Beloved entries 16-27

16. "Denver had worried herself sick trying to think of a way to get Beloved to share her room" (pg. 79). Denver has finally found someone who takes away the loneliness, but it seems like Beloved doesn't love Denver as much. Later in the story, we actually read about Beloved saying that the only person she loves is Sethe. In a sense, this makes Denver more alone than she ever was because now she thinks she isn't. I think Beloved is just using the way Denver seems to worship her. When Denver finds out how Beloved really feels, she will be devastated.
17. "Other people went crazy. Why couldn't she?" (pg. 83). Most people are afraid of the unknown of being crazy as well as being rejected by society. Sethe has already been shunned by society, so that isn't a concern for her. Now she just wants to go crazy so she won't remember the horrors of the past. The main problem here, I think, is that Sethe is already crazy, but she hasn't suffered any of the memory loss that others have. Fate in this book seems to keep from people the thing they want most in the world.
18. "There's a way to put it there...which is worse" (pg. 84). Paul D is saying that it's bad for the slaves to be treated cruelly enough with the bit that they go mad. He wonders if it's worse to take out the craziness because when you're mad the pain and suffering doesn't seem quite as real as when you're perfectly sane. On the other hand, Sethe suffers a lot and she's a bit on the crazy side.
19. "This moment of certainty...the spore itself" (pg. 99). This parallels the lives of the slaves and plays into the theme of slavery. The only future they have is the one that exists for them before they are born, the imaginary plans that parents make that they secretly know will never happen, but it makes them happier to think about it. When the baby is born, their future dies in slavery.
20. "...opened her great heart to those who could use it" (pg. 102). It has been mentioned often that former slaves are afraid to love or even become attached to people/things. Baby Suggs just allows herself to love and be loved. This is what makes her such a great preacher(?). She doesn't seem to worry about the future and things being taken away from her, but rather she lets herself be content with the love that she has for the time being.
21. "It started...children cried..." (pg. 103). Baby Suggs knows how the escaped and former slaves try to hold everything in because the less emotion they show the less likely are to be punished for it. They try so hard to be perfect in order to keep from losing everything (or to keep from being beaten) that they become hugely burdened by the weight of their emotions. Baby helps them to let go, playing into the idea of rebirth.
22. "...Sethe knew grief at 124 had started when she jumped down off the wagon..." (pg. 105). This suggests that the blackness of grief and despair that Sethe can't seem to let go of brings everyone else down, even the most easily inspired of the slaves. This also contrasts with the luck that Denver has and the way Paul D can get people to talk to him about their problems.
23. "...it didn't matter if it was real or not" (pg. 110). This Sethe contrasts with the character we see now. This one seems to love her children and dote on them. The current Sethe doesn't seem to pay much attention to Denver. It is possible that Sethe resents that she wasn't able to kill Denver to protect her at the same time she did Beloved.
24. "...for they would not visit...mistreated" (pg. 112). This aspect of the story parallels society both in the time of the author and the society we live in now. When a person does something out of the ordinary, even for love, it is frowned upon by the masses because it just isn't the way things are done.
25. "Beloved so agitated she behaved like a two-year-old" (pg. 116). I think Sethe knows subconsciously that Beloved is her ghost daughter. She is trying to block out the facts that are facing her. She doesn't want to know that Beloved is her daughter because she prefers to think that her daughter is safe from all harm that could come from the world.
26. "They sang lovingly of graveyards and sisters long gone" (pg. 128). This is ironic for the reader coming from a different view point, but for the slaves, death was a blessing that was supposed to bring the peace and rest that could never be found in life. This sentence both parallels and contrasts Beloved. She was in a graveyard for a little bit of time, but she isn't the sister who is long gone.
27. "Looking kept it at bay" (pg. 141). Denver thinks she's happier with Beloved around and perhaps she is a little bit, but she is still lonely. She isn't loved by Beloved as much as she gives her love. Beloved told Paul D that the only one she loves is Sethe. Denver may think that Beloved feels affection for her, but the reader can see the emptiness that is there. Thinking that Beloved loves her will only make Denver more lonely in the end.