Is Beloved Actually a Ghost?

While it may seem quite obvious to the reader of Toni Morrision's novel Beloved that Beloved is actually the ghost of Sethe's daughter, what if she was not? What if Beloved represents something other than the a child's rise from the dead. One of the larger themes in the novel is family connection, especially those that have been lost. The novel centers around a family that have seen it's members spread across the country due to slavery. Baby Suggs has lost 8 children, Sethe lost her mother, she then later loses her sons after they leave her. Is it possible that the same thing happened to the woman called Beloved? Maybe she lost her family to slavery and now she has no one. Maybe she has been wondering around the country with no place to go. Paul D describes his experiences as a nomadic ex-slave walking aimlessly across the country where "he had seen Negroes so stunned, or hungry, or tired or bereft it was a wonder they recalled or said anything" (78). Maybe this quotation can apply to Beloved, maybe she cannot recall anything because she is so lost. Perhaps the relationship between Sethe and Beloved is a case of mistaken identity, Beloved has no one to call her own and is desperate to belong and Sethe never got over the death of her daughter, which is why she is so ready to accept Beloved as her own so she can let go of the loss. This may explain why Beloved appears to be much older than the murdered child was. Or maybe she is the actual ghost of Sethe's daughter and that is why she knows details about that specific family. Either explanation has it's questions.