Beloved Characters Analysis
Sethe - She is an ex-slave of Sweet Home, and faces untold brutality at the hands of the Schoolteacher and his nephews. Sethe organizes the escape of herself and her children without the help of her husband. She eventually reaches house 124, with the newly born Denver, but this freedom is short-lived. Schoolteacher arrives at 124 to take her back, but Sethe decides that she would rather kill her children than have them grow up as slaves, and so she kills her baby. She is then haunted by the ghost of the child until it arrives in 124 in the form of a mysterious woman called Beloved.
Denver - She is Sethe's youngest child, and is born during Sethe's escape from Sweet Home. Sethe names Denver after a white indentured slave who helps her deliver Denver, and gives her refuge as she is fleeing from the plantation. Denver grows up in fear of her mother, as she believes that her mother will one day kill her just like she had killed Denver's sister. She feels extremely alone after her brothers flee from the house due to the ghost, and welcomes the presence of Beloved. Denver bravely rescues her mother from Beloved, when she realizes that Sethe is failing due to her obsession with Beloved.
Paul D - He is a former slave from Sweet Home, and has known Sethe since she was a young girl. He had hoped to be with her when she had first come to the plantation, but she chooses Halle over him. Paul D has a painful past as a slave. He had the misfortune of being in a chain gang and then faced imprisonment when he tried to escape from Sweet Home. Paul D's terrible past causes him to suppress all his emotions, and he begins to think that his heart has been replaced by a tobacco tin. Paul D feels genuine love for Sethe and tries to build a life with her, but he cannot bring himself to make peace with her past. Paul D returns to 124 after Beloved's departure and resolves to always take care of her.
Baby Suggs - She is a former slave of Sweet home, but she is freed from slavery when Halle buys her freedom by renting his labor on the weekends. She settles down in 124 and becomes a quasi-religious figure for the community around 124. Baby Suggs becomes morose after the incident with Sethe and her child. She stops holding her sermons and becomes obsessed with color near the end of her life.
Halle - Sethe's former husband, and a slave of the Sweet Home plantation who rents himself out on the weekends to buy his mother's freedom. Halle loses his mind when he witnesses Schoolteacher's nephews taking Sethe's breastmilk. Paul D sees Halle seated next to a churn with butter smeared all over his face.
Mr. & Mrs. Garner - They are the owners of the Sweet Home plantation and believe that they treat their slaves as people. Baby Suggs, Sethe, and Paul D eventually realize that there aren't a lot of differences between a cruel slave master and a kind slave master.
