King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: Beloved

author: Toni Morrison

genre: fiction/supernatural

pages: 324

published: 1987

first line: 124 was spiteful.

rated: 4 out of 5





Having read and enjoyed Sula by Toni Morrison, I was excited to finally pick up a copy of Beloved. In this book Sethe and her daughter Denver live alone in a house in Ohio shortly after the Civil War. Sethe's two sons, run away from home by the time they are thirteen.


The house is haunted by the ghost of Sethe's 2 year old unnamed baby, simply known as Beloved. The haunting is severe and poltergeist-like, Beloved throws things, the house rattles and shakes, yet Sethe refuses to leave. No one visits Sethe and Denver, they don't want to go near the house, everyone knows it is haunted.



One day, an old acquaintance of Sethe's, a man named Paul D, shows up at her doorstep. The two become involved right away. Paul D knew Sethe years ago when she was first married and lived on a plantation before they were freed. He is happy to reconnect with her all these years later.


Not shortly after, a woman shows up in front of Sethe's home. Something about her is different, she can't talk much, is very sleepy and her skin is baby soft. When asked her name, she simply spells out the word, 'Beloved'.



Sethe lets Beloved into her home, gives her a place to sleep and takes her in for the time being. The family just figures she is a wanderer with no place to go. Beloved soon becomes obsessed with Sethe, and Sethe herself thinks of Beloved as her own child.




So many scenes stood out for me. One part in particular is when Denver walks in on her mother kneeling by her bed, praying, and sees a baby's white dress next to her, hugging Sethe around her waist. Just the thought of how this baby ghost still clings to her mother, and how even in death, mother and child are forever connected, gave me chills while reading.


Several scenes in this book also shocked me. If you've read this one, you know what I mean. As shocking as it was, I did enjoy this read. The characters are well written, the plot was excellent, the writing was fantastic and I found myself not wanting to put this book down. This is the kind of book that once you are done reading, you kind of just sit back and think about it. It's the kind of read you want to discuss.



I think Denver's character impressed me the most. How she made the best of a bad situation and survived so much. The way she is smarter and stronger than most gave her credit for.

Sethe was an interesting character. I like how she flashed back and told her story all throughout the book. She tells about Denver's birth and about the unthinkable circumstances she had to endure as a slave, the life she lived before finally gaining her freedom. Sethe has many secrets she keeps, and the worst one of all is revealed to the reader just when they least expect it. I didn't hate Sethe, but I pitied her.






Toni Morrison's writing is poetic. Here's a few passages that stood out.

In that bower, closed off from the hurt of the hurt world, Denver's imagination produced its own hunger and its own food, which she badly needed because loneliness wore her out. Wore her out. Veiled and protected by the live green walls, she felt ripe and clear, and salvation was as easy as a wish.

A fully dressed woman walked out of the water. She barely gained the dry bank of the stream before she sat down and leaned against a mulberry tree. All day and all night she sat there, her head resting on the trunk in a position abandoned enough to crack the brim of her straw hat. Everything hurt but her lungs most of all. Sopping wet and breathing shallow she spent those hours trying to negotiate the weight of her eyelids. The day breeze blew her dress dry; the night wind wrinkled it.

The return of Denver's hearing, cut off by an answer she could not bear to hear, cut on by the sound of her dead sister trying to climb the stairs, signaled another shift in the fortunes of the people of 124. From then on the presence was full of spite. Instead of sighs and accidents there was pointed and deliberate abuse.

There is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up; holding, holding on, this motion, unlike a ship's, smooths and contains the rocker. It's an inside kind-wrapped tight like skin. Then there is a loneliness that roams. No rocking can hold it down. It is alive, on its own.

Beloved was made into a film in 1998. I did enjoy this movie, however, it was very creepy. I wish I hadn't seen the film first because I knew the twist to the story. All in all, I recommend both the book and the film, but I think you should read the book first.