INTRODUCE: Denver worries about her mother Sethe. She thinks that beloved would do harm to Sethe. However, Sethe and beloved had a healthy relationship. Sethe sees Beloved as her beloved little baby and Denver sees her as a ghost whose attention is to harm Sethe and her surroundings.
QUOTE: “Whatever her power and however she used it, Beloved was hers. Denver was alarmed by the harm she thought Beloved planned for Sethe, but felt helpless to thwart it, so unrestricted was her need to love another. The display she witnessed at the Clearing shamed her because the choice between Sethe and Beloved was without conflict.”
INTERPRET: It didn’t matter for Sethe whether Beloved is a ghost or her baby. In both cases there is no mention of clear conflict between them.
ANALYZE: Denver’s point of view was different and she thought beloved would harm her mother and felt the responsibility of protecting her mother. I believe that Denver was never convinced that beloved is Sethe’s baby. Overall, Beloved was a mysterious character in the novel.
Apply: This quotation takes a big chuck of understanding the relationship beloved had with Sethe and the rest of the characters. It is important to see the different point of views from different angles for a better understanding of the novel and its different scenes.
