Denver was raised in an environment that some would deem not entirely healthy. To start with, her entire family was shunned by the community due to some unspeakable act committed by her mother, of which she was never explained. Her family was in shambles: her father disappeared long ago, her grandmother on her deathbed, her brothers on the verge of running off, and her mother a broken woman, all of which eliminated a solid support base in dealing with the community. Finally, to make matters worse, the ghost of her dead

infant sister haunted the house, causing troubles wherever she could and constantly making mischief. Needless to say, Denver did not have the strong background often needed to make a successful go in the world. Yet she did make an attempt, until finally beaten down and forced into a self-imposed exile by an innocent question by a young boy, "Is it true you

everything. Had Sethe been able to forgive herself, the healing of other characters would have stemmed from this. She would have been able to rejoin the community, thereby also the exile of Denver. Paul D. would have been able to live there in peace, and the idea of "a family" may have been possible. Even the spirit of Beloved (had my idea of a "projection of guilt" been wrong) would have

Although the book doesn't end as I would ideally like it too, it does have a fundamentally happy ending. The eventual villain is vanquished, the heroine and her man get back together, they are all welcomed back into the community, and the damage done to the heroine may eventually be made better. And that is all that can ever be asked for in a good book, right?

In my utopian ending, Sethe would have fought off the guilt and been able to forgive herself. She would have acknowledged that, yes, it was the wrong decision, but she can't let it destroy her life and that of her family and friends. Although she had made a mistake, it was almost two decades ago and it is time to move on. Although self-forgiveness is often a very difficult to gain thing, it is one of the greatest of virtues and once you have self-forgiveness, you can have

providing a constant reminder of the crime itself. When Paul D. "forced" the spirit away, it came back in a fleshly form to cause even more problems. There are even indications that Beloved is feeding off

Some common words found in the essay are:
Actually Sethe's, Denver Sethe's, Sethe Denver, Needless Denver, Paul Denver, Denver Paul, , Sethe Sethe, able forgive, spirit beloved, didn't stop, forced spirit, baby sister,
Approximate Word count = 975
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)