.......Karen
Wong, Associate Professor of English
|Homepage|....|Current Courses|....|Resources for Success|....|Skyline College|....
|Personal & Professional Background|
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Toni Morrison's Beloved |
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Please note the chapters to which you've been assigned. By the week the chapters have been assigned, write a succinct summary of the chapter(s), then send it to me at wongk@smccd.net so that I can post on our website.
1. 3-19 Karen 1873-- Cincinatti, Ohio-- Denver is 10, living with her
mother Sethe, in a house haunted by her older sister, the
Baby; Paul D., one of the Sweet Home men, visits and begins
to live with them after an eighteen year absence; their
fortune had changed at Sweet Home when Mr. Garner died and
Mrs. Garner fell ill with a goiter/ tumor; Sethe's milk was
taken by some of the men employed by Schoolteacher, Mrs.
Garner's brother-in-law who takes over the farm after Mr.
Garner's death; Halle, Paul D's younger brother, had bought
their mother, Baby Suggs', freedom. 2. 20-27 Karen Sethe and Paul D. have unfulfilling sex; memories of
Sethe choosing Halle to "marry" when she arrived at Sweet
Home; images of freedom vs. captivity 3. 28-42 Maliana Denver likes to hear her mother tell the story
surrounding her birth: Sethe six months pregnant, ran away
from Sweet Home after being whipped; rammed by an antelope,
hurt and unable to walk she was found by a white girl named
Amy who helped her to safety and provided comfort. Sethe and Paul D are beginning to "come alive" again;
Sethe is beginning to notice colors when she hadn't since
the death of her baby; she wants to feel again and "count on
something"; Paul D prior to meeting up with Sethe and after
having been jailed in Alfred didn't want to think of more
than the bare minimum, is now thinking of the future and
settling down. Denver, on the other hand doesn't want Paul D
at the house and thinks he's the reason Baby ghost hasn't
been around. Sethe remembers what Denver told her a few years back
about seeing a white dress with its sleeves wrapped around
her waist while she was kneeling praying and she remembers
Denver's interpretation that the ghost has some sort of
plan. Paul D senses that Denver is waiting for something and
he is in the way of that. Sethe doesn't like talking about the what happened when
school teacher finally found her at 124; she just says that
she chose to go to jail instead; jail talk brings too much
painful memories to Paul D and he tries to avoid the
subject; Sethe is convinced that Denver is exempt from bad
things happening to her because she didn't die when the odds
were against her and in jail rats bit everything but her;
Sethe is beginning to entertain the thought of a future with
Paul D. 4. 43-49 Linda H. 5. 50-63 JeanCarl When Paul D, Sethe and Denver return home from the
carnival, the three find a fully dressed woman sitting on a
stump near 124. Sethe's bladder fills with water, something
Sethe has not felt since the birth of her children. The trio
welcomes the mysterious woman into 124 who was thirsty and
tired. Paul D asks the woman her name and she responds
saying she only has a first name, Beloved. Beloved falls
into and out of sleep for four days. Denver takes care of
Beloved, while Paul D and Sethe work. When Beloved is
better, Paul D tells Sethe that Beloved doesn't look sick
anymore. Denver and Sethe, partial to this woman, denies
that Beloved is better and should stay longer. As time continued, Beloved became healthy, and Sethe gave
Beloved more attention. Beloved would eagerly await Sethe's
return. One day, Beloved asks Sethe where her diamonds went.
Sethe tells Beloved the story of a lady, Mrs. Garner, in
Kentucky who gave her crystals when she married Halle at the
age of fourteen. She tells of stealing fabric to make her a
dress, Halle waiting patiently for Sethe to finish, until
the day they were married. One Saturday they went into the
cornfield on their honeymoon, Halle begged sick so he
wouldn't have to work that day. Denver asks Sethe why her
mother was hanged. Sethe cannot remember. 6. 64-73 Hazel Paul D has rocked the world of 124 even more. By asking
questions about Beloved, he angers the women of the house.
Denver and Sethe don’t seem to care about
Beloved’s origin and don’t want to hear about it.
All that matters to Sethe is that Denver is no longer
lonely, and Denver only cared that now she has a friend. And
also by bringing back memories of Sweet Home, Paul D opens
Sethe’s old wounds and created new ones. When he
informed Sethe of how he found Halle all crazy with butter
all over his face because the sight of his wife being
mistreated by the schoolteacher’s nephews broke him,
Paul D opened new wounds for Sethe. Paul D as well opened up
to Sethe and told her about his own scars about the iron
bit, and the smiling rooster who had more importance that
him in Sweet Home that broke him. 7. 74-85 Leilah The sisters are upstairs; Beloved is dancing while Denver
watches from the bed, and later joins in. Denver questions
Beloved about her name and how she had escaped. Beloved
replies that her name Beloved was what she was called in the
dark and where she comes from is hot with no room to move.
Beloved’s purpose was to see Sethe again, and her
journey had taken a long time. Denver begs Beloved not to
leave and then tells her not to tell Sethe who she really
was. Beloved, angered by this, tells Denver not to tell her
what to do. Denver was not the one Beloved needed, it was
Sethe. In hopes of calming Beloved, Denver tells the story
of her birth. A girl name Amy helped Sethe delivery her baby. In fear
that Amy might turn her in for a reward, Sethe went by the
name Lu. Amy tended to Sethe’s wounds and tries to make
her comfortable. Amy sees the cuts on Sethe’s back and
says it reminds her of a chokeberry tree. Through the night
Amy stays by Sethe’s side and sings to her. The next
morning Amy and Sethe reach a river and find a boat. While
the boat sinks Amy helps Sethe give birth to her baby. They
go back to shore and stay there during the night taking care
of the baby. The next morning Amy leaves, and reminds Sethe
to tell her child Amy Denver had helped with her delivery.
Sethe falls asleep murmuring how pretty the name Denver
was. 8. 86-105 Johnson This chapter takes us back to the first day of
Sethe’s arrived at I24 and the story of Baby Suggs and
her importance in Sethe’s life. I24 back then was a
refuge for many run away slaves. There would be black men,
women, and children all of whom were all from a horrible
past, but were there for each other at I24. Baby Suggs was
very kind and caring person to people who were black, but
carried a very prejudice view of “white folks.”
Sethe’s arrival gives us another glimpse of the baby
that now haunts I24. They called her the “already
crawling Baby”. Returning to the events that are now
taking place, Sethe was overwhelmed with the information
that she had learned from Paul D. She now knew if what Paul
D said was true, Halle would never be coming back to her.
She had walked out to a place where Baby Suggs and the
others use to gather back in the old days to try to think
things over. She brought along Denver and Beloved. She was
finally sure that she wanted Paul D in her life. However,
while she was there she felt that someone or something was
beginning to choke her. She thought that it was probably the
ghost that Paul D had scared away. Denver believes that
Beloved was the one who was there choking Sethe and
confronts beloved about it. Eventually Denver just lets the
whole issue drop because she was desperate to have someone
to care for, and she didn’t want to risk losing
Beloved. The possibility that Sethe and Denver have spent
time in prison comes up as well. 9. 106-113 Cristo 10. 114-117 Cristo 11. 118-124 Irene Sethe asked Beloved about her mom. She said that she
remembers only being taking away from her, a bridge and a
white man. Sethe thought that she had gone through a bad
experience like Ella did. Denver mentioned people that she
knew because of certain positive actions they had. She also
talked to Beloved about her brothers. They spent time
together outside the house in the cold weather. Denver tried
to do something with Beloved otherwise, Beloved would be
quiet and alone. When Denver was looking for Beloved in the
cold house, she fell down onto the pallet. Denver called up
for her, but Beloved did not answer at all. Beloved decided
to get out of there. She left Denver alone in the cold
house. Denver was getting very cold that she could not even
feel herself. Later, Beloved came back making Denver believe
that she never left her inside. 12. 125-132 Vincent 13. 133-134 Vincent 14. 135-147 Linda C. Time turns back to Baby Suggs' thoughts when Sethe
arrived at 124 Bluestone. But there was still no sign of
Halle and she did not want to hurt his luck by thanking God
too soon. Several weeks later, Stamp Paid started the
celebration when he picks blackberries, returning cut and
beaten by the bushes while carrying two pails of berries.
Then they throw a feast for the whole community. However,
the neighbors became jealous and resentful. Why was Baby
Suggs always the center of everything? They are
particularly envious that she was bought out of slavery
early and has her own home. The next day while Baby Suggs was gardening, she could
smell disapproval but there was something else that was
coming and she could not accurately guess what it was. She
could only see the image of high-topped shoes and she knew
that meant trouble. Was it news of Halle’s death?
Baby Suggs had already been prepared for that, so she knew
it was something else. She thinks about her son Halle, and
then thinks about her first days of freedom in Ohio when Mr.
Garner brought her to the Bodwin family. The Bodwins were
abolitionist friends of Mr. Garner, who arranged her
settlement on Bluestone Road, and got her shoe-mending work.
After the celebration of Sethe's arrival and the arrival of
Baby Suggs's grandkids, Baby Suggs could smell the
disapproval of the community in the air, and she had a vague
premonition of the disasterthat was coming. 15. 148-153 Sean The worst thing that Sethe could have ever imagined
happening came true; Schoolteacher was on his way to124 to
take Sethe and her children back to Sweet Home.Once Sethe
found out, she went crazy. She took her children to a shed
to murder them. She killed crawling-already? and wounded
Buglar and Howard. She was about to swing Denver into a wall
before Stamp Paid took Denver away from Sethe’s arms.
Many people in the town saw Sethe dripping with her own
children’s blood. Schoolteacher felt it was useless to
take any of them back to Sweet Home because he thought they
were too "damaged." The sheriff took Sethe to jail, but
allowed her to nurse Denver. Baby Suggs took care of her two
boys. Also in the chapter is a description of how brutal
Schoolteacher is. 16. 154-158 Michael 17. 159-165 Edward Paul D confronts Sethe about the newspaper clipping from
her daughter’s murder. Sethe recognizes it right away
and explains to Paul D that she was protecting her children
and she had no choice because she was protecting them from a
life of slavery. Enslaved her children would not be able to
love anything because they would have no freedom. The great
line that Sethe says to Paul D is, “It ain’t my
job to know what’s worse [for my children].
It’s my job to know what is and to keep them away from
what I know is terrible. I did that” (165). Even though
Paul D understands the things she was telling him, he still
thinks she was wrong and leaves her. 18. 169-199 Miles & Johanna In this section, we learn that Stamp Paid feels guilty
for telling Paul D about Sethe’s crime. Although
feeling uncomfortable, Stamp Paid returns to 124 for the
first time since Baby Suggs’s death. He decides to look
through the window since no one answers the door. He sees
Denver sleeping and Beloved but does not recognize her when
he sees her. Stamp Paid has various emotions about Baby
Sugg’s depression and is deeply saddened. After running
away from 124, Stamp Paid talks about how slavery
dehumanizes both blacks and whites. Blacks are forced to
live a way of life without freedom to do what they want and
are treated like animals. Whites become these vicious beings
who want to control every black person. Meanwhile, Sethe takes Denver and Beloved ice-skating in
order to show to that she is not at all stressed over Paul
D’s leaving who is now living in the church. After
hearing Beloved humming a song that she made up for all her
children, Sethe is for sure that Beloved is the
reincarnation of her dead daughter. Now that Beloved has
come back into her life, Sethe believes that she can now
move on with her life, leaving the past behind and being
optimistic about her future. When Sethe goes back to work,
she steals food and other supplies to bring home. This
incident actually launches her to reminisce about Sixo. She
remembers when Sixo was beaten by schoolteacher because he
had stolen a pig. In addition, Sethe also remembered the
crucial incident when schoolteacher tells his nephews to
categorize Sethe’s body from what they thought was her
human characteristics to her animal characteristics.
Schoolteacher also deprived Halle from freeing his whole
family from slavery by stopping him from doing work outside
of Sweet Home, thus sparking the secret escape. However, it
lead to the heartbreaking lynching, burning and insanity of
five of the six men from Sweet Home. 19. 200-204 Jennifer Mr. Garner dies of an "exploded ear drum brought on by a
stroke." A questionable death, nevertheless, schoolteacher
moves in and changes the rules at Sweet Home forever. The
slaves are beaten for the first time and their guns are
taken away, depriving them of hunting game. Sethe is late to work for the first time in sixteen years
and doesn't care because she has just figured out who
Beloved is. She is consumed with her rememory of Beloved as
a baby, and intent on expressing what a caring mother she
was before she took her child's life. Sethe is sure Beloved
knows this and has forgiven her, or why else would she come
back? "Schoolteacher begins teaching the slaves things they
couldn't learn". He seemed to be researching the African
race as he measured their bodies, their heads and counted
their teeth. Sethe overhears schoolteacher giving a lesson
to one of the nephews and tells him to "put her human
characteristics on the left; her animal ones on the right."
Sethe finds the nerve to ask the only person she trusts, a
very ill Mrs. Garner, to explain what a characteristic is?
Mrs. Garner, in her weakened state, tells Sethe it is a
feature, however, she is more concerned with schoolteacher's
handling of the Pauls. 20. 205-209 Jennifer Sethe is troubled and perplexed when she learns why
schoolteacher is measuring her, and she confides in Halle
that she notices a difference between whites - between Mr.
Garner and schoolteacher. Halle is not concerned; he's not
even concerned when schoolteacher said he didn't have to pay
the balanced owed on his mother's buyout. Sethe convinces
him otherwise. If Halle doesn't have to pay the balanced
owed, then he can't leave Sweet Home to earn extra money,
which means no more buyouts! They both realize that their family has become Sweet
Home's most dependable commodity and their only way out of
slavery now is to RUN! Sixo informs Halle about the "train"
to freedom and they plan their escape. Sethe continues to justify her horrific act through
"rememories" of their escape and of her own desperate
childhood. She also recounts on her way to the "train",
"Sixo was burned up and Paul D [was] dressed in a
collar", and she passes right by a tree with boys hanging -
and one of them had on Paul A's shirt. All Sethe can think
about now is getting her milk to her children - to Beloved.
Beloved's grown presence becomes an obsession to Stamp Paid
as he spies her with Denver through a window at 124 and he
is determined to find out who she is. 21. 210-213 Alvin Sethe claims that Beloved has come back to her of her own
freewill and is hers. She tells herself Beloved will
understand why she had to kill and no explanation will be
necessary. She remembers being held down and her milk stolen
from as if she was a cow to nurse the white babies, often
leaving her with none to nurse her own. She told Mrs. Garner
about what happened to her, but she was to weak to do
anything about it. She was beaten for the first time by
Schoolteacher and how they made a hole for her stomach to
protect Denver. She feels her life has returned and now
understands why Baby Suggs looked at colors the way she did
because she had never had time to enjoy them. She promises
to show Beloved the world, colors, and smells. She blames
Paul D for blocking her from recognizing Beloved sooner. She
wonders about her own mother and refuses to believe that she
was hung for running away because she would not have left
without her. She remembers her mother's face which had a
permanent smile because of mouth bits. She tells Beloved
that her plan is to take them all to the other side but they
stopped her. Sethe wants to lie down beside Beloved in her
grave but she has three other children to care for.
Beloved's return has brought her peace. 22. 214-217 Alvin Denver's conscious claims Beloved is her sister and
remembers how she swallowed Beloved's blood along with her
mother's milk. Beloved was her secret friend until Paul D
scared her away. Howard and Buglar would terrify her about
how they would kill Sethe if they ever came after them
again. Denver expresses how she fears Sethe and how she
could kill again. She never leaves 124; she fears that the
outside world would cause her mother to kill again. Only
twice in her life did she leave her house since she used to
go Miss Lady Jones' house; once to bury Grandma Baby and the
carnival with Paul D. Denver feels a responsibility to
protected Beloved from her mother. She describes a recurring
vivid nightmare of her mother cutting off her head and
braiding her hair. The only place she feels safe is in
Grandma Baby's room. She expresses her love for her mother,
but deep inside she secretly waits for the return of her
father. 23. 218-229 Igor Paul D. got drunk and went to the church. There he starts
to remember how the plans to escape from Sweet Home failed
and ended up pretty badly. Paul A and Halle never showed up.
And when Sixo, his Thirty-Mile woman, and Paul D. got to
their meeting destination, they were captured by the
schoolteacher and by other white people. Sixo fought with
the white men, when they found them, and so they burned him.
Thirty-Mile woman ran away from the capturers. Schoolteacher took Paul D. back to the Sweet Home where
he met with Sethe, who was telling him she was going to
escape from the house. Also she told him that she did not
know the whereabouts of Halle, Sixo and Paul A. Paul D. told
her the whole situation that had happened with them. And he
told Sethe that he did not see Halle and did not know what
happened to him. Moreover, he felt extremely humiliated with
how his captors bound him, but Sethe was kind enough not to
draw attention to it. 24. 230-235 Lizette & Robert 25. 239-262 Jose & Juan While recollecting his memory on the church steps Paul D.
remembers the last conversation he had with Sethe. Sethe
finds him as she returned looking for Halle after leaving
her children in the corn. Paul D has a bit in his mouth and
his ankles tied up. He remembers how she told him had seen
Sixo burned. He remembers how he didn't think Sethe was
going to make it because she was a pregnant woman. Putting
together all the stories he now knows that night after she
saw him schoolteacher's nephews assaulted her in the barn.
She was then whipped after she told Mrs. Garner what had
happened. He then recalls Halle going crazy with the butter
in his mouth and then the rooster laughing as if he new he
was going to the worst place Paul has ever been, Alfred
Georgia. Stamp Paid finds Paul D at the church steps; he is trying
to convince him to go back with Sethe. Stamp Paid tells him
the story of why he changed his name. He tells him that his
master's young son used his wife for sexual pleasure. Stamp
Paid tells him how it lasted a year and for that period he
didn't touch his wife. Stamp Paid full of rage thought of
killing his own wife but couldn't do it. He tells Paul D
that the thought of killing his wife has been the lowest
he's been. Stamp Paid also defends Sethe and tells Paul D that he
was there when it happened. Paul D. tells Stamp Paid that he
is scared of Sethe but also of Beloved. Stamp Paid questions
where Beloved comes from, but he too like Paul D once
thought thinks that she escaped from a white man that kept
her for sexual pleasures. Sethe engages in a playful oblivion with Beloved.
Although Denver joins their games, they soon cut her out,
for they care for or want nothing but one another. Beloved
is now overly demanding-she now wants everything Sethe can
provide fro the household since she was fired from her job
due to repeated absences. Denver becomes a segregated witness of her family's
insanity. She watches them play and is always alert of any
danger for Beloved, because she fears Sethe might kill her
again. Beloved blames her mother for having left her behind
when she sent the kids off before her. Sethe explains
herself and asks forgiveness but Beloved denies it, and the
latter now became enraged and slams and breaks things.
Neither her mother nor her sister dare to reprehend her,
they just clean after her. Denver now fears that Beloved
might kill Sethe. Denver wants to go look for help but doesn't know who to
go to. She remembers a conversation in which Baby Suggs
assured Sethe that no matter what good white people did to
Blacks, they could never undo the horrifying acts they
committed in the past. Denver sets off into the town to Lady
Jones's house. She recognizes her former student, who asks
her for a job. Lady says she has no job for her but suggests
appealing to the church's committee-Denver rejects. Foods in labeled containers start to show up in front of
124 and Denver takes back the containers and thanks the good
Samaritans. She begins to interact with people in the town.
Denver's social life improves while her family's mental
condition worsens in 124. Sethe seems to be inebriated by
Beloved, addicted to her mere presence. Denver feeds her
mother and sister. She decides to go ask for employment at
the Bodwins' where she meets Janey Wagon who tells her she
knew and liked Baby Suggs as did everybody else who knew
her. Denver tells her that Sethe is sick and that Beloved is
a visiting cousin but Janey assumes the truth. She spreads
the news of the dead child coming to take Sethe's life. As
Ella find out, she exhorts a group of women to go and save
Sethe. As Denver awaits M. Bodwin to pick her up for work, a
group of thirty women led by Ella approach the house and
keel to pray in front of it. Bodwin arrives and the house-in
which he was born-reminds him of his past, his father, the
obstacles he and his sister faced in their lives. Sethe and Beloved see Denver and they see the women
gathered in front of the house and come out to the porch
holding hands. The women looked at them astonished, for
Beloved had now taken the form of a pregnant woman.
Suddenly, Sethe lets go of Beloved's hand as she sees the
"man without skin" again; only this time she does the
opposite to what she did when she killed the baby-she runs
toward the crowd. 26. 263-273 Dennis Sethe seems to be losing her mind. She is going crazy
trying to fulfill all of Beloved's requests. In doing so,
she seems to have forgotten Denver. Sethe is spending all
her time and money on Beloved. To make matters worse, she
lost her job because of consistence tardiness. During this
time, Beloved is getting fat while Sethe is wasting away.
There is also constant fighting, as Sethe tries to explain
herself to Beloved, who refuses to forgive her. She
describes the world of the dead as a terrifying place, and
is not interested in Sethe's explanations. When Sethe tries
to assert herself, Beloved flies into a rage. Even though
Beloved is not listening to Sethe's explanations, Denver is.
She is starting to understand her mother. Denver decides to get help for Sethe from Lady Jones, a
mulatto woman with yellow hair, who married a black man. She
used to be Denver's teacher. In doing so, Denver leaves the
house for the first time since she was seven. It is also the
first time that the black community has helped the family by
giving them baskets of food and by coming to the house
trying to scare the ghost away. Denver also decides to seek
a job with the Bodwins. On the day that Edward Bodwin came
to pick up Denver for work, Sethe loses it and tries to kill
him with an ice peck, thinking he was schoolteacher coming
to get her children. 27. 274-275 Joaquin