The Opening Chapter Of Beloved, By Toni Morrison

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Within the first few chapters of the book Beloved, written by Toni Morrison, the reader has a good understanding of the characters and the setting. Sethe is a former slave who worked on a plantation with five other men. She married one of the men, Halle, who disappears years after they are married. Both of her boys leave her around the age of thirteen and she currently lives with her daughter Denver in a house that is haunted by her other unnamed daughter who dies at a very young age. Sethe is only allowed to place ten letters on her daughter’s tombstone, so instead of writing dearly Beloved she only writes Beloved.

Recently, one of the men from the plantation, Paul D, comes to visit Sethe. The two talk about times on the plantation and share

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