Summary and Analysis of Beloved

Based on the Book by Toni Morrison

• Publisher: Worth Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781504044059
• Topic: Littérature
• Subtopic: Critique littéraire nord-américaine

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Beloved tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Toni Morrison's book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Beloved by Toni Morrison includes:

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter summaries
• Character analysis
• Themes and symbols
• Fascinating trivia
• Important quotes
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

About Beloved by Toni Morrison: A Nobel laureate and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Toni Morrison weaves a heartbreaking tale of legendary proportions. Set in post–Civil War Ohio, Beloved is the story of an escaped slave haunted by her past. Although Sethe is no longer enslaved, she is not yet free from her memories of the child and husband she buried, of the brutal violence on the plantation she fled, of life and of death, and of everything in between. Beautiful, unflinching, and profound, Beloved is Morrison's crowning achievement and is one of America's greatest novels.
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of fiction.

Summary

One

In 1873, the house at 124 Bluestone Road is haunted by the ghost of a dead little girl. Sethe’s sons, Howard and Buglar, are scared away by the venom that possesses the address, leaving their mother, Sethe, their younger sister, Denver, and their dying grandmother, Baby Suggs, to deal with the ill-natured house themselves. Baby Suggs says moving away is useless because all houses have the ghosts of Negro grief in them. She dies shortly thereafter, tired of fighting and heartbroken from the death of her grandchild.

Paul D knew Sethe when they were slaves at the Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky in 1855, and after many years, he shows up at her door in Ohio. When Sethe invites him inside, he walks into a red pulsing light, which he immediately identifies as a spirit. A wave of grief washes over him, and he understands that the spirit is more sad than evil. Sethe introduces him to her daughter, Denver, who is 18 years old, and who, unaccustomed to strangers and overwhelmed by his kindness, becomes emotional. Paul D tells the two women about his memory of Sethe when they were young and she was pregnant, telling him of her plans to escape and follow her children who were already on a wagon to freedom. Denver, excited to meet someone who knew her father, Halle, before he went missing, is eager to hear more about him.

Feeling she can say anything to Paul D, Sethe confides in him about the time back in Kentucky when two white boys assaulted her, holding her down and drinking the milk from her breasts. That act broke her heart, but the beating she got for accusing the boys opened up her back, leaving scars that look like a chokecherry tree. Paul D is tender with Sethe, inciting the house to pitch and shake in anger. When the house quiets, Paul D and Sethe make love. He decides to stick around, and the ghost decides to leave. Tired of always guarding against happiness, Sethe wants to let Paul D into their lives. Denver, however, is suspicious. She is close to the ghost baby and she suspects that it’s planning something. Paul D’s arrival has messed up those plans and has put space between her and the ghost.

One day, a fully dressed woman walks out of the water, sits on a stump near the steps of 124 Bluestone Road, and falls asleep. When Sethe, Denver, and Paul D return from a carnival, they find the exhausted, thirsty, and weak young woman. She tells them her name is Beloved—the word engraved on the headstone of Sethe’s dead baby. Denver becomes a devoted caregiver to Beloved and grows quite possessive of her. As the mysterious Beloved gets stronger, Paul D feels increasingly uneasy, though he has no say in the matter: Sethe and Denver like having Beloved around.

Beloved has an insatiable desire to hear stories about Sethe’s life and Sethe obliges. But when Beloved brings up “diamond” earrings, Denver is curious: How on earth does the mysterious girl know about the crystal earrings Mrs. Garner, the wife of Sweet Home’s owner, gave Sethe as a wedding present back in Kentucky?

Paul D is wary of Beloved. She acts weak, but her skin is glowing and her eyes bright. She claims she walked long and far before arriving at the house at 124 Bluestone Road, but her shoes are new and her skin soft. Worse, he’s beginning to notice a “shining” in her: a look of desire and lust directed at him. When Paul D tells Sethe that there’s something about the girl that makes him uneasy, Sethe gets angry and protective of her.

Paul D tells Sethe what happened to her husband, Halle. He didn’t leave her; he’d gone insane witnessing the two boys assaulting her. He tells her how they knew Halle had gone mad when they found him next to the butter churn, rubbing butter all over his face. Paul D begins his own account of the torture and abuse he suffered, but something stops them both; it’s too much to bear, and the past is safer buried where it can’t get out.

Beloved admits to Denver that she is her dead sister, though her mood turns mean and sharp when Denver suggests they keep the fact a secret from their mother. Beloved makes it clear that she’s here for Sethe, and hints that there might not be enough room for both her and Denver. Eager to soothe Beloved’s dark mood, Denver tells her about her birth: how Sethe escaped from the plantation and gave birth in a lean-to with the help of a white girl named Miss Amy Denver. Denver tells the story with embellishments to ensure she keeps Beloved entertained. After helping with the delivery of Sethe’s newborn, Amy Denver leaves them alone on the “wrong side” of the river to fend for themselves. Stamp Paid, an agent for the Underground Railroad, finds Sethe and brings her and her baby across the Ohio River to Baby Suggs. Her other children had arrived by wagon some weeks before, safe and sound. The already crawling little girl really loves reaching for Sethe’s crystal earrings.

The house at 124 Blu...