Accusations and counter-accusations continue. Denver fears that Beloved may stab Sethe in retaliation for leaving her. Sethe and Denver grow faint with hunger and weary from emotional conflict. Denver, encouraged by her grandmother’s example and wisdom, goes to her former teacher, Lady Jones, for help. Rejecting charity, Denver insists on […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 3: Chapter 26Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 25
Trying to make amends for interfering with Paul D and Sethe’s relationship, Stamp Paid tells Paul D about the anger that caused him to consider killing his wife, Vashti, for her months-long sexual relationship with her white owner. The humiliation he felt from his wife’s relationship caused him to change […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 25Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 24
Paul D recalls hearing unidentified gunshots that night and seeing Halle inexplicably eat butter from the churn. Sixo joined Paul D and the Thirty-Mile Woman but could not account for the absence of Paul A, Halle, or Halle’s family. As schoolteacher, four adults, and some pupils approached the dry creek […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 24Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapters 22-23
Analysis The complements to Chapters 20 and 21 are these two lyric statements by Beloved, whose sensibilities and speech revert to babyhood, thus denying her the logic and expression appropriate to her adult body. As she explains, “how can I say things that are pictures.” On “the little hill of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapters 22-23Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapters 20-21
In Chapter 21, Denver ponders her brothers’ fear of their mother after she tried to kill them. Denver admits to herself that she is a recluse: “Not since Miss Lady Jones’ house have I left 124 by myself. Never.” Her only forays into the world outside 124 have been a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapters 20-21Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 19
On the other side of the door at 124, Sethe tries to rid herself of anger. She decides to take Denver and Beloved ice skating, but before they go, her thoughts return to jail, the loss of her earrings, and small parcels of food that Baby Suggs handed her through […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 19Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapters 17-18
Paul D asks Sethe for the truth, and her words mix tender memories with horror. Too distraught to sit, Sethe spins around the kitchen, recalling her insufficient knowledge about babies and nutrition, the painting of the steps that enticed the crawling Beloved, and her attempts to work and simultaneously watch […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapters 17-18Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 16
Baby Suggs fans her face while Stamp Paid chops wood. But Sethe has already seen the white men coming and sprung into action. Too late, the foursome stare at the woodshed where Sethe has murdered Beloved, wounded Buglar and Howard, and threatened to bash Denver’s brains. Stamp Paid rescues Denver […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 16Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 15
In the midst of the joyous event, ill feelings begin to grow toward Baby Suggs and her family. Neighbors participating in the feast grow envious of Baby Suggs’s manumission (formal emancipation from slavery), her two-story house, her well, and her relationship with the Bodwins, the local Quaker abolitionists who let […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 15Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapters 13-14
Fears for his lost sense of self impel Paul D to seek Sethe at Sawyer’s restaurant. She smiles with “pleasure and surprise” when she sees him and hurries to finish her work. Paul D tries to prepare her for the revelation that Beloved has overpowered and sapped his strong sense […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapters 13-14