Beloved

Beloved Summary | Chapter 1 Summary

The angry ghost of a baby haunts 124 Bluestone Rd. in Cincinnati, Ohio. At this house live Sethe and her daughter Denver. Sethe is an ex-slave from Kentucky. Sethe's sons—Howard and -Buglar—ran away from home to get away from the ghost.

Baby Suggs was Sethe's mother-in-law's name. She died shortly after the boys left Sethe. When Sethe buried her child, the man who chiseled the name on the tombstone told her that he would not charge if it took less than ten minutes. She told him to put Beloved on the tombstone. She now regrets not asking him to put Dearly Beloved on the tombstone.

Sethe once told Baby Suggs that they could move away from the ghost, but Baby Suggs did not think there was any point. She says that "some dead Negro's grief" filled every house in the country. (5). Baby Suggs says that four of her sons died and four ran away, so Sethe should be thankful that she still had her three children. Baby Suggs could hardly remember any of her children by that point. Sethe is having trouble remembering her children now. She can only remember Howard because he had an oddly shaped head.

Paul D arrives at Sethe's home. They have not seen each other in 18 years. Paul D asks about Sethe's husband, but she says that he is probably dead. He mentions that she ran away from the plantation while she was pregnant. Paul D is a little jealous that she escaped without needing his help. He enters Sethe's house and notices the presence of the ghost. He asks Sethe about the evil, but she says it is not evil, just sad. It has been almost 9 years since the baby died.

Sethe and Paul D knew each other from their days as slaves at the Kentucky plantation called Sweet Home. Their owners, the Garners, gave them a lot of latitude and prided themselves on not merely owning slaves, but making them into "nigger men" (10).

When Sethe arrived on the plantation, the five men -- Paul D, Paul F, Paul A, Halle, and Sixo—all wanted her, but had sex with calves to sate their desires until she chose one of them. She waited a year before she finally chose Halle.

Denver is jealous because Paul D is taking Sethe's attention from her. Denver gets angry with Paul D. Then Sethe gets angry at Denver, but Paul D tells Sethe not to worry about it. Then Denver gets angry with her mother for living in a haunted house. Sethe will not leave because she refuses to run away from anything ever again.

Sethe leads Denver into another room. Then she tells Paul D that she was pregnant with Denver and dripping milk from her breasts when she ran from Sweet Home. She had sent her other baby on before her with Howard and Buglar, and she ran north to bring her milk to her baby. Some boys at Sweet Home sucked the milk out of her breasts. She told Mrs. Garner, but the boys found out Sethe told Mrs. Garner and the boys beat her.

Paul D begins to caress Sethe. He opens the back of her dress and kisses the scars from the lashing. The ghost begins shaking the entire house. Paul D casts the ghost out. Denver enters the kitchen, but Sethe and Paul D are upstairs together.