Beloved

During the course of the novel, Beloved is something different to
everyone who comes into contact with her. For Sethe, she
represents a chance for her to redeem her past actions. For Denver,
she provides friendship and a break from her lonely, isolated
existence. For Paul D, she becomes a lover that opens his heart.
For the community, she is an embodiment of all the infants and
children who were cast away from the slave ships and from slave
mothers who could not hold onto them. Beloved's need to possess Sethe is frightening: she insists that Sethe is hers, and that she needs her. The dynamic between Denver and Beloved is unhealthy: Denver is desperate for kindness from Beloved, but Beloved is fickle and selfish, like a child, only needing Sethe. Denver often feels rejected and lonely. Denver conflates her own identity with the identity of Beloved, just as Beloved conflates her own identity with Sethe's. She cries and feels that "she has no self," showing how absolutely de...