Characters
This character is punched by Ella.
Who is Sethe
This theme, revolving around life and growth, is often seen by the white characters of the novel.
What are trees
Who is the "she" Beloved refers to in the following quote: "She is the one. She is the one I need. You can go but she is the one I have to have." (pg. 89)
Who is Sethe
Which characters say, "You are mine" ?
Who are Sethe, Denver, and Beloved?
The main section of the novel takes place in the aftermath of this war.
What is the Civil War
This character takes on the appearance of a pregnant woman towards the end of the novel.
Who is Beloved
This theme physically and metaphorically subsumes Sethe and Beloved, in stark contrast to its lack in Baby Sugg's life.
What is color?
Who is Beloved speaking to when she says, "I want you to touch me on the inside part and call me my name." (pg. 137)
Who is Paul D.
The quote "You are your best thing" is said by this character to this character.
Who are Paul D and Sethe
This 1865 legislation saw the end of slavery across the entirety of the United States.
What is the 13th Amendment
This character supports Denver as she leaves 124.
Who is Baby Suggs
While anyone could call 124 a house, some, like Denver, might struggle to call it this.
What is a home
Who might the "dead people" Beloved speaks about be?
Who are the oppressed
This is what Sethe uses to justify her decision to kill Beloved.
What is love?
These types of laws allowed for the recapture of slaves and serve as a great fear for Sethe throughout the novel.
What are Fugitive Slave Laws
This character emphasizes that the past should stay in the past in reference to Sethe's infanticide as they sympathize with her, having also left a child to die.
Who is Ella
This was the weapon of choice for the thirty women who came to 124 to fight Beloved.
What is faith
This is the phrase Beloved constantly uses to refer to herself.
What is "I am Beloved"
This line is repeated in the final untitled epilogue of the novel and connects to the loss pervasive throughout it.
What is "It/This is not a story to pass on."
This organization, which persists to the modern day, is mentioned repeatedly throughout the novel.
What is the KKK
This character is mistaken for schoolteacher by Sethe, who attempts to kill them.
Who is Mr. Bodwin
This theme appears with every character in the novel, and, in the last pages, even with the story of the novel itself.
What is loss
This three-word phrase occurs 10 times in the chapter that begins on page 148.
What is "a hot thing"
The quote "At Yo' Service" is connected to this that Denver encounters as she ventures outside of the 124.
What is the statue of a slave holding coins
This 1808 legislation influenced and pressured slaveholders to "breed" their slaves in order to keep up a stable population.
What is the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves