workings of Sethe's mind, and an outsiders view of the murder. Paul D is shocked to hear
about the action, but even more shocked to how Sethe shows no remorse at all in her actions.
"You got two feet, Sethe, not four." - Paul D pg 165.
This murder of course strengthens the stereotypes that the white people have over the slaves, as
the slaves are seen as savage animals, lower than humans, as described throughout the play with
the abundance of animal imagery, such as "rutting" - pg 5, when Sethe is having sex to pay for
her dead daughter's gravestone. The murder was brought to the attention of everyone with
Sethe's picture in the local paper. With no one sure it was her, and some people wanting to
believe otherwise she went to prison, but still Paul D couldn't recognise Sethe, though it was
probably denile. Yet again animal imagery is used, but in particular there are features being
described that are related to birds. "Snatching up her children like a hawk on the wing."
pg 157.
One comment made by a critic is that Beloved empowers Sethe so much that Beloved becomes
a slave owner herself. She is a reincarnated slave owner, which Morrison ultimately uses to
describe the irony in the novel. Beloved drains Sethe's past in order to form one of her own, as
she was deprived of one. Sethe may become emaciated but she is ultimately being drained of a
horrific past, and one that has been mostly repressed. Beloved's main goal is to prevent Sethe
from moving on with her life, but with Sethe's past record of survival and endurance through the
darkest of situations, she survives. Sethe is described by Paul D as "iron eyed" - pg 10. Iron
is seen as a symbol of strength in the novel, and is used to describe Sethe alone.
Sethe could be argued to have had a very unfortunate and perhaps a "worst case scenario" life,
with the shock of seeing her disfigured mother dead and surviving prison to name but two
horrific cases.
Morrison's novel shifts from place to place, and sometimes goes back in time to show that the
slave history cannot be described in one story, nor does it happen in such a way that it can be
wrote about easily. Slave history is so horrific it almost needs a new way of telling, and this is
the way that Morrison has employed. Though the book is based upon slavery, it is the struggle
that is met by the characters and how they deal with it that is the real issue in the book. It is
about the ability to deal with the past, and how people survive even though it haunts them. Sethe
in the end decides to tackle Beloved, to stay and fight after a period of being Beloved's "slave".
"Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, grew taller on it." - pg 250.
Paul D is seduced by Beloved, which forces him to sleep outside of the house. This was
Beloved's plan as the only way she could find to make Paul D leave the house was through guilt,
and in particular the guilt that he had had sex with Beloved. Beloved needs Paul D out of the
house so she can be one with Sethe, not with anyone else as Denver believed. "You can go
but she is the one I have to have." - Beloved pg 76.
With Beloved draining Sethe's life force, reducing Paul D to an emotional wreck and causing
Denver to be neglected, it is clear that Beloved has a motive for coming back, and that is
revenge. When Beloved was a malignant poltergeist, she caused Sethe's family to leave 124,
all except Denver. Denver is treated like a child and is never really allowed to grow up, even
when into adulthood. So when Beloved joins the family and becomes the center of Sethe's
attention, Denver is allowed to grow up to her physical age. "Somebody had to be saved,
but unless Denver got work, there would be no one to save, no one to come home to,
and no Denver either" - pg 252
Denver felt it was only a matter of time before Sethe and Beloved would kill each other and
although Denver wanted to stay to make sure that they wouldn't fight, someone had to support
the household. In this respect Denver was forced to grow up and take on the role as the
caretaker, even though she knew deep down that her presence had no influence on the two
women. "She was afraid to leave Sethe and Beloved slone all day not knowing what
calamity either one of them would create." - pg 252
Food and hunger imagery is used to emphasise the fact that Beloved is eating away at Sethe,
and the fact because no one was working they all became hungry. The word "Hunger" is
repeated towards the end of the novel for example "Denver, who thought she knew all
about silence, was surprised to learn hunger could do that." - pg 239.
Beloved who was never allowed to grow up is in fact still a baby mentally when she enters
124. It is known that a child in the early stages of life cannot differentiate between itself and it's
mother, and this is why Beloved primarily needs Sethe early in the novel. This is made clear
particularly in Beloved's soliliquy, but in other parts of the novel too. "I am Beloved and she
is mine." - Beloved pg 210
When Beloved becomes bloated it is argued to be because she is pregnant with Paul D's child,
but the bloatedness is said to be all of Sethe's past, and Beloved ultimately becomes Sethe's
past personified. The fight between Beloved and Sethe is not just a fight between the two
characters, it symbolises Sethe standing up to her horrific past, and therefore coming to terms
with it, instead of hiding from it and just accepting its there. After Sethe has done this she is
able to move on with life, or infact start again with Paul D. Though Beloved is scared of
becoming fragmented and forgotten about, this is what happens to her in the end. So Beloved
although is the catalyst of all the disaster at 124, she helps the characters come to terms with a
repressed past, and helps them move on to lead lives that are not constantly shadowed with
pain. This is key when Paul D asks Denver if she thinks Beloved was really her sister. "At
times. At times I think she was more." - Denver pg 266.
