sethe as this caring and loving girl
“back in Kentucky” and he was sure that “it ain‟t her mouth.” We see his feelings start to change
for Sethe as he tries to piece everything together from Stamp Paid‟s explanation and we start to
see a breach in Sethe and Paul D‟s relationship.
Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen begins with Sethe explaining to Paul D the real truth about what
happened to her in the past. She has to dig through painful memories to tell Paul D because she
knows that her explanation might have a big impact on how Paul D feels about her. “At first he
thought it was her spinning. Circling him the way she was circling the subject.” Paul D was
confused by everything Sethe was saying and it was hard for him to take in because he didn‟t
know that Sethe was hiding so much from him. When Sethe gets to the part about the whitefolks
coming, the sentences starts to become shorter and more rushed. Her fragmented “ No. No. Nono.
Nonono” proves how scared she was that the men were there to take away her babies. “ She just
flew. Collected every bit of life she had made, all the peasts of her that were precious and fine
and beautiful, and carried, pushed, dragged them through the veil.” Her fear gets to her and she
collects her children to take them away from the pain. She wanted to save them from suffering
and being a slave like her because she knows what it‟s like to live like that and Sethe wasn‟t
going to let schoolteacher take their freedom away. Sethe feels that she had done the right thing
by “[taking] and [putting] my babies where they‟d be safe.” When Sethe is finished with telling
her story, Paul D comes to the conclusion that Sethe has never been the same ever since she
killed Beloved. “…it occurred to him that what she wanted for her children was exactly what
was missing in 124: safety.” Because Sethe desperately wanted to keep her children safe, she
created something more dangerous and evil. Her emotions got the best of her and her mistake
was the reason why people never felt comfortable with going to 124. Paul D‟s feelings
completely changes for Sethe and he tells her that “ you got two feet, Sethe, not four.” He‟s
trying to tell her that she is someone by herself, and she couldn‟t keep on thinking that she had
someone else to save. Paul D wanted Sethe to know that she shouldn‟t have killed Beloved for
herself, but she should have thought about Beloved first before murdering her and regretting it.
This is when Sethe‟s relationship with Paul D breaks because “then a forest sprang up between
them; trackless and quiet.” The drift between them becomes farther apart because of the feeling
that Paul D had for Sethe now. He knew that something had changed and Sethe wasn‟t going to
be the same anymore. “Later he wonder what made him say it” because he wasn‟t sure of what
he really meant since he had loved Sethe for so many years, but discovered that she turned out to
be someone completely different. Even though Paul D doesn‟t see it, Sethe feele more pain then
he does and the “”goodbye” would break her to pieces” since she let her emotions get in the way
and she allowed herself to be happy. Sethe had chose Paul D over Beloved, but now he was
leaving her because of Beloved‟s death story.
Chapter 19
In this chapter, Beloved decides to take Baby Suggs advice to let it all down and takes
Beloved and Denver to ice skate. Beloved initiates the activity by asking “”What do these do?””
The whole time they were skating,“nobody saw them falling” because they were too distracted
by each other‟s desire to have fun. Because nobody saw them falling, it shows that they were
ignoring society by finally doing all the things that they‟ve ever wanted to do. Beloved was
making changes to Sethe because she was succumbing to all of Beloved‟s desires. After ice
skating and at home, Sethe comes to the realization that Beloved is her daughter when “the click
came..” The click sets everything off for Sethe because it brings back memories of how well she
remembered Beloved. “The click had clicked; things were where they ought to be or poised and
ready to glide in.” Beloved is finally letting everything settle in place because Sethe finds out
about her. Sethe also becomes overly happy to find out that Beloved is her daughter and she
starts to feel like everything is timeless. “Sethe looked at Beloved‟s face and smiled.” Knowing
that Beloved was her daughter coming back to her in real life. She can‟t help feeling the way she
feels and she thinks that God is giving her a second chance for giving her daughter back. Then
Sethe says that “the world is in her room. This here‟s all there is and all there needs to be”
because she feels that Beloved is all she needs now and there was nothing that could stop her
from thinking about anything else. Because Paul D also convinced her that the world out there
was a lie, she decides to focus on Beloved and the world inside 124. When Sethe leaves for work,
she starts to realize that she doesn‟t have to bring back the bad memories anymore and she didn‟t
have to blame herself any longer for her regrets.
(See Chapter 19-23 Chapter Analysis)
Chapter 28
Beloved is finally gone from the physical world and the lasting effects are told in this
final chapter. It describes Beloved as representing slavery, as “a loneliness that can be rocked.”
Everyone knew slavery but no one “knew her name” because they all tried to forget it, to
“disremember” it. Slavery will never disappear but no one will ever look for her because of the
trauma it brings.
Beloved is then presented as the generic girl “who waited to be loved and cry shame,”
who disappeared and instead reappeared as parts of everyone. She becomes “easy… to
swallow… all away,” bits and pieces of her that are able to be taunted with “chewing laughter”
because it can no longer hurt these people. They forget about her, about slavery, but for those
who had interacted with her, been slaves and experienced the worst of it, take time to forget.
“This is not a story to pass on.” At first glance, it seems as if Morrison is telling readers
that this is not a story to retell, but instead, by “pass on,” she means death. “This [is] not a story
to die.” (Holloway 517) Beloved will always be present, the memories of experiences in slavery
are meant to remain and be remembered, not forgotten and thrown away. Perhaps this story will
try to be buried, but “her footprints [will] come and go.” “The past does not exist unless we
choose to hear its clamor.” (Rody 113) Unless readers want to hear the story that has been
ignored and ultimately forgotten throughout the years, the story is simply an “unpleasant dream.”