Beloved exists in a world of ghosts. Each character is haunted, some by the ghost of Sethe's daughter Beloved, but perhaps more significantly by the past that continues to be present. Sethe is lives in a world of 'rememories' of the brutality of slavery and her husband Halle, unable to escape. The other escaped slave characters, especially Baby Suggs and Paul D, seem similarly unable to be truly freed from their past experiences. Even Denver, Sethe's daughter who has never been a slave, remains in the shadow of slavery that marked her parents and grandparents lives with the stories and customs in her life.
Author Toni Morrison explores the depths of the past with writing that layers the present with memories. As scenes progress, characters often stop to remember some instance or scene from their past which frequently segues deeper into the past. By creating scenes that progress without barely an acknowledgement of the typical confines of time, Morrison is able to create a unique perspective: the fourth person.
Aside from the usual three perspectives, the fourth is able to lend a depth to the meaning of Beloved. Stories told through the eyes of someone remembering past instances allow readers to understand the contextual nuances of the present. Additionally, the fourth person allows the past and present to be interwoven in such a way that itself demonstrates the way in which the past is a living ghost for Morrison's characters.
I agree the past itself seems like a ghost that haunts the characters.
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