Group Uno

In Toni Morrison’s haunting novel Beloved, Sethe’s character is shaped more fully over time by a clearer insight into her past. Years after she kills her daughter rather than cause her to grow up in slavery, Sethe is tortured by the difficult decision and memory of the event. She explains the harsh reality that “if I hadn’t killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her” (236), while still harboring residual guilt that leads her to be overwhelmed and abused by Beloved. Toward the end of the novel, Sethe finally does what she has painfully tried to avoid all these years: loving her children too much. “I wouldn’t draw breath without my children”, she says, and it is ironically one of her children which is her ultimate undoing. Denver feels the need to “protect her mother from Beloved” (286) as Sethe attempts to undo and change the past, replacing it with a love so intense that she loses her mind.

Paul D serves as a sort of security blanket to Sethe throughout the novel. While he is comfortable staying with her, Paul D refuses to get too close to she and Denver as he has set up an emotional barrier due to his past experiences at sweet home. This barrier makes it easier for Paul to leave after hearing that Sethe killed her own daughter to keep her out of the chains of slavery. Paul D makes the transition from being a loving, family-like guest to being disgusted with Sethe’s actions going as far to tell her, “You have two legs, Sethe, not four”. Paul D’s departure was not an unexpected one, but unfortunate for Sethe and Denver as they had not had someone around to comfort them for a while.

Beloved’s character becomes more and more ambiguous after the latter half of the book. After Sethe and Denver begin believing that Beloved is the reincarnation of the baby Sethe killed, Beloved recounts memories that correspond to those that Sethe’s mother might have had. She also begins to show personality traits, a strange manner of speaking and a perpetual smile for example, that are said to be traits of Sethe’s mother. Even more evidence is shown when Beloved and Sethe’s switch roles as Beloved becomes more mother-like and Sethe becomes more child-like. Although I thought the end of the book would clear up who Beloved was it only furthered my confusion and brought more questions than answers.

After Paul D leaves Sethe, Denver becomes a beacon of sanity in the household of 124. She reveals many thought she has of Sethe, demonstrating her true feelings regarding what happened in the shed of 124 years earlier. Denver explains the fear she has of her mother, finally unveiling and coming to terms with the gut wrenching feelings she has toward the horrifying actions of her own mother. Denver says, “I spent all of my outside self loving Ma’am so she wouldn’t kill me, loving her even when she braided my head at night. I never let her know my daddy was coming for me” (Beloved 245). All this time, Denver knew Sethe had lost her mind. Denver pined for her own father who represented a sliver of rationality within the constant madness that surrounded her day by day. Denver also reveals the strong intuitions she’s had of Beloved since the day she sat in front of 124.  Denver says, “Look like I was the only one who knew right away who it was. Just like when she came back I knew who she was too” (Beloved 246). Denver knew the ghost was her sister, and she knew that Beloved had come back to them that one day after the carnival. Throughout these last chapters, Denever’s strong-willed and mature side is uncovered. Despite her not living in slavery, Denver was forced to pay for the profound evil it caused in her house for years after slaves were “freed”. Essentially, the love Sethe consumed herself with over her children was the driving force behind all the anguish and sorrow that followed. The ending of Beloved demonstrates how profoundly slavery was capable of tearing away at someone’s soul.