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Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a masterpiece. It’s also a difficult read – past and present mingle together in confusing ways. This article will provide you with a detailed introduction to the characters of Beloved so that you can spend your time reading and appreciating Morrison’s devastating prose. If you’re looking for a chapter-by-chapter summary of the text, you can find it here. 

You may also wish to check out our Beloved Quotes and Analysis,

Major Characters – Sethe, Denver, Paul D, and Beloved

Sethe

Sethe is the central protagonist of Beloved. A formerly enslaved woman, she is haunted by the traumas of her enslavement – the violent acts she has done and those that were done to her. She is dedicated to her children and would do anything to protect them from the horrors of slavery. 

While it is unclear exactly where Sethe was born, she remembers that her mother was taken from Africa. She also remembers that her mother had a brand below her breast and that she wore a particular hat. During the course of the book, Sethe flashes back to the memory of her mother being hanged and her body burned. 

Around the age of thirteen or fourteen, Sethe is sold to Mr. and Mrs Garner, who own a plantation called Sweet Home. She joins five other slaves at Sweet Home – Halle, the Pauls (Paul D, Paul A, and Paul F), and Sixo. After a year, Sethe chooses to marry Halle. They have three children in as many years – Buglar, Howard, and a nameless child we come to know as “Beloved.” 

Characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison (Continued)

Compared to other plantations, life at Sweet Home is relatively pleasant. However, when Mr. Garner dies a few years later, Mrs. Garner’s brother-in-law, “Schoolteacher,” takes over the farm and Sethe and the others lose whatever provisional freedoms they had. They immediately begin planning their escape. Though they’ve planned well, everything goes wrong. Sethe manages to deliver her three children to the group of escapees heading north, but all the others are caught. (Sixo and Paul A are killed, Paul D is captured and sold off.) 

That same day, Schoolteacher’s nephews hold Sethe down and suck her breasts. When Sethe tells Mrs. Garner what has happened, Schoolteacher gives her a horrendous whipping. Pregnant and injured, Sethe decides to try to escape by herself. With her back bloodied and her belly distended, no one thinks she’s going to make it. She walks north until, near death, she collapses on the side of the road. She is found by a white woman named Amy Denver. Amy helps Sethe get to shelter and dresses her wounds as best she can. 

Amy and Sethe make it to the Ohio River. Just as they get in a boat, Sethe’s water breaks. With Amy’s help, Sethe delivers her baby in the bottom of the rickety boat. Amy has to leave – just as she leaves, Sethe decides to name her newborn after her. 

Characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison (Continued)

Later, Sethe makes it across the river with the help of Stamp Paid. She is transported to where Baby Suggs lives – 124 Bluestone Road. Burglar and Howard are there, along with Beloved. Sethe has a month of peace at 124 before her world is shattered. One day, Schoolteacher comes to reclaim Sethe and her children. When she sees Schoolteacher riding up, Sethe grabs all four of her children, takes them to a shed, and tries to kill them. She decapitates Beloved with a handsaw and knocks Buglar and Howard unconscious. Stamp Paid manages to stop her from killing her newborn. Sethe is arrested and taken to jail with Denver. 

Sethe is released a few months later. She has no money, so she trades sex for a headstone for her dead child. She gets a job and lives with Baby Suggs, Buglar, Howard, and Denver at 124. The spirit of her dead child haunts the house. 

About 18 years later, Paul D (one of the formerly enslaved men at Sweet Home) arrives at 124. He and Sethe begin a relationship and try to imagine a future. Whatever happiness they imagine is cut short by the arrival of a nameless, 18-year-old young woman (who seems to be the reincarnation of Sethe’s dead child, Beloved).

Characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison (Continued)

Eventually, Paul D finds out about Sethe killing her daughter and moves out. While Sethe was unsure who Beloved was at first, she has no doubt now. As a result, Sethe becomes obsessed with making Beloved happy. Eventually, she loses her job. Money gets tight, then food. 

It takes a few months, but eventually, the community finds out that the ghost of Sethe’s daughter has returned to torment her. A group of thirty or so women march to 124 to try to help. Sethe and Beloved (now pregnant) come to the front porch. As chance would have it, Mr Bodwin is coming down the road to pick Denver up – Sethe sees him, mistakes him for Schoolteacher, and runs at him with an ice pick. 

When Beloved flees, Sethe falls into a depression and takes to bed. At the end of the book, Paul D returns to take care of her. 

Denver

Born during Sethe’s escape from Sweet Home, Denver is Sethe’s eighteen-year-old daughter. Though Denver was only a month old when Sethe killed Beloved, she has borne the brunt of the subsequent social isolation. When Beloved’s presence becomes dangerous, it is Denver’s bravery that saves Sethe. 

We don’t know much about Denver’s childhood, but we do find out that she tried to attend school for a bit when she was young. (This was before she knew what her mother had done.) One day, one of the other children asks Denver if her mother is a murderer. Denver is so shocked at the question that she goes deaf for a couple of years. 

Characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison (Continued)

At the beginning of the book, Denver, Sethe, and the ghost of Beloved have lived by themselves for about eight years. When Paul D arrives at 124 and chases away the ghost (Denver’s only playmate), Denver is not happy. Everything changes when Beloved appears on their doorstep – Denver is delighted to have a playmate and quickly figures out who Beloved is. 

When Paul D finds out what Sethe did to her children, he leaves 124. Denver is happy (at first) – she figures that now she’ll have Beloved and her mother all to herself. However, within a few months, Sethe’s obsession with Beloved becomes unhealthy. When food gets tight, Denver ventures to a neighbor’s house to ask for help. Food comes first, then a job. After Beloved flees, Denver sees Paul D and tells him to be kind to Sethe. 

Paul D

One of the men enslaved at Sweet Home, Paul D arrives at 124 eighteen years after Sethe’s escape. While we don’t know much about Paul D’s life before Sweet Home, we find out that he tried to kill his subsequent owner and was shipped off to work on a chain gang in Alfred, Georgia. In Alfred, he lived in a tiny shack built into a five-foot wide trench. He and the other forty-six men are woken at dawn, sexually assaulted, and worked until nightfall. 

After Paul escapes from Georgia, he spends the next eighteen years wandering and working. When he arrives at 124 and chases the ghost away, he feels like he might have a future with Sethe. Beloved’s arrival changes those plans – her presence pushes him to the coldhouse, where they have sex several times. Sex with Beloved breaks open the “tobacco tin” in which Paul had kept his traumatic memories. When Stamp Paid tells Paul D what Sethe did to her children, Paul D leaves 124 and moves into the cellar of a church. 

After Beloved disappears, Paul D makes his way back to Sethe at 124. He finds Sethe in Baby Suggs’ old bed, bereft. He promises to take care of her, saying, “We need some kind of tomorrow” (322). 

Beloved

Beloved is the daughter Sethe killed. The book provides no explanation for how Beloved has arrived at 124, but her arrival breaks apart whatever stability Sethe and Denver had. As a narrative device, Beloved functions as a manifestation of the unacknowledged traumas of slavery. It’s significant that the community comes together to exorcize Beloved from 124.  

Minor Characters

Halle 

The son of Baby Suggs and husband to Sethe, Halle is the father of Buglar, Howard, Denver, and Beloved. During his time at Sweet Home, Halle rents himself out on weekends to buy his mother’s freedom. After Mr Garner dies, Halle plans to escape with the others. When their escape fails, Halle hides in the hayloft, where he witnesses Sethe being assaulted by Schoolteacher’s nephews. The last time Paul D sees him, Halle has gone crazy and is spreading butter all over his face. 

Baby Suggs

Baby Suggs is Halle’s mother. She spends decades at Sweet Home before her son buys her freedom. Once freed, she moves north and lives at 124, which becomes a meeting place for formerly enslaved people. Baby Suggs preaches a message of bodily acceptance in the woods every Sunday. While Sethe’s arrival at 124 buoys Baby Suggs’ spirits, less than a month later Sethe is in jail for killing her child. Baby Suggs lives another ten years or so at 124. 

Buglar and Howard 

Sethe’s two sons, Howard and Buglar both leave 124 around the time they turn thirteen. They have never recovered from their mother’s attempts to kill them. 

Characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison (Continued)

Stamp Paid (Joshua)

A formerly enslaved man, Stamp Paid helps Sethe cross the Ohio River the night of her escape. Born Joshua, he renames himself when he manages not to kill his former owner for raping his wife.   

Amy Denver

The namesake of Sethe’s daughter, Denver, Amy is a white indentured servant on her way to Boston in search of velvet. She helps Sethe get to the Ohio River and helps her deliver her baby. 

Sixo

One of the enslaved men at Sweet Home, Sixo is killed during the escape attempt. Before he dies, he shouts, “Seven-O,” indicating that he has fathered a child with the “Thirty-mile woman.” 

Characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison (Continued)

Paul A and Paul F

Two of the enslaved men at Sweet Home, Paul F is sold when Mr. Garner dies and Paul A is killed the night of the escape. 

Mr. and Mrs. Garner

The owners of Sweet Home, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner believe in “humane” slavery. They allow the enslaved persons at Sweet Home to carry guns, to have their own opinions, and to marry. However, whatever “freedom” they give is always contingent on their permission. 

Schoolteacher

Mrs. Garner’s brother-in-law, Schoolteacher takes over Sweet Home when Mr. Garner dies. He disapproves of Mr. Garner’s “humane” slavery and treats the Pauls, Sethe, and Sixo like animals. His arrival at 124 causes Sethe to try to kill her children. 

Characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison (Continued)

Ella

A formerly enslaved woman, Ella organizes the group of women who go to 124 to chase Beloved off. Ella was held captive by a father and son and raped for years, so she is particularly offended that a ghost of the past should come back to haunt the living. 

Lady Jones

Denver’s former teacher, Lady Jones is the first person Denver goes to for help. Lady Jones helps provide food for Denver and Sethe. 

Mr. and Miss Bodwin

Mr. and Miss Bodwin are the brother and sister who own 124. As Quakers, they were active for years in the abolitionist movement. They are instrumental in freeing Sethe from prison and later give Denver her first job.

Wrapping Up – Characters in Beloved 

I can’t recommend Beloved highly enough. There’s a reason the New York Times chose it as . It presents the cruelty of slavery without abandoning the fundamental humanity of the individuals affected. 

If you’ve found this article useful or interesting, I’ve also written on 1984, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, The Crucible and Brave New World.