The story concentrates on events arising from the Fugitive Slave Act, it describes the unspeakable consequences of an escape from slavery for Sethe, her children and Paul D. The story line begins many years after Sethe's break for freedom, and it gradually persuades the reader to accept the haunting of 124 Bluestone Road by a two year old child, killed by her mother Sethe: "Full of baby's venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children...by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims" (Page 1).

The novel is divided into three parts. The parts open with statements as to indicate the progress of the haunting, from the ghost to the materialized spirit to the final freeing of both the spirit and Sethe: Part I: "124 WAS SPITEFUL" (Pag

Gender issues are also dominant in this novel. Three of the four main characters are female. The novel not only tells the story of an ex-slave but of a woman's life. The bulk of the story deals with a mother (Sethe), her daughter (Denver), and a female stranger (Beloved). The African-American spirituality reflected in the novel by Baby Suggs character indicates the responsibility African-American women have in developing the community. Baby Suggs also questions the racial inferiority implied by slavery and stresses a better life on earth. For the women of the story they had to deal with not only being thought of as inferior to the white man but also being inferior to the male gender.

During the Reconstruction Period the freed slaves were not respected by anyone. Even though the union fought to free them they were not wanted by the union once they realized what a burden millions of people would be on the economy. They knew that there were African-Americans who needed jobs in order to make money to feed their families. These jobs were once held by whites that now had to share them with blacks. This caused a strain on the whites as well as the blacks. This made the union whites resent the blacks. The former slave owners were also at a loss because of the Emancipation. Now they had no one to help tend their fields except for blacks that they now had to pay to do the work. This caused many of the plantation owners to find new lines of work.

The dynamics of the story attempt to distance the reader from direct exposure to the extremes of the real horror contained in the storyline. The novel moves around from place to place, from the past to the present. This style of writing is necessary to understand the psychological and emotional state of the characters. Reading this story is a lot like hearing a story being told. Events that occurred during and after Sethe's freedom are slowly placed together as the novel goes on.

Morrison moves around to each character giving each a chance to express their perception of events to the reader, Baby Suggs portrayal of her grandchild's murder is a great example. "Baby Suggs had got the boys inside and was bathing their heads, rubbing their hands, lifting their lids, whispering, 'Beg your pardon, I beg your pardon,' the whole time" (Page 152). Within this horr

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Approximate Word count = 1571
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)