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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a7b39995c6641a7893475c04bc3f88de.jpg]]

''Beloved'' is a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1987 novel by Creator/ToniMorrison.

In 1873, during the aftermath of slavery and UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, a ghost haunts 124 Bluestone Road. Sethe and her youngest daughter Denver live with the ghost of a vengeful dead baby (Sethe's firstborn daughter) until the arrival of Paul D, an old acquaintance from Sethe's past days as a slave. After Paul D chases away the spirit and situates himself into their lives, it appears as though Sethe finally has a chance at stability and happiness. However, this changes when a beautiful young woman in a pretty hat emerges from nowhere and magicks her way into 124.

''Beloved'' is not your typical ghost story. It is, however, a complex character study filled to the brim with tragedy, examinations of horrific historical injustices, the pain caused by slavery, the bonds between mothers and daughters, and [[MindScrew Mind Screws]] of epic proportions.

Was cited as one of the books instrumental in Morrison winning the UsefulNotes/NobelPrizeInLiterature in 1993.

It was [[TheFilmOfTheBook made into a film]] in 1998, directed by Creator/JonathanDemme and starring Creator/OprahWinfrey and Creator/DannyGlover.

Has nothing to do with either the [[Fanfic/BelovedFF7 Final Fantasy VII fanfic]] or the [[Webcomic/BelovedL Chinese webcomic]] of the same name.

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!!The novel and the movie provide examples of:

* AbusiveOffspring: Beloved constantly argues with and demands things of Sethe, even described as going to the point of physically beating her.
* AfterlifeAngst: If Beloved truly is Sethe's daughter who she killed as a baby, her sadness and anger about her fate is this; she feels horrible about being separated from her mother and trapped in a horrible MindScrew afterlife.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Beloved becomes this by book's end, demanding to be fed more and more even as Sethe and Denver wither away from hunger and fatigue.
* BenevolentBoss: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] by the kindly Garners, at least as the trope applies to slavery. The owners of the Sweet Home ranch treat their slaves well and deplore the abuses endemic on neighbouring farms, but ultimately, they still have no moral qualms about possessing fellow human beings.
** There's also the fact that, even if they themselves treat their slaves comparatively well, the very fact of keeping them as slaves means that a bad turn of fortune could put any or all of them in the hands of someone much worse -- which is exactly what happens to set up the events of the novel.
* BloodSplatteredInnocents: Sethe's children have blood all over them after she tries to kill them and kills Beloved. Baby Suggs even slips in a puddle of blood.
* TheCameo: Renowned stage and screen actor Creator/JasonRobards appears in one scene in a non-speaking role as Mr. Bowdin, Denver's new employer.
* CheshireCatGrin: Beloved's smile in the film is a rather terrifying example.
* ChildByRape: Sethe's mother had several, all of which she "threw away." She kept only Sethe because Sethe's father was the one man she "put her arms around," which seems to be her way of saying she consented.
* ClingyJealousGirl:
** In a non-romantic way, Denver for both her mother and Paul D. She becomes jealous of Paul D, who becomes an opponent for her affection, and she says she will protect Beloved from Sethe, and then the other way around.
** Beloved is also one of these, with her obsession over Sethe and attempts to have her all to herself.
* {{Dedication}}: In the beginning of the novel, to "sixty million and more."
* DisappearedDad: Halle to Denver. He disappears during the escape after witnessing Sethe's rape, and what happened to him is never said.
* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: [[{{AvertedTrope}} No]], Beloved's manipulation of Paul D. is definitely not okay, and is FanDisservice.
* DysfunctionalFamily: And how. Everyone is very possessive of each other due to isolation and their DarkAndTroubledPast, and the mother even tried to kill the children -- but for just about the most sympathetic possible reason.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Schoolteacher and his nephew are both genuinely horrified when they see what [[spoiler:Sethe did to her children, with schoolteacher even shedding a SingleTear at the scene.]]
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The schoolteacher is never named in the narrative.
* FanDisservice: So much. Sethe getting "milked," Beloved having sex with Paul D...
* FateWorseThanDeath: Slavery is this to Sethe, to the point where she was [[MercyKill willing to kill her children and herself rather than allow them to be re-enslaved]]. It's [[JustifiedTrope not without reason]].
* HeroicBSOD: Sethe's severe state of lethargy after [[spoiler:Beloved disappears]].
** Very similar to what happened to Baby Suggs after Sethe arrived at 124.
** Halle after seeing his wife being beaten. If he ever recovers, we don't see it.
* GilliganCut: Sethe plainly refuses to go to the carnival. Next line she is already dressed and they are on their way.
* HauntedHeroine: Sethe is haunted by Beloved and her tragic past, which is full of slavery, cruelty, and rape.
* HopeSpot:
** Sethe, Paul D, and Denver all enjoy a day together at the carnival and Sethe allows herself to hope for the first in a long time that a new and brighter future awaits them. Then Beloved shows up at their house...
** Paul D, after being forced out of the house and sexually exploited by Beloved, is able to finally break free from Beloved's influence when Sethe, who has decided that she really does want him in her life no matter how complicated it may be, tells him to start sleeping with her again. Then Stamp tells Paul D about what Sethe did eighteen years ago and things go downhill rapidly.
* IDieFree: By proxy. Sethe decided to kill her children (and possibly herself) rather than allow them to be dragged back to slavery.
* ImperiledInPregnancy: Sethe is brutally beaten and runs away while heavily pregnant, and nearly dies along with the unborn Denver, but is fortunately rescued by Amy.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: To horrific effect. Sethe loves her children so much she tries to kill them so they won't have to suffer the horror of slavery.
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Exactly what happened is revealed slowly over the course of the novel, and even at the end some missing pieces remain.
* KnightTemplarParent: Sethe takes this to its extreme, tragic conclusion.
** Her personality [[ZigZaggingTrope takes a complete 180]] after the ice skating scene with her, Denver, and Beloved, gradually transforming her into a warm, motherly figure. [[spoiler:She then becomes obsessed with Beloved to the point of ignoring Denver and the outside world completely.]]
* LoveHungry: Beloved desperately craves Sethe's affection and tries to drive away Paul D so that she doesn't have to share her with him. Similarly, Denver hungers for Beloved's affection to the point where she has the disturbing thought that she doesn't care that Beloved probably tried to strangle Sethe because she's just that desperate to have someone who actually pays attention to her.
* MamaBear: Played ''very'' darkly. Sethe kills her children to rescue them from slavery.
* MagicRealism: Beloved's original form (the ghost at 124) and later corporeal aspect are supernatural in nature, but never explained. The ''why'' of her return isn't a plot point, with the novel focusing on its effect instead.
* MercyKill: Sethe planned to kill her children to spare them the suffering of slavery.
* MindScrew: One of the best examples you'll find in English literature, with its MaybeMagicMaybeMundane elements and constant flashbacks and flash-forwards.
* MurderSuicide: Sethe tried to kill her children and herself so they would never have to experience the horrors of slavery, but only succeeded in killing her two-year-old daughter Beloved.
* NoNameGiven: The eponymous character is only referred to as "the crawling-already? baby" (in flashbacks or memories) or "Beloved"[[labelnote:*]]the inscription on her grave, which Sethe chose based on something the minister said at the funeral[[/labelnote]] (in her ghost form). Presumably she had an actual name when she was alive, but no one ever uses it and the reader is never told what it is.
* NotQuiteTheRightThing: Sethe kills her child believing she would be better off dead than in slavery and it's the only way to protect her. Unfortunately, if Beloved truly is her child's ghost, unbeknownst to Sethe she doesn't get to have peace even in death and spends years in some horrifying realm completely alone. Sethe spends the rest of the book desperately trying to justify herself and make it up to her, which Beloved takes advantage of.
* OffingTheOffspring: Two-year-old Beloved is [[MercyKill mercy killed]] by her mother when slavers find them. Her siblings are meant to be next, but Sethe is stopped from carrying out the rest of the killings.
* ParentalAbandonment: Beloved views her [[spoiler:murder at the hands of her mother]] as Parental Abandonment.
* PaterFamilicide: [[spoiler:A rare sympathetic example. When the schoolteacher arrived at 124, Sethe decided to kill her children and herself to save them from a life of slavery. She only injured her two sons, and was stopped just before she would have bashed Denver's brains against the shed wall, but she did succeed in killing her third child.]]
* PsychopathicManchild: Beloved, who has the mind of a young child, and demands things from her mother, tries to choke her, and rapes Paul D.
* RapeAsDrama: Sethe is raped by the white boys, and Beloved rapes Paul D.
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Slavery is shown to be a horrible thing; Sethe, who was a slave most of her life, believes her children would be better off dead than enslaved.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Beloved can change from the nicest girl in the world to the coldest.
* SympatheticMurderer: Sethe killed Beloved and intended to kill her other children, but it was only as a MercyKill because she believed they'd be better off dead than living in slavery.
* SympatheticSlaveOwner: Deconstructed with the initial owners of Sweet Home ranch. While they treat their slaves well, the fact that said slaves are, well, ''slaves'' means that a twist of fate could very well put any and all of them in the hands of more abusive owners... which is exactly what happens to set up the story's events.
* TitleDrop: "Beloved" is the inscription on Sethe's daughter's tombstone, and the name by which her ghost is known. (The child's true name [[NoNameGiven is never given]].)
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Mr. Garner's death is followed by the far harsher Schoolteacher running things. He wants to "correct" the previous trends of Mr. Garner giving his slaves guns, listening to their opinions, and generally treating them like they are adult humans rather than helpless children, and one of his first actions is to prevent Halle from working outside of Sweet Home to earn his family's freedom.
* VerbedTitle
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Sethe was inspired by [[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=168 Margaret Garner]]. The name of Mr. and Mrs. Garner who owned Sweet Home is a ShoutOut to this.
* WorkingOnTheChainGang: Paul D spent time on a chain gang in a Georgia prison after trying to kill his master.
* YouAreNumberSix: There were several slaves named Paul at Sweet Home. Paul D's brothers names were Paul A and Paul F. It's quite dehumanizing and suggests a total lack of identity and interchangeability of slaves in their master's minds. Sixo is also named like this, refering to his son as Seven-O.
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