The black community played a major role in Beloved, especially with their interactions with Sethe. After Sethe's escape from slavery, she traveled to Cincinnati to reunite with her children and mother-in-law, Baby Suggs. She arrived at 124, a house constantly filled with people and happiness.

Where not one but two pots simmered on the stove; where the lamp burned all night long. Strangers rested while their children tried on their shoes. Messages were left there, for whoever needed them was sure to stop in one day soon. (Morrison, 87)

Sethe was enveloped with love and security, while Baby Suggs, the local spiritual leader, became the driving force in the community, gathering the people together to preach

self love and respect. "When warm weather came, Baby Suggs, holy, followed by every black man, woman and child who could make it through, took her great heart to the Clearing..." (Morrison, 87)

In talking with Paul D about Home Sweet Home and their past, Sethe says: "but it's where we were, All together. Comes back whether we want it to or not" (14). The way Sethe personifies the past as if it was a demon who shows up without warning to wreak havoc on the one possessed, is an image that continues to come up throughout the book. In fact, Sethe has difficulty in dealing with the past so much that she expends all of her energy on it, leaving little to build a future. "Her brain was not interested in the future. Loaded with the past and hungry for more, it left her no room to imagine, let alone plan for the next day" (70).

not only did she have to live out her years in a house palsied by the baby's fury at having its throat cut, but those ten minutes she spent pressed up against dawn-colored stone studded with star chips, her knees wide open as the grave, were longer than life, more alive, more pulsating than the baby blood that soaked her fingers like oil. (5)

Ella didn't like the idea of past errors taking possession of the present...Daily life took as much as she had. The future was sunset; the past something to leave behind. And if it didn't stay behind, well, you might have to stomp it out. (256)

Some common words found in the essay are:
Baby Suggs, Hence Paul, Similarly Sethe, Sweet Home, Sethe Paul, African American, Hence Ella, Hence Baby, Morrison's Beloved, Suggs Sethe, baby suggs, left deal, home sweet, suggs sethe, sweet home, home sweet home, baby suggs sethe, sethe paul, difficulty dealing past, talking paul, morrison's beloved, dealing past, past sethe,
Approximate Word count = 1529
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)