Although slavery in the United States no longer exists in the twenty first century, American society and African American culture remains embedded by the grievances and devastation that resulted from slavery. Similarly, Sethe, a fugitive slave, who lives in the free state of Ohio, is relentlessly plagued by her experiences as a slave in the past. Each of the slaves and descendents of slaves have legitimate stories of loss and oppression, but Sethe’s struggle with the past is particularly violent and traumatic. Sethe survives from committing infanticide, and eighteen years later she has no plans for the future (41) and is consumed by repressing her past. Beloved’s narration fluctuates between characters in the the first and third person, but
