Beloved’s statement “I will not lose her again. She is mine,” reflects her demanding nature over Sethe throughout Toni Morisson’s Beloved (254). In the beginning of the novel, Sethe welcomes Beloved into her house and cares for her, yet Beloved always continues request more. These demands seem to take control of Sethe’s mind and attention, and ultimately drive Sethe to crazed and deathly conditions. Nonetheless, there are many interpretations regarding why this occurs. The two main debated parts of these interpretations address who this figure is and what her purpose is in coming to Sethe’s house. One explanation is that she is a real person, perhaps a runaway slave that never had the chance to learn to speak or properly interact. Another idea …show more content…
Sethe invites Beloved into her home, and subsequently, Beloved never leaves her side. Beloved’s nature resembles that of a baby, precisely Sethe’s dead baby, though her stature resembles that of a woman, one of about the age that Sethe’s dead baby would be presently. Beloved requires Sethe’s attention and even drives herself between Sethe and Paul D in order to get the attention that she would have received as a child had she stayed alive. **TENSE In the novel, whenever Sethe tried to assert her dominance over Beloved or denied her from anything, Beloved “slammed things, wiped the table clean of plates, threw salt on the floor, broke a windowpane” (285). Additionally, Beloved wears a scar beneath her chin, resembling that which Sethe’s baby has from the saw, and hums a tune that Sethe made up and has only sung to her children. This makes Sethe conclude that Beloved is a representation of her dead child. Once she makes this assumption, Sethe allows Beloved to compel her into a situation in which she has no more to give. Even at this point Beloved desires more, eventually driving Sethe to a point where Denver feels hopeless of ever having her mother back. Sethe sees her dead child in Beloved and strives to please Beloved in order to minimize her own shamefulness over killing her child. Beloved’s presence …show more content…
First, Beloved appears at a time when Paul D’s arrival reminds Sethe of her years in slavery. Sethe may be imagining Beloved’s presence to relieve herself of these past emotions that she has tried to suppress. In Fight Club, the narrator begins imagining Durden when he is at a breaking point of despondency and unhappiness. He, too, may imagine Durden as a way to exhibit the actions that would clear his despair. In addition, both puzzling characters propel the characters they haunt to detrimental points. Sethe becomes very skinny and her mind’s ability deteriorates because she is only focusing on and feeding Beloved. The narrator in Fight Club ends up shooting himself when he thinks he is killing Durden. However, by these occasions, Sethe and the narrator have both made significant achievements in their lives: Sethe has allowed herself to address the act she carried out on her child in the past and the narrator has allowed himself to live a lifestyle different than the expected lifestyle of a middle-aged man. In the eventual disappearances of Beloved and Durden, both main characters find themselves freed; they find themselves freed of shame and memories and freed of being tied down by societal and emotional