Discussion questions for Beloved
Discussion questions for Beloved
1. In Beloved, Toni Morrison provides the reader with information in a gradual, piecemeal fashion. The novel can be viewed as a puzzle and the reader’s task is to fit the pieces together. How did you respond initially to this narrative strategy? What advantages and disadvantages do you see?
2. In addition to narrative discontinuity, Morrison’s Beloved poses another difficulty for many readers---she demands that the reader take the prospect of ghosts seriously. How does Morrsion make the existence of the ghost appear to be a reality, as opposed to a figment of Sethe’s troubled imagination?
3. What information do we get about the ghost, the sources of her discontents, and her relationship to Sethe and Denver in chapter one?
4. Morrison interweaves flashbacks about what Sethe has experienced in order to advance the plot and develop her themes. What is the significance of the episode with the engraver? (p.5) What theme is introduced here? (We use the term “plot” to refer to the narrative or story line; “theme” to refer to ideas the plot embodies or suggests.)
5. A major theme of the novel is the role of memory—its importance, its power, and its limitations. How do Sethe’s recollections about Sweet Home develop the theme of the power and complexity of memory? (p.6)
6. The arrival of Paul D unleashes a flood of memories in both Sethe and Paul D. What do we learn about their previous lives at Sweet Home? What insights do we get about Sethe’s character in these recollections of Sweet Home? (pp.8-11)
7. How does Denver respond to the entrance of Paul D into her life? What does her reaction reveal about her and her relationship with her mother? (pp12-19)
8. The second chapter begins with a description of Sethe and Paul D’s lovemaking. What is the relationship between anticipation and reality?
9. Sethe’s disappointment with Paul D leads to more general ruminations about men and the recollection of baby Sugg “A man ain’t nothing but man. But a son? Well now that’s somebody.” (p.23) What point do you think Morrrison is making here? What do we learn about Baby Sugg’s personal history which provides a context for this quotation?
10. When Sethe decides to choose Halle, she announces her intention to Mrs. Garner. How does Ms. Garner respond? What is the significance of her response? (p.26)
11. Despite the horrors of slavery, Sethe, Halle, and Paul D manage to retain a love for life and capacity or pleasure. What incidents, images does Morrison use to demonstrate this?
12. Denver has led a life of solitude with only her memories to keep her company—chief among them her mother’s story of her birth. What do we learn about the circumstances of Denver’s birth in chapter three?
13. Amy is one of the very few white people in Beloved with any redeeming characteristics. What do we learn about her background, her character in the recollections of the circumstances surrounding Denver’s birth on pp. 31-35?
14. Sethe shares with Denver her sense of the power of memory. What point is she making about the psychology on memory on p.36?
15. How does Morrison use Sethe’s reaction to color to suggest her emotional state? (pp. 38-39)
16. Like Sethe, Paul D has also “shut down a generous portion of his head” in order to avoid pain. What do we learn about the source of his pain on pp.40-41?
17. In many ways the relationship between Paul D, Sethe, and Denver is a classic step-family conflict. How does Sethe react to the tensions between Denver and Paul D? (pp.43-45)
18. Belief in the supernatural is an integral part of the narrative. How do you think Morrison wants us to interpret the image of the three shadows holding hands on p. 47?
19. Morrison continues to demand that the reader suspend belief in the common sense view of the way the world works when she tells us that “A fully dressed woman walked out of the water.”(p.50) How do you think Morrison wants us to respond to this?
20. How does Sethe respond to the sight of the young woman? What’s the symbolic import of her actions?
21. How doe Paul D, Sethe, and Denver in their different ways respond to the entrance of Beloved into their lives?(pp.52-56)
22. Beloved’s devotion to and fascination with Sethe takes the form of an insatiable desire for stories about Sethe’s past. What’s the significance of the story of Seth’s earrings and wedding dress? (pp.58-60) What does this reveal about Sethe’s character and the circumstances of her life?
23. Beloved continues to probe Sethe’s past family history. What does Sethe reveal about her own mother? (pp. 64-67)
24. On pp.64-67, Morrison describes Paul D and Sethe’s growing conflict over Beloved. What are the reasons for Paul D’s uneasiness?
25. Paul D and Sethe are beginning to share memories of the horrors of their past lives. What does Paul D reveal about Sethe’s husband, Halle, and about his own suffering and degradation? (pp.68-73)
26. Denver tries to hold Beloved’s attention through recounting stories of her past and Sethe’s past; at this point in the novel, we get an expanded story of Denver’s birth. How are some of the similarities (and dissimilarities) between Sethe’s and Amy’s past suggested in this retelling? (pp. 78-85)
27. How does Morrison reveal that Amy—despite her basic decency—shares in the racist attitudes of her time?
28. At this point in the novel, the focus shifts to Sethe’s mother-in-law, Baby Suggs. What role does Baby Suggs play in her community? How does she differ from the traditional preacher?
29. On p. 95, Morrison describes Sethe’s twenty-eight days of freedom. What point do you think Morrison is making about Sethe’s initial response to freedom?
30. How do you think Morrison intends us to interpret the scene in the clearing when Sethe experiences unseen fingers choking her(pp. 96). What indication do we have that Sethe is beginning to be aware of Beloved’s true nature—although this realization has not yet entered conscious awareness?
31. Morrison begins to introduce direct references to the dark secret in Sethe’s past when she describes Denver’s experiences in Lady Jones’ school. What do we learn in this episode about Sethe? About Denver? (pp.102-105)
32. What‘s the effect of this long delay in revealing important information? If this is your first time reading the novel, how did you interpret Nelson Lord’s question on p. l04?
33. The focus of the novel shifts from the Sethe’s grim past to the horrors experienced by Paul D on the chain gang. How did Paul D and the other prisoners manage to endure the unendurable?(pp.106-107)
34. What point do you think Morrison is making by linking Paul D’s fate to that of the Cherokee? (pp.111-13)
35. Why does Paul D. begin to sleep in the rocking chair and then in Baby Sugg’s room? How did Sethe respond initially?
36. Next Paul D moves into the storeroom; he interprets his behavior as a “housefit.” Morrison frequently makes acute psychological observations about her characters which describe psychological patterns widely shared by men and women in different times, different places. To what extent do you think the tendency to have "housefits" is a characteristic widely shared by men?
37. How did you interpret Beloved’s seduction of Paul D. Why did she do this? Why did he respond to her advances?
38. Denver’s infatuation with Beloved becomes increasingly intense. How does Denver’s behavior change? How do you interpret Denver’s willingness to deceive her mother about Beloved and Paul D?
39. Paul D has difficulty understanding why he is incapable of resisting Beloved’s advances (pp.25-126). How does he try to explain it to himself?
40. Paul D resolves to tell Sethe about his relationship with Beloved. What does Sethe’s initial reaction to him and to the sense that something is wrong reveal about her? What does it reveal about her expectations of Paul D and of men in general?
41. Paul D is unable to tell Sethe the truth, yet he knows she is expecting him to reveal something. Why do you think he tells her that he would like to have a child with her? How does Sethe respond? How does she interpret his expression of a desire for a child? (pp. 128-132)
42. Despite Beloved’s attempt to come between them, Sethe and Paul D are closer than ever. How does Beloved respond? (pp. 133-134)
43. How does the community respond to Baby Sugg’s celebratory feast? What point do you think Morrison is making about human nature?
44. The focus shifts to Baby Sugg’s recollections about her past life at the Garners'. She recalls that the Garners “ran a special kind of slavery.” What point do you think Morrison is making here?
45. How does Baby Suggs respond to the experience of freedom? What point do you think Morrison is making here?
46. Finally Morrison reveals the tragedy at the heart of the novel. On p. 148, Morrison provides a context for Sethe’s actions by describing the responses of other captured fugitive slaves. What point do you think Morrison is making here?
47. Morrison describes community’s initial reaction to Sethe immediately after the tragedy. How do you interpret the community’s response?
48. When Stamp Paid recounts the tragedy to Paul D, he notes the community's failure to warn Baby Suggs of the arrival of the white men. How does he account for this? What point do you think Morrison is making here?
49. Why do you think Stamp Paid decides to reveal the tragedy of Sethe’s past to Paul D? How does Paul D respond to the news initially?
50. How does Sethe account for actions when confronted by Paul D? How does Paul D respond to her explanation?
51. On pp. 175-77 Sethe finally recognizes the true nature of Beloved. How does Sethe respond to this knowledge?
52. Stamp Paid begins to feel remorse about his revelation of Sethe’s tragic past to Paul D, and he begins to examine his motivations for doing so. How does he now account for his behavior? What does he decide to do in recompense? What motivates him to try to make an overture to Sethe?
53. Stamp Paid becomes aware of Beloved’s presence in Sethe’s house and turns to Ella for some information about the newcomer. What does the conversation between Stamp Paid and Ella on pp. 185-88 reveal about Ella and the community’s response to Sethe and to Paul D? What does it reveal about the community’s values in a more general sense?
54. In the form of reverie addressed to Beloved, Morrison again turns to Sethe’s recollections of Sweet Home—specifically of schoolteacher. What’s the significance of schoolteacher’s attempt to define, to measure Sethe, to list her “characteristics?” What’s the impact of this attempt on Sethe?
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