Passage Analysis Of Beloved

That which has touched the life of an individual, remains within their hearts and their minds forever. Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved follows the life of Sethe, an escaped slave who struggles to flourish in her new life due to endless torment from her memory of her troubled past. This excerpt centralizes its focus on Sethe’s inability to live comfortably in her own home with the only family that remains following her tragic backstory. The dwelling, haunted by the spirit of Sethe’s late daughter, is a constant reminder of the pain she endured in her prior life and demonstrates how Sethe can never escape her suffering. The passage illustrates how no person, place, or emotion ever is able to completely fade from existence. Morrison upholds the

Following the aforementioned action of the spirit, Denver asks her mother what restrains the spirit from coming as they asked. Sethe responds by explaining ḧow Denver is “‘forgetting how little it is [...] Too little to understand. Too little to talk much. [...] But only if she’d come, I could make it clear to her’”(4). The dialogue demonstrates how by being unable to explain to her daughter the reason for her death, the guilt within Sethe will remain forever and her feelings will never fade. Moreover, by implementing dialogue again through conversing with her mother-in-law, the belief of nothing fading from one’s mind is supported further. Describing her children, Sethe’s mother-in-law explains “My first born. All I can remember of her is how she loved the burned bottom of bread [...] Eight children and that’s all I remember”(5). Sethe responds saying “That’s all you let yourself remember”(5). Sethe’s response to her mother-in-law’s struggle demonstrates that she herself comprehends that no person or memory is able to disappear from oneself. Through dialogue, it is evident that the characters themself comprehend and accept this belief as fact, ultimately proving that memories are everlasting. In summary, the belief that all feelings, people, and memories never vanish is supported and proven true through the use of dialogue by Morrison within the