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.