Beloved is the story of a young black womans escape from slavery in the nineteenth century, and the process of adjusting to a life of freedom. Most peopleassociate slavery with shackles, chains, and back breaking work. What they donot realize is the impact of the psychological and emotional bondage of slavery. Inorder for a slave to be truly free, they had to escape physically first, and once thatwas accomplished they had to confront the horror of their actions and the memoriesthat a life in chains had left behind. For Sethe, slavery is not over, at least not inher mind, and beloved serves as a form of therapy by drawing out the painfulmemories and giving Sethe a second chance to right her wrongs. During the last few days at Sweet home, Sethe was made to suffer more thanany human being should have to. She and her husband Halle had decided to taketheir three children and flee to Ohio, Where Halles mother, Baby Suggs lived. Onthe day they were to leave, Halle was nowhere to be found. Sethe decided to waitfor him and sent the children ahead by themselves. Before she could find Halle andescape, the caretaker of Sweet home, a man they called School teacher, allowedhis two sons to take Sethe into the barn, hold her down and suck the milk from herbreasts. Sethe told Mrs. Garner, the lady of the house, hoping that somethingwould be done, but when the boys found out they whipped her back so badly it wasalmost completely opened up. To make matters worse, Sethe was pregnant withher fourth child. She decided that she couldnt wait for Halle any longer and fled byherself. After running for a number of miles, Sethes feet could carry her no furtherand she fell to the ground, unable to move. She most likely would have died orbeen recaptured if it had not been for a white woman named Amy Denver. Amywas on her way to Boston to buy velvet. She tells Sethe that if she doesnt move toa safer spot she is liable to get bi...
