"I don't want to know or have to remember that. I have other things to do: worry, for example, about tomorrow, about Denver, about Beloved, about age and sickness not to speak of love. But her brain was not interested in the future. Loaded with the past and hungry for more, it left her no room to imagine, let alone plan for, the next day."
Throughout the novel, power and possession are large contenders for what events occur. Readers are constantly analyzing the struggles of the characters in their plight to free themselves from the past. In fact, the question that begs to be asked throughout the novel is: Will the characters ever be able to truly free themselves from the past?
My question, as previously defined, is: How does someone of something ultimately exercise complete power over another individual?
Beloved’s physical presence is a reminder of the past that is so painful to resurrect. It is a reminder of the torture and suffering these people endured. However, her presence does not merely remind the characters of the pain experienced years ago. Her toll on Sethe and Denver is obvious throughout the novel. It also serves to restore a history to a group of individuals whose history had gone unnoticed and unappreciated. As with all issues in life, we must face our fears to effectively move past them, and in turn, learn from our pasts.
Just as Paul D. reminds Sethe that we all need a little more of “tomorrow” and less “yesterday,” we must use the past as a learning experience.
