toni morrison - beloved - chronology of the story

7/23/2019 Toni Morrison - Beloved - Chronology of the Story

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1795 Baby Suggs, Halle's mother and Sethe's mother-in-law is born a slave

1835 Sethe is born to "Ma'am," the only name given to her mother

1835 Halle is born to Baby Suggs

1838 The Garners purchase Baby Suggs and Halle to wor at Sweet Home in !entucy

1848 Halle buys the reedom o Baby Suggs by doing e#tra wor

1848 Sethe arrives at Sweet Home as a replacement or Baby Suggs

1849 Sethe marries Halle$ they consummate their marriage in the cornield

1850 Sethe gives birth to Howard

1851 Sethe gives birth to Buglar

1853 Mrs% Garner hires Schoolteacher to run Sweet Home ater the death o her husband

1854 Sethe gives birth to Beloved

1855 Sethe sends Buglar, Howard, and Beloved to live with Baby Suggs, or she is araid they will be sold

away rom her$ &aul , Si#o, Halle, and Seth plan to escape rom Sweet Home$ Sethe, pregnant with herourth child, is attaced by the nephews o Schoolteacher, who suc the mil rom her swollen breasts$ Sethe

is beaten by the nephews when she tells Mrs% Garner about the attac$ Schoolteacher ills Si#o and &aul ($

Sethe leaves Sweet Home$ Sethe gives birth to enver with the help o (my$ Sethe goes to )*+ Bluestone to

ind Baby Suggs$ Sethe tries to ill her children to save them rom slavery$ Beloved dies, but Buglar,

Howard, and Beloved survive$ Sethe is taen to ail or murder, and enver is with her$ Sethe and enver

are released rom prison$ Beloved ghost's taes up residence at )*+ Bluestone

1856 &aul is captured and loced up in (lbert, Georgia

1857 Sethe taes a ob at Sawyer's estaurant

1862-1863 enver attends .ady /ones' school$ she is dismissed when it is learned that she and Sethe

spent time in ail

1865 Buglar and Howard leave home$ Baby Suggs dies

1873 &aul comes to Sethe's house in 0incinnati$ Beloved arrives at )*+ Bluestone$ Beloved seduces

&aul %

1874 &aul leaves Sethe when he learns she illed her child

1875 Sethe tries to stab 1dwin Bodwin with an ice pic when he tries to tae enver rom her$ Beloved

vanishes$ &aul returns

The past

Baby Suggs was a slave% She was ept mainly as a breeding slave 2woman who got mated with other

slaves even against her will to get her pregnant and bear children who would be raised only to be sold to

someone else as soon even beore their adult teeth came out3 by her ormer owners 4hitlows% She had 5

babies with 6 dierent men% 7 o those were taen rom her and sold to slavery, only her last one, Halle was

let to her, as he was wea and small% Her paper name was /enny 4hitlow 2according to the owners3, but she


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called hersel Baby Suggs, because Suggs was the name o her 8husband9, the only man she ever loved, and

he called her Baby%

4hen she hurt her hip and couldn:t move very well since then she and Halle were both sold to

Garners, who were ;uite liberal slave owners% They lived in a arm named Sweet Home, !entucy and

owned si# slaves< &aul , &aul (, &aul =, Si#o and Baby Suggs and Halle% They valued their slaves and

acnowledged them as e;ual humans% They cared about their comort, listened to their opinions and advice,

allowed them to date whomever they wanted, allowed them to eep their children and minded they cared

about them properly, to have a gun or hunting%

Because o her hurt Baby Suggs couldn:t wor on the arm very well, so Halle decided to buy her out

rom slavery% He made a pact with Mr% Garner% uring his ree time Halle went to the town and wored there

in order to earn money to ree his mother% He was woring there or > years% Baby Suggs was moved rom

Sweet House to )*+ Bluestone oad, 0incinnati, an old house owned by 1lla and /ohn Bodwin 2siblings3%

They hated slavery more than anything and gave their old house to the reed slaves to live in% Here BabySuggs reali?es the worth o reedom, her sel-worth, she becomes a ind o preacher, teaching the slaves to

love themselves because no one else does love them 2meaning the whites3% She is a respected person and her

ob here is maing and repairing shoes%

(ter Baby Suggs let Sweet Home Mrs% .illian Garner needed some woman help, so Mr% Garner

bought Sethe or her% Sethe was )@ when she came there% She didn:t now her mother, she only remembered

her as one o the bent bacs woring on a ield at the plantation in the south where she was born% !ids there

were raised in a community, their mothers had to wor on the plantation, so there was one woman Aan who

cared about the ids and taught them what they needed or the lie o a slave% Babies there were miled by

random women, but who irst had to breasteed the children o the whites, and their own ids were given

what remained% The second memory Sethe had o her mother was that she showed her a burned scar on her

chest so that Sethe could identiy her body i she died% .iving in Sweet Home Sethe soon orgot even her

mother:s language%

4hen Sethe came to Sweet Home all the Aegro men wanted her 2e#cept Si#o who loved a Thirty-

mile 4oman who lived in a arm @ miles away and in his ree time he traveled there to be with her3% Sethe

ell in love with Halle and 8married9 him when she was )+% She dreamt o a wedding, she sew hersel dress

and they had a private romantic ceremony% She bore him * sons, Howard, Buglar, and daughter and was

pregnant with another baby%

That time Mr% Garner died, Mrs% Garner became ill with tumor on her throat% She sold &aul = to pay

or her husband debts and ased her relative, the schoolteacher, to come and help her tae care o the arm%

However, the schoolteacher and his * nephews were typical cruel slave owners% They established very strict

regime or the slaves, cut short their ood, gave them more duties, banned their guns and wor in the town%

He punished them cruelly and e#perimented on them% 1g% they put iron on the slave:s mouth so he couldn:t

drin% 4hen Sethe had mil or her baby, they miled her lie a cow, one nephew holding her, the other


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sucing her breasts, and the schoolteacher taing notes% He thought slaves to be animals and treated them so%

So the slaves decided to run away by a train%

However, the day, they decided to escape, one nephew beat Sethe e#tremely hard, so her bac sin

was tore 2that:s why she has scars in a tree shape3% Halle probably saw it, and because he couldn:t help his

wie, he gone mad% &aul saw him later sitting in a delirious mood patted all over with butter%

(t the appointed time only &aul , thirty-mile woman and Si#o showed up at the appointed place%

They waited or the others to come, but instead there came the schoolteacher and his nephews, who

somehow ound out about their plan% Cnly the girl managed to get away% Si#o was burn on a pyre ater he

gone cra?y, singing a song, and trying to steal the nephew:s gun and threaten them with it% &aul was

brought bac to the arm, because he was worthy and could be sold later%

Bac at the arm &aul met Sethe who managed to get her @ ids on the train, she sent them to Baby

Suggs, but she didn:t want to go without Halle% But he was nowhere to be ound, so in the end she run away

alone% (long the way she ound two hanged bodies, &aul (:s and probably Halle:s%Sethe was in the 6th month pregnancy, she traveled so ;uic and hard that her eet sore and swelled%

She ell down near a river, where a white girl with too much hair, (my enver, ound her% She led her in a

small shed nearby, massaged her eet, and waited the night with her there% (my wanted to get to Boston to

buy hersel some sil% The ne#t day they ound a boat, with some holes in it, but they used it to cross the

river% Dt rained% (s soon as they sat in the boat Sethe:s labor started% (my helped her birth the baby% Sethe

named the baby ater her, enver% 4hen they got to the other side o the river, Sethe passed out on the ban%

4hen she woe up, she ound some Aegroes ishing nearby% They helped her to get to )*+ to Baby

Suggs% Baby Suggs cared about her and the baby and healed her% Sethe e#perienced there her *5 days o ree

lie% Cn the *5 day there was a big east at )*+, but the ne#t day Baby Suggs woe up very nervous, because

she sensed that something bad is going to happen% She was woring in the garden, Sethe waling near her

with enver, her other ids playing around the house% Baby Suggs ept looing to the river, but the evil

came down the road% The schoolteacher and one o his nephews came along with a policeman% 4hen Sethe

saw them, she got mad, grabbed her ids, led them to a woodshed and tried to ill them% She:s rather ill her

ids than e#pose them to the terror o the schoolteacher% She illed the older girl 2the girl was * years3 with

a#e, but Stamp &aid came there in time to save enver as he too the a#e rom her hands% 4hen the

schoolteacher saw it, he let without her, because she would be no use or him anymore%

Baby Suggs too the scared and shoced boys and baby away% (ter some time she brought the baby

bac to her to eed her% Sethe was in some ind o trance, she gave the baby her breast with blood o the

dead girl on it, and enver suced mil with the blood% Then a policeman cam to arrest her and brought her

in his car with the baby still in her hands% Sethe spent 6 months in a ail, her baby with her, until Ms% Bodwin

pleaded or her%

Sethe returned to )*+ and they never spoe about the murder% She buried the baby and got her a tomb

made% She put there the only writing she had money or< Beloved% She started woring in a restaurant and

enver attended .ady /ones School and earned to read% However, the ghost o the dead girl was still present


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in the house, scaring and hurting everybody% Sethe:s sons are scared o her and later run away rom the

house when they are )@% enver becomes dea when she ind out about the murder, but she is not scared o

the ghost, she even plays with her during her dea period% enver could see the ghost% Dt was in )5>-)56s

during the north-south war and slavery was abolished%

4hen enver was ), Baby Suggs grew tired o her lie% She spent all her time in her bed

contemplating colours% Her room was dim, in brown and gray shades, and the only colour was * orange

s;uares on her bed clothing% Baby Suggs died and was buried ne#t to the dead baby% Sethe and enver lived

in )*+ alone, isolated rom the town people% Cnce enver saw the white ghost o a girl in long dress

neeling ne#t to her mother when she was praying%

Book 1

)5 year ater the murder &aul came to )*+ 2and that:s where the boo starts telling the story3%

Meanwhile, he was sold rom Sweet Home, he tried to ill his new master, went to ail, traveled rom placeto place, never staying anywhere too long, he went to war or north% He slept with Sethe, helped her around

the house, brought money rom his wor% He wanted to mae a amily with Sethe and enver, and he nearly

succeeded, despite the act that enver didn:t lie him in their house even though she elt alone there

2enver needed attention o her co-age, that:s why she secretly started using cologne3% 4hile &aul was in

)*+, the ghost disappeared% Cne day he invited Sethe and enver to a east in the town, they went hand in

hand lie a real amily and even seethe lied the idea%

However, when they came home, there was a young girl in wet long blac dress lying in their garden%

Sethe got sic rom the sight o her, spited, and elt strange about her% They brought the girl in and she dran

a lot% Sethe and enver tended her and healed her% The girl didn:t remember anything rom her past, e#cept a

bridge and a river% She said her name was Beloved% Sethe and enver start to thin she is an incarnation o

the dead baby% They can even see scars on her nec and orehead as rom a#e and ingernails% They become

sure it is the dead girl when she ass about Sethe:s mother and her earrings, something she never told

anyone beore% (nd especially when Beloved hummed a song Sethe invented or her children at Sweet

Home% Beloved soon grown ealous o Sethe, dependent on her% Sethe tries to mae up or the lost years o

mother love%

&aul doesn:t now anything, but he doesn:t lie the new girl% He eels as i she was trying to get

him out o the house% He starts to eel uncomortable sleeping in the house, so he moves to shed in the

garden% However, Beloved soon starts coming there in the night asing him to have se# with her% =irstly he

resisted, but then agreed% He wants to tell about his ear to Sethe, but instead o doing so, he ass her to have

a baby with him 2he ails because he doesn:t want her to thin he is wea3 and moves bac to the house

again% He tells about his insecurity to Stamp &aid, who in turn shows him old article rom newspaper about

the murder% &aul ass Sethe about it, and when he learns it is true, he moves out o )*+%

Book 2


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Sethe, enver and Beloved are at irst happy that &aul let and they can devote their time to each other%

Sethe inds it surprisingly easy to tal to Beloved about her past and slave lie, Beloved is always a een

listener% (t irst enver is araid that Sethe:s illing lust may awae% She tries to protect Beloved rom her%

But one day when they visit the grave Sethe starts suocating and it seems lie Beloved tried to ill her by

the power o her mind% So enver starts to protect Sethe rom Beloved% Beloved is very lively when Sethe is

home, but when she is at wor, B% is very ;uiet and soulless% The two are still more and more absorbed in

each other, Sethe doing anything to please Beloved, and Beloved misusing her indness% Sethe buys her

colorul cloths and sews them ancy dresses, gives most o the ood to Beloved, hersel eating very little%

Beloved is getting bigger and bigger in belly% Sethe even stopped going to wor% They don:t care about

anything else, so soon they come short o all money and ood%

Meanwhile, &aul stays in a chamber o an old church, he doesn:t want to as anyone to oer him

housing even though everyone in the town would gladly accommodate him% Stamp &aid eel sorry or him,

thining it is because o him that he let )*+% He tries to come to )*+ to ind out more about the girl, and talwith Sethe, but every time he gets to their door, he ails to noc% Taling with &aul he e#presses a belie,

that the strange girl is no reincarnation, but her e#istence can be e#plained rationally% He new a house aside

rom the town, a white man living there held prison a Aegro girl% Some time ago he ound the man dead and

the girl gone%

Book 3

)*+ household is starving% enver decides it is up on her to eep her amily alive% =or the irst time

since her schooldays she goes to the town% She inds the only house she remembers, .ady /ones:% She is

unable to e#plain her situation to .% /ones, but she gives her ood% Soon many people start to bring ood to

their house, and it is learned that there is a strange girl living in )*+% enver inally decides to loo or ob,

as she is ashamed to rely on oreign people to eed them% She ass Bodwins or some% Mr% Bodwin promises

to employ her% He is going to go on a business trip out o the town, but on his way bac he will come and

tae her up at her house% However, that day people rom the town gather in )*+ garden and start singing and

preaching, they want to drive the strange girl out o the house, because they eel they owe it to Baby Suggs%

enver is waiting on the porch waiting or Mr% Bodwin when they come% Sethe and Beloved come out%

Beloved is naed and she has a pregnant belly% (t that moment Mr% Bodwin arrives, but when Sethe sees him

she mistaes him or the schoolteacher, gets cra?y again and attacs him% enver is the irst one to reali?e it

and push her mother away rom the man% Then the people paciy her%

Story continues some time ater that incident% &aul meets Stamp and also enver and they tal%

enver wors in the town% Beloved was not seen since that day, only some clothes were ound near the river,

some town people say they didn:t see her that day on the porch, others swear they did% Bodwin did not sue

her mother or attacing him, but rom that time on she only lies in bed in Baby Suggs old room, her bed

clothing in bright colours% Ms Bodwin plans to sell )*+% &aul visits Sethe% He is angry with her, because

he doesn:t want her to give up on lie so soon and die lie Baby Suggs died%

toni morrison - beloved - chronology of the story

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