Why Read the Novel Beloved
Beloved is a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison inspired by the true story of Margaret Garner, a runaway slave who was recaptured and attempted to kill her children (and succeeded in killing her two-year-old daughter) rather than being returned to slavery. This novel follows Sethe, a former slave living in Ohio after the Civil War, and her daughter Denver, whose house is haunted by the ghost of Sethe's dead daughter. Beloved won the Pulitzer Price in 1988 and was ranked as the best work of American fiction from 1981 to 2006 by a survey of writers and critics done by The New York Times.
Many students read it during the high school years, yet it is a very controversial read given the themes of infanticide and the traumas of slavery. This book is a powerful insight into the slave narrative and allows the people of today to sympathize and empathize with those who endured slavery. It is an important read for anyone seeking to see those who were enslaved in a light that presents them as more than property, but as people with real feelings and complexities. |
Learn more about the novel:
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Learn more about Margaret Garner:
- Overlooked — Margaret Garner (The New York Times)
- Margaret Garner's story has resonated for the past 164 years. It's one she never got to tell (The Enquirer)