Sethe And Lineon Relationship

Chapter 21 begins with Denver’s voice saying, “Beloved is my sister” on the top of page 242. Denver began to speak about how she drank her sister’s blood along with her mother’s milk which is significant because the readers can assume that Denver now has a part of Beloved in her body. Then within the text Denver also speaks about how she loves Sethe out of fear. She feared that whatever motivated Sethe to kill Beloved might motivate her again to kill her other children. Her not understanding her mother’s actions had made it difficult for her to change that fear to love.

While Morrison depicts myriad abuses of slavery like brutal beatings and lynching, the depictions of and allusions to rape are of primary importance; each in some way helps explain the infanticide that marks the beginnings of Sethe’s story as a free woman. Sethe kills her child so that no white man will ever “dirty” her, so that no young man with “mossy teeth” will ever hold the child down and suck her breast (Pamela E. Barnett 193)

Even after she acknowledges Beloved's identity, Sethe shows herself to be still enslaved by the past, because she quickly succumbs to Beloved's demands and allows herself to be consumed by Beloved. Only when Sethe learns to confront the past head-on, to assert herself in its presence, can she extricate herself from its oppressive power and begin

Sethe’s relationship is in a balance at the beginning. She has the two poles of attraction, Paul’s desire to settle down and start a family, and Beloved’s desire to draw Sethe back into the past. Throughout the novel, acts of cruelty wind into her life and alter the outcome of her days. Cruelty in Beloved affects both the perpetrator and victim in that the perpetrator becomes consumed by such acts, and the victim simply devolves to be more and more vulnerable to such acts. In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Beloved’s acts of cruelty reveal how one’s inner desires can overcome the perpetrator, and dehumanize victim in the long term.

As Sethe's demise and Beloved's mischief become overwhelming, Denver assumes the responsibility to assure the survival of her family. Due to Beloved's presence, Sethe loses her job and soon all of her savings is spent. There is no food, however, Beloved's demands do not cease. Sethe begins to wither away from frustration and a wounded conscience and Denver becomes "listless and sleepy with hunger" (242). Denver realizes that, "she would have to leave the yard; stop off the edge of the world, leave the two behind and go ask somebody for help" (243). Denver must face her terror of a mundane society to keep her sister and mother from starvation.

Denver’s exclusion from Sethe and Beloved helps her realize the negative effects Beloved has on her and Sethe so that she can turn her life around for the better. Beloved’s distraction of Sethe brings Denver isolation and hunger. “The thirty-eight dollars of life savings went to feed themselves with fancy food and decorate themselves with ribbons and dress goods” (283). Sethe spends all of her savings, which are meant for an emergency, on Beloved to make up for her murder of Beloved. After Sethe stops going to work, she put her full focus on Beloved and tries to please her with the most expensive food and goods that she can buy. Sethe’s actions allow Denver to realize that Sethe is spending all of her money to please Beloved who is manipulating Sethe. Denver starts to isolate herself from Beloved because she is seeing the effect on her mother and does not want to be near someone who is going to manipulate her. Denver’s removal of herself from Beloved, helps improve her life and brings her closer to being an independent

Sethe understands that her history, filled with the pain of slavery, grief over losing her children, and guilt over Beloved's death, and tries to hide from all the anguish. However, she admits that the past seems to "always be there waiting," thereby emphasizing the idea that past horrors of life continue to haunt forever. It appears as though the power of her experience in slavery influences her so greatly that the memory triggers great pain, causing the horrifying incidents to "happen again." Even though Sethe understands that she cannot ever fully escape her history as it will come back to trouble her, she still tries to avoid them and thus attempts to shield her daughter from the horrors of history: "As for Denver, the job Sethe had of keeping her from the past that was still waiting for her was all that mattered" (45). It seems as though Sethe tries to deny the fact that history does not simply disappear. She still tries to protect Denver "from the past" even though history "waits," prepared to cause trouble and inflict the pain Sethe tries to repress. It appears as though Sethe continuously tries to fight against her memories and ignore her past in part one. For example, after she wakes, she begins "Working dough. Working, working dough. Nothing better than that to start the day's

Beloved is seen as the resemblance of Sethe’s dead baby. Beloved is portrayed as a teenage girl, however she is different from other black teenager, “…and younger than her clothes suggested – good lace at the throat, and a rich woman’s hat. Her skin was flawless except for three vertical scratches on her forehead so fine and thin they seemed at first like hair, baby hair before it bloomed and roped into the masses of black yarn under her hat.” (Morrison 62). Beloved unexpectedly came to 124, the house where Sethe, Denver, and Paul D lived. However, Sethe became attracted to her, “Sethe was deeply touched by her sweet name; the remembrance of glittering headstone made her feel especially kindly toward her. Denver, however, was shaking. She looked at this sleepy beauty and wanted more.” (Morrison 63) represent Sethe’s fascination towards Beloved, because she made Sethe recall her dead baby, which also has the word Beloved engraved in the gravestone. The name Beloved itself makes Sethe sentimental from

The theme of isolation as in many of the other pieces of literature that we have read this year can been seen in this novel Beloved. The theme can be seen in the isolation of Sethe and her inner self. It can also be seen with Denver and her separation from society because of the children at school. There is also the detachment of Sethe’s family from the rest of the world because of her past and what people think of the house and

            Though short of ultimate union or reunion with Beloved in death, Sethe is unable and unwilling to challenge Beloved's place in her mind and in her home. Only help from others can save her. Denver makes the first humble appeals for help on behalf of her mother. In doing so, she begins to understand and appreciate the vital necessity of a concept of self, influenced by but not completely dependent upon memory. Though Denver does not directly impart this

Notably, being a loving child was very important to those around Denver. After the tragedy of Sethe losing three of her four children, the town she and Denver lived in began shutting her out. Denver was well aware of how the town treated her mother, so Denver did all she could to support her mother. She strongly respected her mother and cared for her deeply, no matter what happened. When Sethe remembered her past and horrible experiences, Denver could always be counted on to help. Additionally, after Beloved became apart of the household, Denver was more than willing to accept her. Denver always considered Beloved the sister she never had, which meant a lot to Denver. Beloved and Denver often relied on one another when they needed someone to

When Sethe had first moved to 124, she had been reunited with her children. However, after a desperate attempt to save her children from torture, she lost them. Beloved was the one that whole heartedly returned to Sethe. Toni Morrison’s use of diction, voice, and organization all add to show how Sethe acts thoughtful towards Beloved due to their past and her growing love.

In the novel, “Beloved” it is about a slave woman, Sethe, who before the book even begins kills her baby

Through character development, the story also portrays the theme of escaping the past. Sethe’s actions are influenced heavily by her dead child, Beloved. When the “human” form of Beloved arrives while sleeping

When a strange woman shows up at their house, Denver is thrilled to have someone to talk to. The woman introduces herself as Beloved, which is the name of Sethe’s