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.