Toni Morrison's Beloved

Beloved begins in Cincinnati during 1873 at a house on 124 Bluestone Road, a house said to be haunted by the ghost of Sethe’s baby daughter. Here the ex-slaves Sethe and her daughter, Denver live. Baby Suggs, Sethe’s mother-in-law, also lived here until eight years before the story begins when she passed away. Shortly before Baby Suggs death, Sethe had to sons living in the house with her, but ran away following an encounter with the ghost. On the day the story begins, an ex-slave from Sweet Home, the plantation that Sethe escaped from eighteen years prior, named Paul D is waiting for her at her house. Upon entering the house however, Paul D feels grief wash over him and Sethe explains that is the ghost of her daughter. After some time,

Denver and Paul D then take her into the house where she drinks cup after cup of water and then reveals her name to be Beloved. She tells them that she has no recollection of her past. She then sleeps for four days, waking only for something to drink. Paul D is uneasy when in her presence and while she acts and sounds sick, she shows no signs of being ill. He also tells of how he saw her pick up a rocking chair with only one hand but the claim is dismissed. In the short time of being at 124, Beloved develops an attachment to Sethe. Paul D then begins to interrogates Beloved about her past, but is stopped by Sethe. Later on, Beloved and Denver are dancing and Denver asks her how she got her name. Beloved says that it is her name in the dark and describes that the dark was hot and full of people, some of whom were dead. She goes on to say there was a bridge and water but came back to see Sethe. Sethe, Denver, and Beloved all go to a place called the Clearing after Paul D says why Halle never met up with her. Once there, Sethe remembers the day she arrived in Cincinnati, 124, and met Baby Suggs for the first time. She remembers how Baby Suggs welcomed her and allowed her to

Paul D also begins to think of how to stop the manipulation of Sethe by Beloved, however he ends up surprising both himself and Sethe, by asking her to have a child with him. Beloved, waiting for them to come home, tries to attracts Sethe's attention, leaving Paul D in a horrible mood. This proves to be unsuccessful, as Sethe insists that Paul D resume sleeping in bed with her. She later decides that she cannot have a baby with Paul D, because she thought "motherlove" was a killer. She later realizes that she is only trying to justify not having more children. The story then goes back to a month after Sethe arrived in Cincinnati, the owner of Sweet Home, his nephew, a sheriff, and a slave catcher showed up at 124. Here it is learned that Sethe killed her baby daughter and was about to kill her other children to keep them from having to deal with a life of slavery. She was stopped before she could kill them and was sent to jail with Denver still in her arms, while the boys were left alone as it was decided they could not be used as slaves. Paul D is shown a newspaper clipping of Sethe, but he does not believe it is her. He is told the story, with some parts left