Beloved | Beloved

At a glance:

Author: Chloe Anthony Wofford
First Published: 1987
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Psychological realism
Time of Work: Late nineteenth century
Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Ghost story
Subjects: African Americans, Family or family life, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Memory, Mothers, Parents and children, Racism, Blacks, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, Gender roles, Supernatural, Escapes, Nineteenth century, Slavery or slaves, Abandoned children, Exorcism, Ghosts or apparitions, Guilt, Middle Passage, Midwest, Ohio, Underground railroad, Yards or backyards
Locales: Kentucky, Ohio

*Ohio River. River separating the slave and free states that Sethe crosses while fleeing from Kentucky to Ohio. She gives birth to Beloved as she crosses the river. Years later, the child reappears to Sethe in mortal form along a riverbank. Toni Morrison’s choice of the Ohio River for these events is significant. One of America’s major maritime shipping routes, the Ohio extends from the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and flows for nearly one thousand miles before joining the Mississippi River at Cairo,...

Beloved | Beloved

At a glance:

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