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Recently I had the pleasure of reading Beloved for an African American Literature course and found the book to be very interesting, yet confusing as well. I found the relationships between the characters to reverse. In the beginning Sethe seems to be completely independent of Beloved. She does not arrange her life around the ghost with whom she lives. However, once Beloved comes to life again, Sethe's life becomes completely dependent upon Beloved. Also, once Beloved disappears Sethe's is unable to be independent and act as she had before Beloved's physical appearance. Beloved's presence as a person was more debilitating than that of the ghost. Did anyone else come to this same conclusion?

Beloved's presence as a person was more debilitating than that of the ghost. Did anyone else come to this same conclusion?

I read it more as Sethe's past, her ills, the murder of her child, coming back to her. To roost. It is as if Beloved, her memory, can no longer be subdued and instead the dead rise up from beneath the water. She is not debilitating so much as she is unrestrained, can no longer be fought off, trapped in a closet, or ignored. Beloved deigns to be seen and acknowledged while Sethe struggles and ultimately fails to keep it together.

I hated this book, so much. I believe I had to read it for an English class for either High school or a College course. I have no idea why its such a popular choice for schools but I honestly think that Morrison's writing is disconnected from the reader. She is no where near the talents of Alice Walker, J. California Cooper, or Zora Neal Hurston. IMHO.

I did not like this book, at all. I kept reading a finished it only because it had such great reviewed and seemed to be such a famous classic but I kept waiting for the wonder and it never came. The story line was just very boring to me and the writing just so-so.