Chapter 27 and 28 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 27

47. Explain what you think Denver means when Paul D asks Denver, “You think she sure ‘nough your sister?” and she replies, “At times. At times I think she was -- more.”
    
48. Who is Paul D talking about and what do you think he means when he says, “There are too many things to feel about this woman”? Do you agree with his assessment of her, or do you think she is “simpler”?
    

Chapter 28
49. What is the tone of this final chapter?
50. What is the significance of the line: “This is not a story to pass on.”? Has Beloved left
any trace? Why write a story that should not be passed on? 

47) I think that Denver knows and understands that Beloved was the embodiment of her older sister, but at the same time, I think she believes that Beloved was more than just a vengeful baby. Beloved shows signs of being a spirit and then some. For example, she has divine powers, such as the ability to choke Sethe when Beloved herself is a ways away. I think that Denver recognizes that this spirit has grown into something more and that is what she tells Paul D.

48) Paul D is speaking about Sethe, and how confusing she is to him. I agree with him as long as he is referencing his feelings towards her. Paul D experiences great conflict in his feelings towards Sethe. He wants to build a future, but is afraid of the past. To him, Sethe is the embodiment of many things he wishes to forget, but at the same time, keeps him whole, with his jumbled pieces "put together right again". This emotional conflict can be very confusing for many people, and that is why I think that Paul D is right in his idea that there are "too many things" to feel.

49) The tone of this chapter is educational and peaceful in a way. It also has a sense of a deep hidden hope, the kind of hope you are afraid to let free incase it grows to big it kills you when its broken. 

50) The line "this is not a story to pass on" is directly from Toni Morrison's mouth. It means that Beloved is not a pretty story, it isn't a happy one, and it isn't one you want to share with people. It is there, and it always will be, but that doesn't mean it has to haunt you forever. Beloved has left a trace, maybe not noticeably but her face appears in paintings and sometimes the characters think they hear her voice, because she will always be with them. The pain will fade, the hope will fade, but an ounce of her memory will always be in their hearts.

Toni Morrison writes a story that should not be passed on because while it doesn't need to be told from person to person, it needs to be told. As a political novel, it shoves the idea that sure, freedom has been found, the ordeal is over, but there is still a fight left to fight into peoples faces. It brings out the idea that just because the most horrendous part is over, it will continue to haunt you for the rest of your life and that is just as bad.

Chapter 26 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 26

44. Describe life inside 124 from Denver’s perspective after Sethe figures out who Beloved is. What seems to be happening?
    
45. How are the community of women presented, and how is their relationship to Sethe different now than it was earlier in the novel?
    
46. Compare the climactic scene in this chapter to the first climax in the story. What significance do you see in the similarities and differences? 
    

44) To Denver, life in 124 is ending. It is no longer a life, and like Howard and Buglar came to realize before her, she could not stay. After Sethe realizes who Beloved is, Beloved's existence begins to eat away at her. Sethe becomes later and later to work and is eventually fired, but as the food begins to run low, she gives it up for Beloved. The once adult, mothering statue that was Sethe begins to decay and in her place grows a beautiful, powerful, strong version of Beloved. To Denver, this must look like Beloved is finally killing her mother, the one thing Denver feared second to Beloved leaving her alone.

45) Earlier in the novel, the community is presented as hating on Sethe. They are presented to avoid 124, and treat Sethe and her respective family with disrespect and condescension. When Ella gathers the women, they are presented as a force to be reckoned with. they are not simply 30 some odd women, they are determined and supportive and willing. They are going to get this ghost out of the house and they will stay by Sethe's side if need be. This is greatly contrasted with the original portrayal as they are supportive and not avoiding her.

46) In my opinion, the first great climax in the story is the murder of the the crawling already? baby, or Beloved. This is different because in this time, the community is seen as shying away from 124, thinking them too lucky, and believing they are flaunting their wealth of happiness. In this scene, the community is seen as banding together to rid 124 of the ghost all together in order to save Sethe and Denver, and support them as part of the community.

Chapter 25 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 25
43. How does Stamp Paid try to explain Sethe’s actions to Paul D? Do you agree or disagree with him? Explain. 

43) Stamp Paid tried to explain that Sethe was only trying to "outhurt the hurter". Meaning she wouldn't let schoolteacher at her children, and the only way she knew was to hurt them worse so he wouldn't want them. To Stamp, this was a terrible crime, but an understandable one. I agree with him on the aspect. This is because I believe Schoolteacher and his nephews hurt her so bad, both mentally and physically, that she became convinced that she had no other choice. While scary and awful, what Sethe did does make sense to a degree. I think that Stamp Paid was right to defend her to Paul D , as he cares for the family and he understands how one's love can end at the hands of a white man. This is because Stamp had to give his wife to his old master's son, and when she was given back, he wanted to snap her neck and stop the torture to her soul, and the torture to his. 

Chapter 24 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 24

41. What new information do we learn about the attempted escape from Sweet Home in this chapter?
    
42. “Paul D hears the men talking and for the first time learns his worth. He has always known, or believed he did, his value -- as a hand, a laborer who could make a profit on a farm -- but now he discovers his worth, which is to say he learns his price.” Why is this such an important moment for Paul D? How do you think it affects him to hear “his worth”? 
    
    41. In this chapter we learn more about the fates of the others at Sweet Home. For example, we learn that Sixo was burned alive, but his thirty mile woman escaped, with his child in her womb. Paul D recounts that when Sixo was captured he began to laugh, and Sixo never laughed. Schoolteacher considered him ruined, as he later considered Sethe, they had both "gone wild". While Schoolteacher couldn't kill Sethe he could kill Sixo, and did so by burning him alive. Paul D also mentions that when Sixo was burning, he kept yelling Seven-O, which we then find out is the name of Sixo's soon to be child.
    
    As we also find out, Paul A (one of Paul D's half brothers) and Halle failed to show when they were supposed to. Paul D is dragged back to the farm by schoolteacher and then sees Sethe, who I get the impression was also supposed to show. Paul D thinks that this must have been right before her rape as it is the last time he sees her for 18 years.
    
    42. Hearing one's price is one of the most demeaning things a person can hear. Someone would pay x amount of dollars for this THING. People do not pay money for people. They pay money for people to do specific services- i.e. maids, but do not pay for the entire person. They pay for animals, being traded in such a way is incredibly degrading. He has no value as a human being, he has no value to them in the way he works, as long as he does work. 

To Paul D, this is end of it all, the end of his humanity. The end of him being treated even potentially well, and he is now an animal. I think this breaks him in a way. We know Halle "broke" when he saw Sethe raped, and I believe that when Paul D heard his "worth" he broke. He no longer believed that he could be the human he wanted to be, and lost something in that. He eventually regained his humanity to a degree but he will always be healing that wound.

Chapter 23 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 23
39. Who are the narrators in this chapter? What do they keep repeating?
40. What is the mood in this chapter? Based on the last three chapters, how would you
predict life is changing at 124? 

39) All three women at 124 are speaking in this chapter. Their voices are mixed up in a gentle clamor, probably the one heard by Stamp Paid every time he would go to 124.  They keep repeating "you are mine" over and over. It is a conformation of love, and of family. 

40) The mood in this chapter is more cheerful than any of the others. I found this chapter rather comforting, and I was hoping the women of 124 were also comforted. That they now understood each other and accepted one another. That Beloved loved Sethe too much and Denver was there by her side, that Beloved missed her mother, and that Sethe promised to never leave her again. They all speak about smiles. How Beloved forgot hers, how Sethe kept it for her and how Denver missed it.
I would predict that life is changing for the better at 124. That the crimes have been forgiven, the guilt will always haunt, but it has been forgiven. I think that Denver understands that she is not alone, and that she can make it herself. Beloved understands she is loved, and that its okay to move on to the afterlife. That even if there are men without skin, she is safe because she is loved. With this knowledge I think they have all been freed to go out on their own and move on. Sethe is free to love, Denver is free to be social, and Beloved is free to "cross the rainbow bridge" so to speak.

Chapter 19 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 19
32. Was Stamp Paid right to tell Paul D about Sethe’s past? He argues with himself about it. Give one reason it was a good idea, and one that is was a bad idea. What do you think?
33. Why did Sethe decide she had to run away from Sweet Home? Use a quote from the book to in your explanation.

32) In my opinion, Stamp Paid was right to tell Paul D about Sethe's past. It was Paul D's right to know, and his right to understand why they were locked away in 124 without any friends or anyone left to come back to them. One reason it was a good idea, in Stamp's opinion, is that a man has a right to know what he's getting himself into. Stamp wanted to give something to them, and he thought for a minute that was the way to do it. He then later decides it wasn't best. That if not for Baby Suggs then for Denver, the baby he had saved. The one he had wrapped up and saved from a fate in the river, they baby he fed those sweet sweet blackberries to. He feels a fatherly connection to Denver and later thinks that by accidentally driving Paul D off he has harmed her.

33) In my personal opinion, Sethe's final trigger to get her kids out of sweet home was Mrs. Garner dying and the measuring tape. On page 226, Sethe says "I didn't care nothing about the measuring string... But I didn't care. Schoolteacher'd wrap that string all over my head, 'cross my nose, around my behind. Number my teeth. I thought he was a fool." She then later asks Mrs. Garner about what characteristics are- what schoolteacher told her he was finding. Then, on page 233 she says "Ha ha. NO notebook for my babies and no measuring string either." I think that to her, the measuring string and the questions were the line of being treated like animals, and she wanted her children to escape that.

For Sethe herself, the final trigger of "GET OUT" would be her rape and the nephews stealing her milk. She knew then she couldn't wait for Halle or anyone else and left as soon as she could.

Chapter 22 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 22
36. Who is the narrator in this chapter? Who is she talking about?
37. Describe the style of the narrator’s language this chapter? Why do you think Morrison
made it so difficult to understand?
38. What images does the narrator describe? What do you think she is referring to? 

36) Beloved the child ghost grown up is the narrator in this chapter. She talks about Sethe almost endlessly. She loves Sethe, because she is her mother, but then has a slightly unhealthy obsession with Sethe as her murderer.

37) This chapter is written without punctuation but with spacing. I think that one of the reasons Morrison made Beloved's chapter so hard to read is because she is infantile. She appears as an adult to Paul D, Sethe, and Denver, but also childish and suckling. She is still young and I think that mentally she has a better understanding of the world but she still has an infantile attitude. She has no care for Denver's feelings, and doesn't understand that maybe she should. 

38) The imagery that Beloved uses is very interesting. It is also very undefinitive. As the reader, we can pick out little details to find who she is talking about. She also talks about her time when "dead", when not a ghost. She speaks of lying among flesh and "men without skin". People were trying to leave, leave their bodies behind. 
Beloved then begins speaking about Sethe, and the "iron Circle" around her neck, as well as Sethe's face being hers, the one she lost. 

I think from an external standpoint, the punctuation and writing style support the eery and dark mood of the chapter. Beloved in conversing about her wish to bond with Sethe and what she was missing. She also talks about coming back to a human form, coming out of the water and finding her way to 124. The effect of the horror-esque content and writing is intense for the writer, as well as making it very real.

Chapter 21 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 21
35. Who is the narrator in this chapter? Who is she talking about? How does this narrator feel about Beloved’s return? 

35) Denver is the one speaking in this chapter. The chapter is written as a stream of consciousness from Denver, who is thinking and therefore speaking about Beloved and Sethe. She talks about how she drank Beloved's blood along with her mother's milk and how she knows Beloved is her sister. Denver is excited about Beloved' return. She thinks that perhaps Beloved has also come back to be with her, not just Sethe. To be her sister as the first line says. Maybe even wait for their father to come home, wait until they are safe from Sethe. Who Denver feared death from. She feels hopeful about Beloved's return. That perhaps things will get better. That perhaps Beloved is the love and companionship she is meant to have for her life.

Chapter 20 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 20
34. Who is the narrator in this chapter? Who is she talking to? How does this narrator feel about Beloved’s return?

34) Chapter 20 is written half as a stream of consciousness half as Sethe telling Beloved  a story. Sethe is trying to explain to Beloved how she, as a mother, could kill her own child. Sethe is conflicted by her daughter's return. She is regretful. She is sorry she killed her daughter. She is happy to have her back, to have the opportunity to explain. She doesn't understand why she didn't recognize Beloved immediately. 

Sethe is also thoughtful about how a mother loves. She saw her own mother hanged, but doesn't know why. She thinks perhaps she tried to run, but she ran without Sethe. Sethe would like to believe that she wouldn't dare leave Sethe behind. We do however know that Sethe's mother threw away the half black half white children she had as she didn't want them. Being able to throw one's children away, even if they are the product of rape is an intense emotional detachment. We also know that when Baby Suggs' Husband ran away, he left her, and she would have left him and their children if she had to. This further promotes  the animalistic existence slaves were forced into. All of this leads to Sethe's feelings of hope that perhaps Beloved understands that she didn't abandon her. She was protecting her at all costs.

Chapter 15 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 15
Explain what the following quote refers to, and what its significance is:

25. “Her friends and neighbors were angry at her because she had overstepped, given too
    much, offended them by excess.”
    
26. “And when she stepped foot on free ground she could not believe that Halle knew what
    she didn’t; that Halle, who had never drawn one free breath, knew that there was nothing like it in this world. It scared her.” 
    
    
    25) This quote refers to the day after Baby Sugg's party. She had been bought freedom, brought to 124 by her old master and set up for a life. She offended those around her by her overuse of her good fortune. They felt she was flaunting it in their faces. The community turned against those is 124. The story almost insinuates that the people around 124 could have run and warned Sethe, warned the kids, gotten them to run. But they didn't. Because they were offended by Baby Sugg's excess. She had too much, she got off easy, she didn't deserve it. They felt the women of 124 had gotten too prideful. They watched Sethe go off the deep end, go crazy, come out covered in her child's blood, and wondered if her head was held too high. They didn't feel sorry, they felt resentful of 124's fortune. And that day is the day the people stopped coming to visit 124.

26) This quote is referring to the first time Baby Suggs walked as a free woman. The part of the quote that is the most significant is "It scared her." It scared her that Halle knew something she didn't. Since he was old enough to walk he was working for a white master and had never known anything different. It scared her that he could know it without ever thinking he could do it. It scared her that he would give that much, give up that much for her. Nobody had ever loved her that much before. Freedom also scared her. She didn't know what to do with herself, how to live for herself. She didn't know how to love. How to live, how to survive. It scared her that she was on her own. That is was up to her to stop people from nocking her down. It scared her that she COULD stand up to those trying to knock her down, physically and emotionally. She didn't know what to give, how to share what she had with others. She eventually discovered how, but she didn't just know, and that scared her. It was terrifying for her, but she figured it out, and she lived.

Chapter 18 Journal Entry for Beloved

 Chapter 18

For each of the following quotes, explain:
a. What does it tell us literally about the characters and what they are experiencing?
b. What is significant about the quote? Does it have a deeper meaning than the one it holds in this context? Does it contain any literary devices that make it beautiful or interesting?
30. “So you protected yourself and loved small. ...A woman, a child, a brother -- a big love like that would split you wide open in Alfred, Georgia.”
31. “”You got two feet, Sethe, not four,” he said, and right then a forest sprang up between them; trackless and quiet.” 


30) a. Paul D is remembering his time in Alfred, Georgia in the chain gang. How you couldn't love anything "so big", meaning you couldn't give away that much of yourself because it was guaranteed to end in pain. You couldn't invest yourself emotionally to such a degree.

b. This quote is representative of the emotional destruction many if not all slaves face. Later in the chapter, and in the book, Paul D begins to run away from feelings. He has been for so long. When he finds out everything about Sethe, he begins to think about running again. I think it is interesting that he refers to it as "loved small", and "a big love like that".

31) a. In a physical sense, Paul D and Sethe are having a conversation about when Sethe killed Beloved and tried to kill her sons. The "forest" in the quote refers to their emotional states. A forest is quite, dark, and empty. They didn't have forests at sweet home, but when Sethe and the others left, the was a literal forest separating them. When Paul D appeared at 124, that forest disappeared, they were both ready to begin feeling for each other. When Paul D makes this comment, an emotional forest is born. They are separated now, and its not a forest or a wall either of them can cut down again.

b. This quote is significant to the story because it signals the end of Paul D's and Sethe's relationship. Not only their relationship but their friendship, their familiarity. This will probably cause Paul D to leave 124 and not return. What Paul D says "You got two feet, Sethe, not four," he is calling her an animal. He is telling her that she has caved to the slave life and is no better than a dog, not even a prime hunting dog, but a cur off the street, begging for scraps. This creates a deeper meaning in the chapter, because an animal is something white treated black slaves as, too often, and something a slave could never afford to stoop to without losing their humanity. This was one of the worst things a black could do, no matter what happened to them. They were gone, they were shunned from the only community that accepted them.

Chapter 17 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 17
29. Imagine you are Paul D walking home from talking to Stamp Paid. What have you just found out? What are your feelings towards Sethe? Will you talk to her? If so, what will you say? 

That woman ain't Sethe. Not the Sethe I know. Her eyes got all wrong and there a wildness there. How could she kill her children? Weren't they worth everything to her? aint they worth everything to any mother whose still got them? Do I tell her I know? Do I ask why? she gonna see it in my eyes. No sane woman not gone wild murders her kids to get away from slave catchers. I gotta know how. I gotta know why. Cause no sane woman gonna do that. How could she. I'll lead up  real slow, we gonna go on a walk, a nice slow one. She gonna see it in my eyes and she gon know. and i ask why if I gotta but I bet she gonna tell me. 

My interpretation of Paul D's thoughts and feelings as he is walking home from talking with Stamp Paid is that he understands but he's not sure if he believes. He is confused, the Sethe he knows is a quiet young girl that is an attachment to Halle. He thinks she is weak, that she doesn't have anyone to help her get out of her house. However, he understands that Stamp is telling the truth. You don't bad mouth a neighbor or friend like that without a very good cause- meaning its the truth and Paul D deserves to know if he is going to stay. I believe that will be written all over his face by the time he gets home to Sethe and the girls.

Chapter 16 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 16

27. Who thinks this to himself? “But now she’d gone wild, due to the mishandling of the nephew who’d overbeat her and made her run.”
28. What is he talking about? Do you agree with him?

27) This quote is of the schoolteacher's inner monologue.

28) He is talking about Sethe, how she'd "gone wild", gone back to her "true" animalistic state, how she was now a beast you couldn't ever trust again. He refers to when his nephew beat her, beat the sanity, the humanity almost, out of her. He references the hunting dogs and the horse, how if you beat them like the nephew beat Sethe they would "go wild". They would turn on you in a heartbeat just because they felt like it. How you could no longer have a lick of trust for that animal, or in this case person- even though schoolteacher doesn't agree. 

I agree with him in some ways. I think that she's lost some of her mental sanctity and her understanding of better or worse due to her treatment by schoolteacher and his nephews.  I think that in a sense she has "gone wild". She is going to do whatever she needs to in order to protect her babies from this terrible evil- the evil she knows. Beyond that, I disagree with him. Sethe is not an animal. Nothing should ever be beaten, human or animal so that makes all his actions atrocious. Also, Sethe didn't run because the nephew beat her. Sethe ran because she knew no worse situation to be in, and wanted out, she wanted her babies out. Schoolteacher is generally mistaken when it comes to blacks and Sethe in particular.

Chapter 14 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 14
24. What is starting to happen to Beloved? Why do you think she cries? 

24) I believe that Beloved is starting to come apart at her seams. I believe she is reverting back to her ghostly, body-less form. I think she cried because all she really wants is to stay and to keep Sethe there to complete her. She feels that without Sethe's full attention she isn't fully complete and will truly begin to break apart and return to the land beyond the living that holds no meaning for her.  I also believe that she cries because she wants to feel whole, and right now, Sethe is the only thing that can make her feel that way.

Chapter 13 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 13
23. How is Paul D’s problem sleeping in the house solved? What predictions can you make about the future of the conflict between Paul D and Beloved? 

23) Paul D's problem of where to sleep (in the house or in the cold house) is solved by Sethe deciding he is going to come back and sleep in her bed. She says "You come upstairs. Where you belong, ... and stay there." For Paul D, this solves the problem because Sethe is his defense against Beloved, and her stating he belongs in her bed, sleeping with her, having sex with her, reinforces him against Beloved's "malice". I believe that this change in sleeping location, as well as Beloved's new inability to have him dream (or not dream) of having sex with her will cause more strife within the household. Beloved is now more likely to be more bold, more daring, and more cruel to all of them because she has been thwarted and spited once again. I think that eventually Beloved will drive Paul D out of the house, and be more vengeful than she would have been originally.

Chapter 12 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 12
22. Write a journal entry as Denver, explaining how you feel about Beloved. What are you afraid she will do? How does she make you happy?

I love that look. I know it dangerous for anyone to love anything cause it sure be gone soon but I love that look. It make me feel like she love me back. Its gotta be somethin with the curious-ness in her eyes. It make me happy when she look at me with that look and it aint at mama. Course Mama aint home but she still gotta love somebody when Mama aint here. I sure am 'fraid she gonna leave though. One day she gotta up and leave and aint gonna come back. then there won't be nobody who gonna look at me with that look like i somethin new. I aint new. I aint new for nobody. Or she gonna take Mama with her. What i gotta do then. I don't know how to do nothin cept for a few of my letters. I can't be here 'lone without mama or beloved. God only knows where Paul D will go but who matters bout that. I love that look. That look my happy feel-wanted place. I don't want her to leave and i sure don't want Mama join with her.

Chapter 11 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 11
20. Explain the significance of the quote: “She moved him.”
21. What’s your interpretation of the strange final scene in this chapter in which Beloved tells
Paul D, “touch me on my inside part and call me by my name.”

20) This quote is referring to when Beloved came to Paul D in the shed.  She "moved" him emotionally. It creates a bond between Beloved and Paul D, one he cannot resist. In this instance, it does not matter whether Beloved is real or not. Whether they actually have sex or not. What matters is what Paul D believes and feels. "She moved him" is a statement about his feelings and his person. When Paul D "falls for it" so to speak, he breaks a bond he is forming with Sethe and forms it with Beloved, something he doesn't want to occur. This is significant because with that bond he is being pushed away, out of the house, encouraged to leave by his own heart and Beloved.

21) I think Beloved is willing to do whatever is necessary to get Paul D out of the house. In this case I  think that she is willing to revert back to part of her ghost state and force Paul D to believe he has sex with her. I believe that by telling Paul D to call her by her name, she is breaking bonds he originally felt towards Sethe. I also think that by getting him to at the very least believe he is having sex with her, she gets him to unleash feelings he thought he had locked away forever. A very dangerous thing for an ex-slave, as Paul D has once said already.

Chapter 10 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 10
18. In what ways does this chapter increase our understanding of and empathy for Paul D? 
19. Why does Morrison compare Paul D’s heart to a “tobacco tin lodged in his chest”? What
does this metaphor tell us about his emotions?

 18) This chapter helps us understand how terrible Paul D's mental state must once have been. It forces the reader to feel empathy for all the things he has been through. Because we know the horrendous animal-like, lower-than-dirt treatment Paul D has been through it helps us understand why he is so afraid of things like love and settling down.

19) When tobacco tins rust, they rust around their seal- making them near to impossible to open. I believe that Toni Morrison compared Paul D's heart to a tobacco tin because he has hidden and locked away all his feelings and refuses to accept them in such a way to affect him. As  metaphor it tells us Paul D is extremely emotionally unavailable. That he is afraid of hope and love and doesn't trust himself with it, or with giving any part of himself to another.

Chapter 9 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 9
16. Why does Sethe go to the Clearing?
17. What do you make of the choking scene and its significance.

16) Sethe goes to the Clearing to recenter herself and reconnect with Baby Suggs. She is very stressed and hasn't been able to relieve that tension for years without Baby, and she thinks the clearing will help her with that. She brings the girls along so they can also feel the "remembering" there.

17) I think that Beloved wants Sethe to feel the same terror she did. I think its important that she fixes it as well, because she wants Sethe to know how much Beloved loves her and wants Sethe to love her back. It is significant because it makes Denver actually angry at Beloved, instead of just a disappointed lonely, hurt feeling towards her. I think it is also significant because it tells Denver and the reader just how dangerous Beloved really is. 

Chapter 8 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 8
14. Who does Denver think Beloved is? How does she feel about it?
15. Why do you think both girls are so interested in the story of Denver’s birth?

14) Denver thinks Beloved is Beloved. She thinks that she is the grown up ghost of the baby she's spent her entire life with, usually as her only companionship. She is happy this ghost has finally "come to life" so to speak, but is also apprehensive of how the others will react, so she tells Beloved to keep it a secret. She wants Beloved to stay but is also jealous of how obsessed she is with Sethe.

15)Denver is interested in the story of her birth because it is one of the good stories that involves her. Denver hasn't had much of a happy Sethe, because within a month after she was born things at 124 went south. Beloved is interested in the story because it represents a connection between Denver and Sethe that doesn't involve her- something she doesn't feel great about. She also is intrigued because it involves Sethe coming home to her, something that is important to Beloved.

Chapter 7 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 7

12. Explain what information the following quote provides about both characters: “Beloved was shining and Paul D didn’t like it.” Make a prediction about what will happen in the future based on the events between them in this chapter.
    
13. What new information do we learn about Sweet Home in this chapter? What information can you guess at which is not clearly revealed?
    
    
    
    
    12) Paul D is referring to Beloved coming into her sexuality and her mature body. I predict that Paul D will begin to fantasize about her and possibly even have sex with her later in the book. It seems like the conniving sort of thing Beloved would use to get Paul D out of the house.
    
    13) We learn that Halle saw what happened to Sethe when the Schoolteacher's boys raped her and "milked" her. We also learn that as a punishment for something, Schoolteacher forced Paul D to wear an iron bit in his mouth- a sort of gag for humans. It is generally used for horses to give them tactile direction- but on humans it gags them and makes them feel like animals.
    

Chapter 6 Journal Entry for Beloved

Chapter 6
11. What does Sethe remember about her mother? Why does it upset her to remember? Why do you think Beloved keeps asking her questions?

Sethe remembers how her mother showed her the scar left over from when she was branded, and tells Sethe it is how she can identify her once she's dead. Sethe then begins to remember how her mother was hanged, and how when Sethe tried to run to her to check for "the mark" another woman held her back, so she never knew for sure it was her mother. She is understandably upset to remember her mother's murder, and how she couldn't find the mark in time. I believe Beloved keeps asking questions because  she wants to know everything she possibly can about Sethe, her mother. She wants to know the things and the stories she missed by not growing up with her. 

Chapter 5 Beloved Journal

Chapter 5
9. Describe the woman who walks out of the water. Who do you think she is? Explain. 
10. Explain who is being discussed in the following quote, and why you think it is
significant: “If there had been an open latch between them it would have closed.”

 9) The woman who walks out of the water is probably in her early twenties. She is fully clothed with young skin. She has a lace collar on her dress and a rich woman's hat. She also has  fine scratches across her forehead. Her hair is black, and her neck thin. I believe she is the ghost of Beloved, come back to the family. He appearance fits that of the family, and the age fits that of the age the baby would be. Also, she climbed fully clothed out of the river, having come from nowhere anyone knew of. 

Beyond this- She knows things about the family and calls herself beloved. She must be the ghost.

10) Denver and Paul D are both being discussed in this quote. It refers to when Denver [probably] lied to her mother when Paul D was telling her how Beloved lifted a rocking chair with one hand, while [possibly pretending to be] sick. I think the reason Denver said no is because she doesn't want Beloved to go. She also thinks Paul D is spiting her (Denver) by spiting Beloved. This quote signifies any hope there might have been for a relationship (at least a positive one) between Paul D and Denver.

Chapter 4 Beloved Journals

a. What does it tell us literally about the characters and what they are experiencing?
b. What is significant about the quote? Does it have a deeper meaning than the one it holds in this context? Does it contain any literary devices that make it beautiful or interesting?

7. “Risky, thought Paul D, very risky. For a used-to-be-slave woman to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love. The best thing, he knew, was to love just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe you’d have enough love left over for the next one.”
   
8. “They were not holding hands, but their shadows were.” 
   
   
   
   
   7a) Paul D is remembering what it was like to love anything as a slave. 
   7b) This quote lends an ear to slave life and how terrible it was both physically and emotionally. Often, a woman would have her children taken and sold without any idea of a goodbye. To love something was to kill it. Love couldn't survive in a slaves world and they often lived without it. And died without it to. Paul D is remembering how it was easier to only love anything just a little bit. So when it died or was taken away you wouldn't be left completely broken. There is minimal rhyming along the "broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack" line, which serves to draw the reader further into the line.
   
   8a) This quote tells ids, quite directly, the three shadows of Paul D, Denver, and Sethe had their hands overlapping, making it look like they were holding hands, while each of the three people were separated.
   8b) After watching their shadows, Sethe begins to believe that perhaps they can all have a happy life together.  It symbolizes a hope Sethe begins to have, and maybe Paul D too. It also supports the concept expressed in the earlier quote- Is it safe to love these people? The shadows would say yes, but is it really safe?