Study Questions

1. Why had Sethe stuttered until she met Halle?

2. How had Denver drunk her sister’s blood?

3. Why had Denver kept pretending to love Sethe?

4. How had Halle tried to make his mother more comfortable?

5. How had Baby Suggs viewed Denver?

6. Why had the “men without skins” given the Negroes their urine?

7. How was Beloved able to find the house?

8. What does Beloved admit to Sethe?

9. What warning does Denver give Beloved?

10. What accusation does Beloved make of Sethe?

Answers

1. Sethe stuttered until she met Halle as a result of having seen her mother’s body when she was lynched. Sethe wanted to look for the brand underneath her mother’s breast, but Nan had pulled her away.

2. Denver drank her sister’s blood directly after Sethe murdered Beloved, whose blood covered Sethe. In order to get Beloved’s body from Sethe, Baby Suggs had told her it was time to nurse Denver and that they needed to trade children. Sethe had refused to clean herself first, so Denver ended up suckling Beloved’s blood, which was on Sethe’s nipple, along with Sethe’s milk.

3. Denver kept pretending to love Sethe because she was terrified Sethe would murder her, too. She had nightmares about it and her brothers had repeatedly given her ways to kill Sethe if she had to after they left.

4. Halle tried to make his mother more comfortable by devising a pulley for her to use to raise herself off the floor after sleeping and made a step for her so that her body would be level when she was standing.

5. Baby Suggs viewed Denver as charmed since she had been saved when her sister was murdered and her brothers almost murdered.

6. The “men without skins”—white people—had given the Negroes their urine because there was no water. The Negroes had so little water in their bodies that they could neither cry nor urinate and would surely die if their water levels were not replenished.

7. Beloved was able to find the house because Sethe told her where it was.

8. Beloved admits to Sethe that she is, indeed, the spirit of Beloved, come back to life in this body.

9. Denver warns Beloved to beware of loving Sethe too much because she can give Beloved nightmares.

10. Beloved accuses Sethe of letting one of the “men without skin” hurt her.