Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved remains a story that narrates the horrifying effects of slavery and the continuous journey ex-slaves endure as they grudgingly attempt to accept their past. The story centers on the sudden reincarnation of a woman named Beloved and the unthinkable circumstances that surround her death. Within the central story lies a minor story of Sethe’s living daughter Denver and the struggles she faces when attempting to come to terms with the traumatic events of her childhood. Forced to mature quickly due to potentially losing her mother, Denver transforms from a naïve, scared teenager to a courageous, confident woman willing to sacrifice her own comfort and to endure the world beyond 124. With the presence and influences of Paul D and Beloved, Denver develops into a responsible, poised woman capable of putting her mother’s needs first and of accepting her own opinions. …show more content…
At the beginning of the novel, Denver displays herself as a fragile, emotionally damaged girl who refuses to leave the familiarity of her home due to an innocent question and an irrational fear of the outside world. Having experienced the loss of many family members and endured the wrath of a baby ghost, Denver greatly pities upon herself, believing that her life remains so damaged by the past that isolation from the community remains the best way to deal with her struggles. Rather than overcoming her struggles in a positive manner, she instead sees these events as reasons to further isolate herself. She proves to be intelligent, learning to spell and count at Lady Jones’ home, but very weak emotionally. She became too scared “to ask her brothers or anyone else Nelson Lord’s