Beloved 281-323

In this reading, we begin to see the decline of the women in 124. After being fired, Sethe begins to waste away as Beloved continues to suck the life out of her. Sethe seems to be completely devoted to Beloved, and forgets about Denver, instead making sure Beloved is taken care of in every way possible. When the women begin to go hungry, Beloved is the one who can never have enough, and Sethe continues to be at her beck and call, feeding into Beloved's greed. Beloved begins to try to imitate her mother, and over time picks up her mannerisms, dresses like her, and begins to talk like her. The two spend so much time engaged with each other that Morrison writes, "Sometimes coming up on them making men and women cookies or tacking scraps of cloth on Baby Suggs' old quilt, it was difficult for Denver to tell who was who" (283). It seems as if they've had too much a good thing, and can't figure out where to draw the line with each other.
However, soon after Sethe and Beloved become enthralled with each other, through Denver's narrations, readers are able to see Beloved slowly assert her dominance over 124, and especially Sethe. She and Sethe begin to argue, and whatever Beloved wants, Sethe will comply with. Their relationship is being overcome with turmoil, and on page 295, Morrison explains this when writing, "Sethe was trying to make up for the handsaw; Beloved was making her pay for it." Because of her submission to beloved, Sethe becomes reserved, weak, and helpless, and with no one to save them, Denver decides to step out and look for work. In her visit venture out into the neighborhood in years, she visits her old school teacher Lady Jones to ask for help, and Lady Jones in turn enlists the help of the women in her church who begin to drop food at 124 to make sure the three girls don't go hungry. However, even with the new compassion and help of these women, the house and the women in it continue to deteriorate. So, Denver turns to the Bodwins for help and ends up getting a night job from the Bodwins's maid, Janey.
Ella hears Denver tell Janey about Beloved when she visits, and gathers a group of women to perform a sort of exorcism on 124. This is when we see Ella finally sympathize with Sethe, and even defending her, because as readers learn, Ella had a child that she refused to care for due to the circumstances of the pregnancy, and eventually the child passed away. We come to learn that the women of this neighborhood, if able to look past their judgement, may be more alike than they thought.
While the women with Ella sing outside 124, Sethe and a pregnant Beloved watch from the doorway as Denver observes on the steps still waiting for Mr. Bodwin to pick her up for work. We see the full effect of the lingering trauma of slavery as Sethe mistakes Mr. Bodwin for schoolteacher, and flies into a terrifies rage as she tries to kill him with her ice pick. After the women have wrestled her down, they discover that Beloved has disappeared. After this whole event at 124, Sethe and Paul D reconnect as Sethe has taken to the bed much like Baby Suggs had. He realizes the connection they have, and decides to take her of Sethe with Denver, and discusses a future with Sethe.
As the novel wraps up, the people in the neighborhood all begin to forget Beloved, and have trouble remembering if she was even there at all. Through this, Morrison seems to speak to a more general theme of the many forgotten victims of slavery, and perhaps a warning of the significance of remembering history.

Beloved 236-277

               I noticed that these few chapters were divided into two general sections—first, the somewhat-confusing monologues of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved, and second, Paul D remembering the escape plans and speaking with Stamp Paid. The reading opens with Sethe’s stream of consciousness, starting with “Beloved, she my daughter. She mine. See. She come back to me of her own free will and I don’t have to explain a thing” (Morrison 236). Throughout the chapter, Sethe speaks about being a mother and her desire to explain her motivations to Beloved. She recalls her own mother and expresses her desire to serve as a true mother for Beloved now that she has returned. The following chapter depicts Denver’s thoughts, as she discusses her fear surrounding her mother. Denver is afraid Sethe might try to kill her as well, saying “maybe there is something else terrible enough to make her do it again” (242). She sympathizes with her brothers for leaving and expresses her desire to protect Beloved in the future—especially from Sethe. She holds on to the hope that Halle will come to 124 and somehow save them. Following that, is Beloved’s narration, which I personally found the most confusing and disturbing—not only the content but the setup of the pages as well, with large spaces and no punctuation. The chapter has a haunting vibe, as Beloved discusses a dark and hot place—referencing the middle passage, just as before. The repetition of phrases like, “my dead man” and “the hot thing” as well as references to teeth and chewing is extremely disturbing—adding a haunting atmosphere to her thoughts.

               The chapter after this was the most confusing for me to read, as it seems to be a combination of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved’s words at the same time. It was difficult to tell who was speaking and their words appear to blend together in a cacophonic chorus of thoughts. I found it interesting how each character’s thoughts were represented differently—yet they all seemed to be an outpouring of their emotions and struggles after being held inside for so long. These few chapters, in particular, were difficult to grasp the meaning of, however it was interesting to read, due to how Morrison chose to depict each character’s feelings—be it Denver’s fearful and longing portion, or Beloved’s haunting and poetic words.

               Another thing I found interesting is how Sethe, in particular, blames Paul D for her inability to initially recognize Beloved as her dead daughter—especially because of his words later in the novel. After his flashback to Sweet Home, where we learn more about the escape and what went wrong, he talks with Stamp Price about the situation in Cincinnati. Stamp expresses his empathy for Sethe, telling Paul D he understands Sethe’s motives for killing Beloved and knows she had no cruel motive for her actions. Paul D replies by saying, “Sethe scares me. I scare me. And that girl in her house scared me the most” (276). I find it incredibly ironic that Paul D blames Beloved for the divisions within 124 when all the inhabitants blame him in return. I’m curious as to why only Paul D and Stamp Price have been the only people to see Beloved outside of Sethe and Denver. All of the haunting imagery in these chapters lead me to believe something bad will happen with Beloved. Also, it seems the story of the escape is almost done, and I am curious if we will find out what happened to Halle.

Beloved 101-147

This section of the book has some of the most beautiful writing I've ever read. I have never felt more emotionally attached to the characters of a novel than I do to the characters of Beloved, especially in these pages. Toni Morrison was born to write this book, and no one else could have done it as well as she did. She accurately depicts the physical horrors of slavery while simultaneously showing us the mental impacts that it has on everyone involved. The chapter that tells Paul D's story of prison in Georgia made me feel like I live in a different world. I cannot imagine surviving the conditions that he did, much less escaping and travelling North, surviving off of the land for months. His mental toughness and resiliency is simply unimaginable. When I first read about Paul D's "tobacco tin heart", I didn't understand why he couldn't let himself tell Sethe about all that he has gone through. Now I think I'm beginning to understand. Morrison depicts the trauma that Paul D has experienced in such a deep and accurate way, that I see now why it would be more difficult to open the tin than to let it stay rusted shut in his chest. All of Paul D's past life experiences come together to form who he is today, and who he will be for the rest of his life. He has been taught by life that you can't rely on anyone to always be there, and that you can't give but a small piece of yourself to another unless you want to lose everything you have when you eventually part ways. In Paul D's life, he has been the one left behind, as well as the one to leave. He has suffered so much at the hands of his previous masters that he has lost his ability to permanently love. During this reading, Morrison reveals that Paul D, whether he knows it or not, seems to be on his way out. It's not that he doesn't love Sethe, because he said that he grows to love her a little more each day. It's that he has been beaten down by life, and that his humanity was taken long ago. Something changed within him, when he had the iron bit in his mouth, or when he was up to his thighs in muddy rainwater in the trenches, that cannot be reversed. I don't have the words to describe it, but based on what we have learned about him and what he started doing in this reading, it's safe to say that Paul D will never be able to lose himself in love ever again.

Now let's talk about Denver. Until this reading, I knew that she was starved of human interaction before Beloved came along, but I didn't quite know the full extent of how much she needs attention. I don't mean to be critical, because I'm sure that I would feel the exact same way if I hadn't spoken to anyone other than my mother for more than a decade. But the part about Denver longing for Beloved to simply look at her shocked me. I have never heard of a person being that deprived of human contact, yet this description made perfect sense to me. Denver has never had anyone to give her attention, as Morrison described Sethe's general disposition towards Denver as lukewarm at best. When Beloved leaves Denver in the cold house by herself, I was almost relieved to see her go, but Denver lost her mind for a minute. At first I was inclined to believe that Beloved leaving would be best for Denver and the rest of the family, but then Denver started going on about how she has no sense of self without Beloved. She says, "This is worse than when Paul D came to 124 and she cried helplessly into the stove. This is worse. Then it was for herself. Now she is crying because she has no self. Death is a skipped meal compared to this" (Morrison 146). Denver has become completely reliant on Beloved, and lets Beloved dictate how she feels about herself. I am worried for the rest of the book, because I personally cannot imagine the book continuing on the way it is going and ending happily, with no change. I predict that something will happen with Beloved, and that Denver will be left alone again.