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African slavery began when Africans were torn from their homes and shipped across the ocean to America. Once in America, the slaves not only lost their liberty but also their past. They had no one to appeal to for help when they were starved, beaten or sold away from their families. Northerners began to notice the injustice against the slaves. Some northerners decided to proclaim justice for these slaves and to fight for their free will. The subject of slavery became a sectional issue as it divided northerners regarding their stance on slavery. This sectional issue inevitably caused a civil war as people held strong convictions regarding slavery. The military conflict between the United States of America (the Union) and the Confederate States of America (the confederacy) lasted from 1861 to 1865. "The war took more than 6oo,ooo lives, brought freedom to 4 million black slaves and opened wounds that have not completely healed to this day" (Encarta). The slaves that were freed were now faced with a new dilemma, how to deal with daily life. Toni Morrison depicts this struggle in Beloved. She connects the horrors of slavery to a victim and her descendants. The torment and torture suffered by Sethe, not only affects

"I am always crouching the man on my face is dead his face is not mine his mouth swells sweet but his eyes are locked some eat nasty themselves I do not eat the men without skin bring us their morning water we have none at night I cannot see the dead man on my face daylight comes through the cracks and I can see his locked eyes I am not big small rats do not wait for us to sleep someone is trashing but there is no room to do it in if we had more to drink we could make tears."(p.210)

The presence of Beloved, which once brought Denver joy, now caused her grief. Denver had a difficult childhood as her mom murdered her sister; her brothers, Howard and Buglar, ran away because they could no longer bear to live in a haunted house and Baby Suggs, who she looked up to, died. Denver lived in fear of her own mother: "I love my mother but I know she killed one of her own daughters, and tender as she is with me, I'm scared of her because of it"(p.205). Denver grew up alone and waited for the day happiness would come into her life. Paul D's presence enforced her misery as he chased away the ghost, her only friend, from her home and by occupying much of her mother's time which was once reserved for herself: "Now her mother was upstairs with the man who had gotten rid of the only other company she had" (p.19). The resentment towards Paul D enhanced until she could no longer tolerate him: "Denver ran a mighty interference and on the third day flat-out asked Paul D how long he was going to hang around" (p.43). Her hatred for Paul D diminished as Beloved emerged and gave Denver company. She finally felt like she had a companion: " She smiled then and Denver's heart stopped bouncing and sat down-relieved and peaceful like a traveler who had made it home"(p.55). Denver lived in a confined world that Sethe had created for her. Denver was extremely content to have someone, Beloved, to share her feelings with. Denver began to notice how Beloved's attachment to Sethe surpassed her desire to be with her: "Denver noticed how greedy she was to hear Sethe talk" (p.63). As time progressed, Beloved and Sethe increasingly neglected Denver and "cut her out of the games"(p.239) until she was isolated once again. Denver felt that unless she did something about the present situation they would all die. She built up enough courage and decided to do something even though "they were too busy rationing their strength to fight each other. So it was she who had to step off the edge of the world and die because if she didn't, they all would"(p.239). Although Beloved's presence seemed to be ideal for Denver in the beginning, the chaos that inevitably arose made her suffer more than she ever had previously.

This quote refers to the life of a slave, which was based on physical capabilities:" but no

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Approximate Word count = 1883
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous