This psychoanalytic criticism summarizes the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, which is based on the true story of Margaret Garner, a runaway slave who killed one of her children to prevent their return to slavery. It describes the main characters Sethe and her daughter Denver, who are haunted by the ghost of Sethe's baby daughter who she killed. Years later, the ghost appears to take human form as a young woman named Beloved. Though initially vulnerable, Beloved proves to be powerful and malicious, destroying Sethe and Denver until the community intervenes to exorcise the ghost.

1. Psychoanalytic Criticism

2. Novel :
Beloved by
Toni Morrison

3. Based on a true story…..
• back in 1856 a runaway slave named
Margaret Garner killed one of her kids—a
two-year-old girl—with a butcher knife, in
order to keep her away from slave catchers.
• She would have killed her other children and
herself, too, but she was caught before she
could complete the deed.

4. Summary
• In 1873, Sethe and her daughter Denver live in 124, a
house in a rural area close to Cincinatti.
• They are ostracized from the community for Sethe's
past and her pride.
• After her escape to Cincinnati with her four children,
Sethe was eventually tracked down by her old master.
• Rather than having her children return to slavery, she
attempted to kill all of them, succeeding only in killing
her baby girl.

5. • Rejected then by her master, who saw she was no longer fit
to serve, Sethe was saved from being hung and was
released.
• Eighteen years have passed since Sethe escaped from
slavery.
• She lived with her remaining children and her mother-in-law
• The ghost of the dead baby began to haunt their house.
• Years later, Sethe and her daughter remained living
together.
• In 1873, two visitors come into their lives. The first is Paul
D, a man who was a slave with Sethe back at Sweet Home.

6. • The second visitor is a girl named Beloved.
• It gradually becomes clear that she is the
ghost of the dead baby come back to life, at
the age that the baby would have been had it
lived.
• Awkward, unable to speak like an adult, and
dressed in strange clothes, Beloved seems
vulnerable at first but proves to be powerful
and malicious.

7. • Beloved seems vulnerable at first but proves
to be powerful and malicious.
• Her purposes initially seem benign and are
never fully understood, but by the end of the
novel her presence is deeply destructive for
Sethe and Denver.
• Paul D eventually leaves when he learns that
Sethe murdered her own child.

8. • Sethe, on discovering Beloved's identity, believes
she has been given a second chance.
• She tries to make amends for the past, but the
girl's needs are devouring. The ghost does not
forgive Sethe for her actions.
• Denver is forced to go to the community for help.
• A group of women, led by Ella, a former agent of
the Underground Railroad, go to 124 to exorcise
Beloved's ghost.

9. • The ghost is forced to leave, but Sethe's spirit
has been nearly broken.
• Paul D returns to her, vowing to help Sethe
heal herself.
• Denver, Paul D, and Sethe will build a new life,
one in which they learn to deal with their
painful past while focusing on the future.

10. Psychological impact of slavery
• Because of the experiences of slavery, most
slaves repressed these memories in an
attempt to forget the past.
• Beloved deals exclusively with the distorted
love of a mother for her child under the
oppression of slavery

11. • http://www.lsj.org/web/literature/toni_morri
son.php

12. References
• http://www.shmoop.com/beloved/