In Beloved by Toni Morrison, Beloved herself is an enigma that no one seems able to explain. From a "pool of red, wavy light" (p.8) his state transforms from supernatural to that of flesh and blood. But why did she come back? For love? Spite? Vendetta? She seduces Paul D, drains Sethe's energy, and yet seems to invent more and more desire, be it sweets, stories, or explanations. Her return is marked by her ever-present interdependent relationship with Sethe, yet she treats her mother with such ferocious attention that Denver's loyalty shifts from Beloved herself to that of her mother's safety. Throughout the novel, Beloved seems more of a problem than anything else, yet he inadvertently helps the book's characters overcome their individual obstacles. The beloved haunted her in a ghostly state for eighteen years, yet her tantrums were merely rationalized by the child's "fury as his throat was cut" (p.5). However, there is a greater purpose to these "earthquake" (p.18) attacks that Baby Suggs, Sethe, Denver, and the rest of the community remain unaware of, a purpose that can only be defined by Beloved's physical return. It brings changes in the different characters, yet is able to bring everyone together as a community to recognize the wrongs of slavery. Begin the painful process of “remembering,” bringing memories back to life, and work with the greater purpose of healing for the future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Beloved asks Sethe questions, things only Sethe would know. Beloved asks if Sethe's mother ever fixed her hair, and while it is seemingly such a simple question, it is this question that sets Sethe down the long path of "memory." Sethe remembers things about her mother that she had hidden in her subconscious years ago, facts that she had willfully forgotten. With the simple and direct question "Has your woman never done your hair?" (p.63) Sethe's memory is triggered and she promptly finds herself "choosing meaning from a code she no longer [understands]" (p.62). Sethe has spent so much time "pushing back the past" (p.73) that she is amazed at how easily she can remember it. She remembers that her mother threw away all her children except Sethe herself, the daughter of the only man she loved physically and willingly. Her mother committed infanticide several times due to an inability to love, while Sethe killed Beloved because her "love was too strong". Sethe had suffered all her life, "any mention of her past life hurt" (p.58) and although her daughter's murder had been savage, it was not merciless or without reason. She wanted to save her children from the life of slavery to which the teacher would surely return them, and in effect she saved Beloved from a life from which her mother herself had not saved her. She remembers that her mother was hanged for running away, yet perhaps what hurts Sethe most is not the pain of loss but the knowledge that her mother has abandoned her, leaving her behind to live a life she herself had deemed worth the risk . of death. Sethe strives to be the perfect mother to her children, yet because she has not had a consistent relationship with her mother, she is deprived of the knowledge of what it means to be a mother. It is under the assumption of freedom that Sethe remains uncertain about her role as a mother, for previously her role was that of a slave while now her purpose is underpinned by inexperience and is less clearly defined. Beloved says that at Sweet Home Sethe "never waved or looked in her direction before running away from her" (p.242), yet Sethe cannot be blamed for this because she isIt was her backbreaking work as a slave that got her through. impossible for Sethe to adequately care for her children. Likewise, Sethe's community of freed slaves blames Setheper for her immoral behavior instead of properly condemning the institution of slavery that forces Sethe to take such an action. As a generation of a newly freed people, the former slaves are lost as to their current purpose. Sethe's main concern is keeping her family intact, and when the only possession she has, the milk stored for her children, is stolen from her, she is forced to save her children the only way she knows how. She has been exposed to the violence of slavery her entire life, and so it makes sense that she would try to save what is most important to her through similar methods. Sethe justifies her assassination attempts with the logic that her plans were "always going to be all together on one side, forever" (p.241). She remains affected by her past experiences and refuses to leave 124 in case Halle returns. When he recognizes that Beloved is the reincarnation of the daughter he lost eighteen years earlier, his hope for the return of his two children and the reunion of his family is rekindled. Her optimism is bravely contrasted by the sad acceptance of the broken families around her. Baby Suggs loses all of his children except Halle who mysteriously disappears, Ella is kept locked up for years and refuses to breastfeed the child she is carrying, and Stamp Paid gives up his wife to his master's son. The reader is able to see how the institution of slavery impacts black family life and how Sethe would rather kill her family than further advance the horrible cycle of slavery she has firsthand experience with. The fact is that while she tries to protect her children from slavery, they actually fall victim to the ways of the outside world due to their mother's efforts. The beloved is dead, despite having returned to 124. She is nothing more than a living ghost, bringing Sethe's repressed guilt to the surface and provoking her with the love and acceptance she has longed for from her dead child for so long. . And it is because of Beloved's murder that Buglar and Howard run away from Sethe, because they fear the child's wrath and Sethe herself. They teach Denver the "die-witch-die" games, so that Denver can protect herself when the time comes, so sure that the danger at home is greater than far away. The reader gets a glimpse into Denver's thoughts, just a glimpse of what it was like growing up, locked inside the 124: "Buglar and Howard told me [Sethe] would do it and she did... he cut off his head every night" (p. 206). Denver is afraid of her mother, afraid of what her mother is capable of doing. When Paul D first arrives at 124, Denver makes it perfectly clear that she wants to experience the world and have a relationship with someone other than her mother, to know what is holding her back. Sethe feels that, despite Denver's wishes, she knows all too well the graphic brutality of the outside, and therefore only she can provide the "milk" her children need. What Denver recognizes, however, is the brutality that resides in his mother. Denver is alienated in her own home, “…as if I were someone [Sethe] found and felt sorry for” (p.206), her only company being the ghost of her murdered sister, Beloved. Denver spent "all [her] time outside loving the lady so she wouldn't [kill her]", aurally blocking out her mother, waiting for the moment when she would be rescued by her father and brought into the world outside the gates of 124. Paradoxically, Denver is isolated due to her sister's death, yet she develops the tools...