Keeping the Past at Bay Sethe is a character that has had to deal with trauma. Besides being a former slave, she has faced the disappearance of her husband and the loss of three out of her four children. Her youngest, Denver, is the only one who has lived with Sethe from birth to adulthood. Even though Denver has spent the most time with Sethe, there is still unrooted tension between them. This is rare for slaves, because most slave children were either killed or sold. The tension between Sethe and Denver starts after Beloved’s murder, becomes greater when Beloved shows up, but then subsides right before Beloved’s departure. Denver was only a baby after …show more content…
Beloved’s arrival is good for Denver in the beginning because it gives them a chance to act like sisters. “She had never seen Beloved this happy. She had seen her pouty lips open wide with the pleasure of sugar or some piece of news Denver gave her.” (87) Denver enjoys telling the story of her birth, but is jealous when Sethe tells other stories. Denver later gets angry because the other stories have nothing to do with her. Denver also does not want Beloved to tell Sethe her true identity. The idea of Sethe and Beloved becoming closer as mother and daughter is something that Denver would not like. The current relationship between Denver and her mother is more of 2 women than mother-daughter. Denver saw herself and Beloved as equals, until she saw that Beloved was trying act like Sethe’s daughter. Eventually, Beloved starts to drain the life out of Sethe and it is up to Denver to help her …show more content…
Beloved is now pregnant, while Sethe grows more frail by the day. Denver feels she cannot just let her mother suffer, so she decides to get help. The only person she feels she can turn to is Lady Jones, who helped her once before. Seeing this role reversal makes Denver feel bad for her mother. She realizes Sethe has sacrificed so much for the family, and it is time for her to step in. Beloved finally disappears into thin air and it is back to the same dynamic at the beginning with some differences. Beloved fades into both of their memories, and Denver realizes she cannot feel anger towards her mother any longer. “In the place where the long grass opens, the girl who waited to be loved and cry shame erupts into her separate parts, to make it easy for the chewing laughter to her all away. It was not a story to pass on.” (323) It was not a story to be told again because the memories of it were too painful. Denver and Sethe now have other things to worry about, such Denver’s work and the state of