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The characters in Toni Morrison’s novel undergo various changes throughout the novel. Each change is directly linked to the love and need to possess something, usually Beloved, in the novel. The protagonist of the novel, Sethe, starts as a proud and independent woman who has escaped slavery and is now living in a sort of freedom with her youngest child. As a result of slavery, Sethe barely knew her mother, as a result, Sethe’s motherly instinct became her most prominent characteristic.
Unwilling to surrender her children to the physical, emotional, and sexual trauma she endured as a slave at Sweet Home, she attempts to murder them in an act of motherly love and protection. She manages to succeed in killing her daughter and this action later causes the later events of the novel to unfold. When Beloved returns, the readers can see the change in Sethe’s character. No longer a proud and independent woman but a woman who will give up everything to possess the daughter she lost years ago. Her intense desire to possess her daughter and to keep her close leaves Sethe incomplete and almost completely drained after the exorcism takes Beloved away.
Denver, the youngest child in the family, is the most dynamic character. At the beginning of the novel, the readers can see that Denver is smart, sensitive, and introspective but is emotionally stunted due to the years of isolation and caring for her mother. Beloved’s return sparks a change in her. Denver wants to possess her sister who once lived in the house but disappeared when Paul D arrived. Her sister’s increasing malevolence and her parasitic relationship with their mother forces Denver to overcome her fear of the world and she decides to seek help from the community. Thanks to Beloved, Denver has freed herself from not only her sister but from the fear that kept her caged in 124 for her entire life.
The final character is Beloved herself. It can be argued by many that Beloved represents the inescapable, horrible past of slavery returned to haunt the present. Her presence, which grows increasingly malevolent and parasitic as the novel progresses, ultimately catalyzes Sethe’s and Denver’s respective processes of emotional growth. Beloved wants to possess her mother since she never had a mother. This need to possess Sethe leads to feelings of anger and jealousy towards Paul D, who she feels has replaced her.
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