Beloved: Analysis of Major Characters
"Beloved: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex lives of key figures in Toni Morrison's acclaimed novel "Beloved," which explores the haunting effects of slavery on individuals and families. The narrative centers around Sethe, a former slave who, in a desperate act to save her children from a life of enslavement, kills her daughter, Beloved. The ghost of Beloved returns as a young woman, seeking attention and connection, which deeply affects Sethe’s mental and emotional state. Denver, Sethe's youngest child, plays a crucial role as she recognizes Beloved and seeks to help her mother by reaching out to the community they have distanced themselves from. Paul D, another former slave, adds to the dynamic as he reunites with Sethe but struggles with the implications of her past actions. Lastly, Baby Suggs, Sethe's mother-in-law, serves as a figure of strength and community leadership, advocating for self-love and resilience, yet faces the devastating aftermath of Sethe's tragic choices. This rich tapestry of characters not only highlights the personal trauma resulting from slavery but also the communal relationships that both support and complicate their lives.
Beloved: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Toni Morrison
First published: 1987
Genre: Novel
Locale: Kentucky and Ohio
Plot: Historical realism
Time: 1850–1874
Sethe, a fugitive slave woman. She killed one of her four children eighteen years earlier, when she saw her former owner come to capture them. This happened a month after she escaped to Ohio, where her mother-in-law resided. After the incident, she alienated herself in the community while living with her youngest child in a house occupied by a ghost spirit. the dead daughter, Beloved, returns as a ghost. Sethe enjoys their reunion and responds to all of her demands. When Beloved's demands increase, she exhausts herself physically and psychologically.
Beloved, a bodily ghost of Sethe's baby. Having died at the age of two, her throat cut with a handsaw by Sethe, she reappears as a woman of twenty. She calls herself Beloved, the only word carved on her tombstone. She is eager to listen to Sethe's stories, demands her attention, and accuses Sethe of forsaking her. She disappears with the singing of thirty womeninthecommunity.
Denver, Sethe's youngest child. Denver was born in a river while Sethe was escaping to Ohio as a runaway slave. She was named for a white woman who helped Sethe's delivery. When Beloved appears, Denver soon recognizes that she is the ghost whom she had seen as a child and welcomes her company. Witnessing her mother's exhaustion from meeting Beloved's demands, she asks for help from the community, from which she and Sethe had been isolated since Sethe's murder of her child. Eventually, she is offered a job working for a white family.
Paul D, a former slave. He comes to Cincinnati to look for Sethe and her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, after eighteen years of absence. He used to belong to the plantation where Sethe was enslaved. the last time he had seen Sethe was during a failed escape attempt. After his sale to a new plantation, he was moved to a camp, joined the army, stayed with a woman, and continued his journey north. Upon their reunion, Paul D and Sethe rejoice, but he is soon chased away by Beloved and informed of Sethe's actions. Following that revelation, he avoids her. Later, he reconsiders and assures Sethe that he wants to spend his life with her.
Baby Suggs, Sethe's mother-in-law. Her son, Halle, earned her freedom in return for years of his extra labor. She had seven other children, fathered by different men, and did not know where they were sold. As soon as she arrives in Ohio, she enjoys a sense of possessing her own body. She preaches to the community that they too should love their own bodies. Sethe's murder of Beloved occurs on the following day, when Baby Suggs provides a huge banquet for the community, an action that invites their anger. She dies after pondering colors for her last eight years.