Beloved by Toni Morrison | Symbols

Kristen Over, Associate Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, provides an in-depth summary and analysis of Toni Morrison's famous novel Beloved.

Toni Morrison's Beloved, first published in 1987, tells the story of Sethe, an escaped slave. Tragically, Sethe murdered her own infant daughter rather than allow the child to grow up in slavery. This terrible past returns to haunt Sethe's home and family in the form of Beloved, a ghost that is central to all the events in the story.

In the novel, we encounter characters such as Baby Suggs, Paul D, Denver, and of course Beloved, whom we learn about in relation to Sethe, the protagonist. Themes such as identity, guilt, and past vs present are all explored in an unforgettable plot. It is a vital, haunting work in modern African-American literature that raised important, unanswered questions about America's history and culture.

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