Some can argue that you don’t need an actual house to have a home. How does one find a home not only with those around them but also within themselves? How can you find a home when you are a slave, when you are owned and told you are nothing but property? These are questions I had while I was reading beloved. The irony with the name “sweet home” is that it is not at all sweet. There are slaves that are whipped, abused, and sometimes even killed. That is not a home. So I come to my main question, what is home and what does it consist of?
Before Sethe is able to run away from Sweet Home she sends her children away to her mother in laws house (baby Suggs mom). She sends them away in the hopes that they will be safe and maybe reunited each other. Sethe runs away while pregnant and ends up giving birth to her child on the side of the road. A girl named Amy Denver found Sethe and helped to nurse her. Sethe then decides to name her daughter Denver, after Amy. I think that in that moment Sethe was able to find a tiny piece of home within Amy. She helped her bring new life in the world, perhaps even a new hope. We see how desperately Sethe is trying to protect her children from the evil world she knows, especially in regards to slavery. She’d rather kill one of her daughters than have her suffer as a slave. Sethe ends up killing her daughter with a handsaw for that exact reason.
Sethe continues her journey when she returns to 124 where she finds that Baby Suggs has fallen into a deep depression. 124 was one of the few places Sethe felt content maybe even peace but soon the community not only shuns Baby Suggs and Sethe but also the house. The family lives in isolation and proves that it is not just a roof over your head that makes a home but the people you surround yourself with. Sethe is in a battle with herself and the guilt she feels. That guilt follows her everywhere, she can not escape it, therefore wherever she goes her guilt taints the place. Maybe first before you have a physical place of home you need to have a mental head space.
Paul D is also searching for, whether he realizes it or not. Paul D shuts down anything that has to do with trauma. He says that he locked away his memories, emotions, and ability to love. After a few years Paul D finds himself on the porch of Sethe’s house. Through Sethe Paul D starts to open up, therefore he finds a home within Sethe and her kindness. Denver finds a home in her ghost sister, Beloved. They are obsessed with each other but Beloved becomes abusive so Paul D chases away Denvers home. Paul D finds out about the difficult decision Sethe had to make, in regards to killing her child, and leaves Sethe. He eventually comes back to Sethe who he finds is dying in Baby Suggs bed. Sethe continues to feel guilty and she tells Paul D that “she was my best thing” to the he replies “you your best thing Sethe”.
Paul D is perching for home throughout the whole book but he feels as if there is no place for him. Slavery robbed Paul D of the freedom he now has. “Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” I think that home for the characters in the book was taking ownership of their freedom and allowing themselves to love freely and openly. It doesn’t matter where you live, if there is not love within the home it is just an empty vessel.
Boba Gal Books 