The novel is set up mostly in 124 Bluestone Road, the house of Sethe and her daughter Denver, which is haunted by Sethe’s baby. Throughout part one of the novel, it discusses the relations between Sethe, Denver, the baby, Paul D (a former slave from Sweet Home who moves in and has relations with Sethe), Halle (Sethe’s lost husband), and Beloved (mysterious girl who seems to know a lot about Sethe’s past who is taken in at 124). Sethe begins to face her past, taking steps forward with Paul D as she learns of what happened with Halle. Paul D also begins to grow as he seems to open up and break away from his philosophies. The baby’s ghost continues to fade and grow in the house. Denver becomes more and more attached to Beloved and Beloved seems to stir up trouble as she becomes strange, almost choking Sethe and seducing Paul D. As the plot continues, the past continues to be revealed in order for Sethe to move forward. The novel also introduces characters such as Ella who was abused and raped in her past. She wants to rid 124 of Beloved. It also introduces Baby Suggs, Halle’s mother, who escapes from Sweet Home because Halle has bought her freedom. Within introducing the new characters, the past is depicted. It shows flashbacks and explains the marriage of Sethe and Halle, the escape of Baby Suggs, the abuse of Sethe while she waited for Halle who was watching above, Sethe’s escape, and Sethe’s attempt of murder and her arrest. Sethe faces her past which makes and breaks relationships. Beloved becomes more and more attached to Sethe while Denver continues to fight for Beloved’s attention. Paul D also wants to move forward and have a baby with Sethe until he learns that she tried to kill her children, which is why the baby haunts the house, in order to stop them from being captured and turning into slaves. This causes Paul D to leave 124.
Throughout the first part of the novel, Toni Morrison’s style helps illustrate the point the novel makes about African American women. The novel is expressing the hardships the women face: the past that continues to haunt them and feeling worthless and trapped which breaks down the character of a person. Morrison’s style includes the use of figurative language, flashbacks, and symbolism. An example of the figurative language that stands out to me while reading because of its strong impact is when Sethe is remembering the story of how she escaped and comparing her baby to an antelope. The comparison allows the audience to see the struggle that Sethe faces when escaping. She is not simply escaping without any hardships. She is escaping while pregnant, with a baby that seems to have the restless power of an antelope, and trying not to be seen. The remembrance of the time Sethe escapes is also a flashback. The novel has multiple instances of flashbacks, discussing the death of the children, the abuse of the schoolteacher, life at Sweet Home, etcetera. By having flashbacks within the novel, Morrison is allowing the audience to see how much the past is having an impact on the characters. The past continues to come back and shape the characters in the novel. In combination, the largest part of the novel is the symbolism, specifically the symbolism of Beloved. Beloved seems to embrace many roles in the novel. For Denver she is a sense of security because Denver desires to be around Beloved and fights for her attention. To Sethe, Beloved seems to represent her past. Beloved asks questions about Sweet Home and seems to recall things that someone would not be able to unless earlier present. By embodying the past, Beloved is illustrating that the past has a large impact on the life of African Americans, especially women. Beloved also could questionably be a symbolism of her past considering that some of the characters imply that Beloved could be a reincarnation of a previously mentioned character.
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