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In the second half of the novel, the readers can see a desire in the main characters to possess and lay claim to Beloved upon her emergence from the river. This desire is not surprising to the readers since learn early on in the novel that Sethe has had and lost Beloved and that being a slave prevented individuals from being able to possess something and claim it as their own. So, being able to “possess” Beloved is integral to Sethe and vice versa for Beloved. Sethe mostly focuses on her desire to be a mother she was never able to be for her Beloved.
Being a good mother is important to Sethe since many slaves were separated from their families and were sold off and these events result in her being afraid and it leaves her thinking that she is unable to be the best mother for her children. Before escaping Sweet Home, Sethe was never able to claim anything as her own. Her marriage to Halle and having her children is the first chance that Sethe can finally claim something as her own. Having a family of hers leads to her needing to protect it when she finally gets Beloved back. This changes after Halle’s death and Sethe’s escape from Sweet Home. When she arrives at 124, she and her children enjoy their newfound freedom before the harsh reality of her past comes back to haunt Sethe. To spare her children, Sethe commits the ultimate sin, and kills one of her children, to prevent her from becoming a slave like Halle and herself. As a result of Beloved being taken from Sethe at an early age, her reappearance at 124 several years later prompts Sethe to take a protective claim over her daughter.
Sethe states “Beloved, she is my daughter. She is mine” (Pg.230) which demonstrates that her love for Beloved is different than her love for her other daughter Denver. This could be the result of when she had and then lost Beloved. Upon her daughter’s return, Sethe shows more of a protective, possessive type of love towards Beloved. The relationship between Sethe and Beloved is a dependent, almost parasitic one that concludes in Sethe’s deterioration. Throughout the novel, Sethe is blind to this, since she desires to possess Beloved even if this means that she must forfeit her well-being to achieve this. This type of possessive love that Sethe displays is the result of Sethe eagerly wanting to possess something that she had lost and Sethe exhibits this type of love that is unlike the love she showed to Denver. Sethe latches on to Beloved and will do anything that Beloved wants her to to keep her. Beloved’s presence allows Sethe to see and enjoy these things, and Morrison writes, “Because you mine and I have to show you these things and teach you what a mother should” (222). Sethe not only wants to call Beloved “hers”, but she also shows her daughter a compensatory type of love that she has never needed to show her other children to make up for her actions that took her daughter’s life.
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