Baby's Spirit In Beloved, By Toni Morrison

When I first started reading the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, I was confused about the family history and dynamic. With time, I began to understand the importance that something seemed cursed about 124, a name they gave their family house. It was also originally difficult for me to comprehend which character did what. For example, when Morrison writes, “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom” (Morrison, 1), it was unclear whether the word “baby’s” was referring to a baby, or to a recently dead grandmother, Baby Sugg. Furthermore, soon after it became apparent to me that the house was haunted by a baby, the author briefly describes the life and death of the grandmother, Baby Sugg. This timing made me think that the deceased grandmother was the same female person as the spirit haunting 124. However, when Denver says, “for a baby she throws a powerful spell,” the author clarifies that the characters must have been talking about an actual dead baby; the grandmother was still very much alive, albeit on her deathbed. My realization, however, led me to question why a female baby’s spirit would be haunting the house, it being an unlikely “boogie man” at not yet two-years-old. Was the baby, Beloved, upset that she was unnamed by her parents hence, perhaps giving herself the …show more content…
However, I once again found myself confused when Sethe began crying to Paul D about the death of her daughter, “the one I sent ahead with the boys” (Morrison, 11). I was baffled by Sethe’s statement because I got the sense from the previous page that Sethe ran away while pregnated with a daughter. How many daughters had Sethe given birth to, and to which daughter was she referring? It was difficult for me to know if Sethe was talking about the same female baby that haunted her house, or a different female child who may have