What does Beloved represent in Beloved by Toni Morrison?

In Toni Morrison's Beloved, Beloved is a ghost that comes from the past. Its presence disturbs and comforts Sethe throughout the story, and in Sethe's eyes we are told that Beloved is coming back to forgive Sethe for the woodshed incident. However a keen eye would notice that Beloved never outright says that she forgives Sethe for the incident, and is also seen strangling Sethe at one point in the story. So what purpose does Beloved have in the story? Why has she come back from the past to 124? There are two important reasons as to why Morrison has Beloved come back to 'haunt' 124. 

    Firstly, Beloved as a character represents the past. Sethe is obviously traumatized from her time as a slave and this transition period from being a slave to an American is hard. There are multiple reasons explaining the difficulty Sethe has whilst transitioning in society, however the main reason is that she is traumatized by the white people in the story, mainly school teacher and the four horsemen. Ultimately at the climax of the story, she ends up attacking a white man because she fears he resembles school teacher and is taking away her daughter Denver. Beloved staying as a ghost at 124, represents the past as she is literally a reminder to Sethe that she did this to her. Although Sethe might be happy knowing that Beloved is the way she is and not at a slave plantation, Beloved doesn't seem to happy about how unapologetic sethe is. 

    Sethe being unapologetic throughout the story creates a divide between her and many of the people of cincinnati. Of the many people being divided from Sethe, I believe that Beloved is one of them. Although a lot of Beloved's actions throughout the story are baby-like in nature, the scene where she strangles Sethe appeared to have malice involved with it. This signifies the guilt that Sethe faces with her actions, as Beloved obviously did not have a say on wether or not she wanted to go to Sweet Home. Because of Sethe's unawareness of Beloved's feelings, she continues to stand on her decision, rather than consider her child's point of view. As Paul D says, Sethe's love is too thick and sometimes that causes her to miss things because of how thick it is. 

    Overall, Sethe and Beloved's relationship is complicated. On one hand the story itself is not trying to make the reader come to pick a side on the woodshed incident, rather it encourages the reader to try and understand all perspectives. Just because the story doesn't go too in depth with how Beloved feels, I do believe it is important in understanding why Beloved is the way she is. Zooming out a bit, Beloved also represents the past and what slavery cost Sethe and her family. 

    

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 20, 2024 at 9:02 AM

    I definitely agree that Beloved represents more than just the ghost of Sethe's murdered daughter. Throughout the novel, Toni Morrison has given us scenes and interactions from Beloved that seem foreign to a supposed 2-year child. By the end, I believed Beloved represented the general idea of slavery and its accompanying trauma, not just to Sethe, but to the history of it all.

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  2. MitchellDecember 20, 2024 at 9:55 AM

    One of the many aspects of Beloved's corporeal presence in this book that makes me dizzy to contemplate is whether she is at all CAPABLE of "understanding" Sethe and why she "had to" do what she did. There's no indication that Beloved understands anything about slavery at all, she would have no direct memories of Sweet Home on her own, and how could a two-year-old grasp the implications of the Fugitive Law? There is the sense that, theoretically, Sethe would desperately want the opportunity to "explain" to the murdered child, and to get some sign that the child understands and accepts this choice--this potential vindication is the only one that matters to Sethe, as no one else (including Paul) seems capable of understanding. But this is not what she ends up getting from Beloved, and the more I think about it, the less I believe that Beloved even knows what she "wants." She's a bundle of unfocused impulses and desires, a lot like a two-year-old, and she seems to have no awareness of the historical context for the scene in the woodshed.

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  3. RossJanuary 1, 2025 at 1:10 PM

    I agree that Beloved is not just a ghost of Sethe's daughter but I think it is also a representation of her past. Beloved's presence forces Sethe to confront the consequences of her actions: especially the guilt and pain tied to the woodshed incident. Morrison uses this idea to highlight how even once Sethe is free slavery continues to haunt her.

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