Toni Morrison's Beloved Chapter 1

Sethe's Background

• Sethe was born in the South to an African mother she never knew
• At 13, she was sold to the Garners, who owned Sweet Home, a plantation that practiced a relatively benevolent kind of slavery
• The other slaves, all men, lusted after her but never touched her
• They were Sixo, Paul D, Paul A, Paul F, and Halle

Sethe's Life at Sweet Home

• Sethe married Halle, who had bought his mother's freedom by hiring himself out on weekends
• Together, they had two sons, Howard and Buglar, and a baby daughter whose name is never mentioned
• Sethe was pregnant with a fourth child when she left Sweet Home
• After Mr. Garner's death, his widow, Mrs. Garner, asked her brother-in-law, known as schoolteacher, to help her run the farm
• Schoolteacher's oppressive presence made life on the plantation unbearable

Escape and Slavery

• Sethe and the other slaves decided to run, but schoolteacher and his nephews captured Paul D and Sixo
• Schoolteacher killed Sixo and brought Paul D back to Sweet Home
• Sethe sent her children ahead to her mother-in-law Baby Suggs's house in Cincinnati
• Schoolteacher's nephews seized Sethe in the barn, violating her and stealing her milk meant for her infant daughter
• Halle, watching from a loft, went mad afterwards

Sethe's Journey to Freedom

• Sethe reported schoolteacher's misdeeds to Mrs. Garner and was severely whipped, despite being pregnant
• Swollen and scarred, Sethe ran away, but collapsed from exhaustion in a forest
• A white girl, Amy Denver, found her and nursed her back to health
• Amy helped Sethe deliver her baby, Denver, in a boat
• Sethe received help from Stamp Paid, who rowed her across the Ohio River to Baby Suggs's house
• Baby Suggs cleaned Sethe up before allowing her to see her three older children

The Infanticide

• Rather than surrender her children to a life of slavery, Sethe tried to kill them in the woodshed
• Only the third child, her older daughter, died, with her throat cut with a handsaw
• Sethe later arranged for the baby's headstone to be carved with the word "Beloved"

Post-Slavery Life

• Sethe was taken to jail, but a group of white abolitionists, led by the Bodwins, fought for her release
• Sethe returned to 124, where Baby Suggs had sunk into a deep depression
• The community shunned the house, and the family lived in isolation

Paul D's Journey

• Paul D endured torturous experiences in a chain gang in Georgia
• He was sent to Georgia after trying to kill Brandywine, a slave owner to whom he was sold by schoolteacher
• Paul D's traumatic experiences caused him to lock away his memories, emotions, and ability to love in the "tin tobacco box" of his heart
• He escaped during a rainstorm and traveled north, following the blossoming spring flowers

The Novel's Beginning

• The novel begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Sethe has been living with her 18-year-old daughter Denver
• Sethe's mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, lived with them until her death eight years earlier
• Sethe believes her two sons, Howard and Buglar, ran away due to the malevolent presence of an abusive ghost that haunts their house at 124 Bluestone Road

Test your understanding of the first chapter of Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, which tells the story of Sethe, a former slave, and her family in Cincinnati, Ohio. Learn about the characters, their relationships, and the mysterious events that unfold. Explore the themes of slavery, freedom, and haunting in this powerful novel.