In Toni Morrison's Beloved, Beloved herself is an enigma that no one seems able to explain. From a “pool of red, rippling light” (p.8), his state transforms from the supernatural to that of flesh and blood. But why did she come back? For love? Spite? Revenge? She seduces Paul D, drains Sethe's energy and yet always seems to invent more desire, whether for treats, stories or explanations. Her return is marked by her ever-present interdependent relationship with Sethe, and yet she treats her mother with such fierce care that Denver's loyalties shift from Beloved herself to that of her mother's safety. Throughout the novel, Beloved seems more problematic than anything else, and yet she inadvertently helps the book's characters overcome their individual obstacles. Beloved haunted him in a ghostly state for eighteen years, and yet his tantrums were simply rationalized by "the baby's fury at having his throat slit" (p. 5). However, these fits of "shaking" (p. 18) serve a greater purpose of which Baby Suggs, Sethe, Denver, and the rest of the community remain oblivious, a purpose that can only be defined with Beloved's physical return. She makes changes in the different characters, and yet she is able to bring everyone together as a community to recognize the wrongs of slavery. It begins the painful process of “memory,” bringing memories back to life, and works toward the larger goal of healing for the future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Beloved asks Sethe questions, things only Sethe would know. Beloved asks if Sethe's mother ever did her hair, and although this question seems so simple, it is this inquiry that sets Sethe on the long path of "memory." Sethe remembers things about her mother that she had pushed aside in her subconscious years ago, facts that she had intentionally forgotten. With the simple and direct question “Has your wife never done your hair?” » (p.63) Sethe's memory is triggered and she easily finds herself "finding the meaning of a code that she no longer [understands]" (p.62). Sethe has spent so long “pushing away the past” (p. 73) that she is amazed at how easily she can remember it. She remembers her mother throwing away all her babies, except for Sethe herself, the daughter of the only man she loved physically and willingly. Her mother committed infanticide multiple times out of inability to love while Sethe killed Beloved because her “love was too thick.” Sethe had suffered all her life, "every mention of her past life hurt her" (p. 58) and although her daughter's murder was savage, it was neither heartless nor reasonless. She wanted to save her children from the life of slavery to which the teacher was sure to return them, and indeed she saved Beloved from a life from which her mother herself had not saved her. She remembers her mother being hanged for running away, and yet perhaps what hurts Sethe most is not the pain of loss but the knowledge that her mother abandoned her, leaving behind to live a life that she herself had deemed worth the risk. of death. Sethe strives to be the perfect mother to her children, but because she did not have a consistent relationship with her own mother, she is deprived of the knowledge of what it means to be a mother. It is in the hypothesis of freedom that Sethe remains uncertain about her role as a mother, because before her role was that of a slave whereas today her objective is supported by inexperience and is less clearlydefined. Beloved says that in Sweet Home, Sethe "never said goodbye or even looked in his direction before running away" (p. 242), and yet Sethe cannot be blamed for this because it is his backbreaking work as a successful slave. impossible for Sethe to properly care for her children. Likewise, Sethe's freed slave community blames Sethe for his immoral behavior instead of properly condemning the establishment of slavery that forces Sethe to take such action. As a generation of a newly freed people, ex-slaves are confused about their current purpose. Sethe's main concern is keeping her family intact, and when the only possession she has, her children's milk, is stolen, she is forced to save her children the only way she knows how. She has been exposed to the violence of slavery her entire life and so it makes sense that she would try to save what is most important to her through similar methods. Sethe justifies her murder attempts with the logic that her plans were “always that they would all be together on one side, forever” (p. 241). She remains affected by her past experiences and refuses to move away from 124 in case Halle ever returns. When she recognizes that Beloved is the reincarnation of the daughter she lost eighteen years before, her hope is reignited for the return of her two boys and the reunification of her family. His optimism contrasts with the sad acceptance of the broken families around him. Baby Suggs loses all of his children except Halle who mysteriously disappears, Ella is locked up for years and refuses to breastfeed the child she is carrying, and Stamp Paid abandons his wife to his master's son. The reader can see how the institution of slavery took a toll on black family life and how Sethe would rather kill her family than continue the horrible cycle of servitude she experienced firsthand . The fact is that although she tries to protect her children from slavery, they are actually victims of the ways of the outside world because of their mother's efforts. Beloved is dead, despite the fact that she returns to 124. She is nothing more than a living ghost, bringing Sethe's pent-up guilt to the surface and taunting her with love and acceptance that she expects from her child who has been dead for so long. . And it is because of Beloved's murder that Buglar and Howard flee from Sethe, because they are afraid of the wrath of the young baby and of Sethe herself. They teach Denver "die-witch-die" games, so that Denver can protect himself when the time comes, as they are sure that the danger at home is greater than outside. The reader gets a glimpse of Denver's thoughts, just a taste of what it was like growing up, locked inside 124: "Buglar and Howard told me [Sethe] would do it and she would 'did... She cut off my head every night” (p. 206). Denver is afraid of his mother, afraid of what his mother is capable of doing. When Paul D first arrives at 124, Denver clearly expresses her desire to experience the world and have a relationship with someone other than her mother, to know what she is being prevented from. Sethe believes that despite Denver's wishes, she knows all too well the explicit brutality from outside and that only she can then provide the "milk" her children need. What Denver recognizes, however, is the brutality that resides in his mother. Denver is alienated in her own home, "...as if I were someone [Sethe] had found and felt sorry for" (p. 206), her only companionship was the ghost of her murdered sister , Beloved. Denver spent "all his time outside loving Madame so that she wouldn't kill her", auditorily blocking his own....