Toni Morrison's book Beloved is a story that, while not exclusively about race, does not back down from racial issues. Morrison has done an amazing job of demonstrating to the reader just how bad of a situation African Americans were in during the period just after the civil war simply by contrasting two characters, Amy, and Sethe.
Amy and Sethe's backgrounds are not too different from each other. They are both running from, to say the least, an abusive situation. Sethe's struggle was of course more dire, but there are similarities. When Amy sees Sethe's back, she comments that the person she's been told is her father beat her as well, but not as badly as Sethe was beaten. They both desire freedom, and they both desire the North.
Here is when things start to diverge a bit more. Amy's goal is to go to Boston to get her hands on some velvet. Sethe wants to be able to live. I think that Amy's lofty aspirations were set in place to do more than just create a whacky sounding character. It also provides contrast from the extreme caution African Americans had to use when on the run. Amy sees no possibility that she won't be able to get to where she's going, despite having no money, and traveling alone. Sethe must constantly worry, and struggle. Her journey is not the peaceful walk Amy seems to be enjoying. She does not have time to think of such things as velvet when she must fear for her life. She has to struggle with her wounded back, her destroyed feet, and pregnancy. Amy seems to be completely free of all of these burdens left to wander at her own whims.
These contrasts work to paint a picture of how different life was from side to side. The exchange between these two characters was relatively short lived, but it served its purpose.
I concur that the interaction between Sethe and Amy was kind of strange, and the oddest part of the novel so far for me. Amy is interesting character because I think you could make the argument that she is both a foil and a parallel to Sethe's character. While they share the common traits of being runaways from abusive situations, the vast difference between their two end goals shows how different the desires of the blacks and the whites were at the time. Amy wanted to live her dream life selling velvet in Boston while Sethe just wanted her freedom.
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