Beloved

Over time, Sethe becomes further enthralled by the realization that Beloved is her dead daughter. She arrives at work little bit later every day until she is eventually fired. Without a job, Sethe ends up giving all of her food and time to Beloved, who devours both with glee. Denver joins in at first, afraid that Sethe will harm Beloved. She comes to realize, however, that Beloved has her mother in her thrall, as Sethe punishes herself for killing her daughter. She caters to Beloved’s every need and tantrum, with the latter growing larger as the house and the rest of its occupants fall into disrepair. Denver notes that it is “as though Sethe [doesn’t] really want forgiveness given; she want[s] it refused” (297). Recognizing that they will all starve with Sethe in her current state, Denver vows to leave 124 on her own for the first time to seek out help.

Denver’s first stop is the home of her former teacher, Lady Jones. Not wanting charity, she asks Lady Jones for a job, but since she has no skills, Lady Jones cannot help her. Instead Lady Jones lets others know about Denver’s circumstances. The town responds by leaving food for Denver. After Denver finishes the food, she returns the plates and baskets on which the food is served to their rightful owners, exposing her to other people in the town. Occasionally they teach her new skills that she can use to get a job. Finally, Denver interviews with Janey Wagon, a longtime servant for the elderly Bodwins, for a job as a nighttime caretaker of the Bodwins’ home. Denver tells Janey about the recent disturbances at her home, including Beloved’s upsetting arrival. After consulting with the Bodwins, Janey offers Denver the job.

Meanwhile, Janey tells the rest of the townspeople about Beloved. Everyone suspects that Beloved is Sethe’s dead daughter come back to inflict justice on Sethe. Ella comes to Sethe’s defense when others relish this sense of justice too insensitively. She leads a group of townswomen to confront the haunting at 124.

As the women pray at the edge of the property, Mr. Bodwin arrives in his horse-cart, whip in hand, to pick up Denver to start her new job. Sethe and Beloved hear the commotion and go out onto the porch. Sethe, still holding an ice pick from breaking ice to keep Beloved cool, notices Mr. Bodwin in the crowd. Seeing a white man for the first time in a while holding a whip, she experiences a flashback of the schoolteacher returning to capture her. The chapter ends with Sethe lunging at Mr. Bodwin with her ice pick.

The chapter reveals the aftermath of Sethe’s attack from Paul D’s perspective. He hears from Stamp Paid that Sethe lunged toward Mr. Bodwin, confusing him for her former white master. Denver, Ella, and other women restrained her and knocked the weapon from her hand. When the townspeople tackled Sethe to the ground, it was said that Beloved “exploded right before their eyes” (310), disappearing. Meanwhile, Mr. Bodwin was so confused about the circumstances that he did not intend to press charges against Sethe.

Paul D runs into Denver one day after the incident at 124. Denver tells him that she has been doing night work at the Bodwins and plans to take on another job at a shirt factory. She has been taking care of her mother during the day but does not live at 124 anymore. Paul D asks Denver if she is sure that Beloved was her dead sister. Denver replies vaguely that she believes she might be “more” (314).

As Paul D makes his way to 124 to visit Sethe, he thinks of all the trials he has survived, from being imprisoned in Alfred, Georgia to serving on both sides of the Civil War just to make a living. When he arrives at 124, he sees a defeated Sethe lying on Grandma Baby Suggs’s bed. Sethe is beside herself with grief over Beloved’s departure. Paul D knows that Beloved is gone because Here Boy is finally back inside the house. Remembering Sethe’s kindness when she treated him like a man on the day she saw him in the three-spoke collar, Paul D tells Sethe that he will take care of her alongside Denver. He tells her to not give up on survival.

In the final chapter of the novel, the memory of Beloved still haunts 124 but not in the same way as it once did. The refrain “It was not a story to pass on” (323) signals that Sethe and Paul D will put the past to rest until “by and by all trace is gone” (324).