Toni Morrisons Purpose for Beloved

       One question that was frequently asked during class was "what is Beloveds purpose?" I began to believe that Ms. Lord was most likely leading us on to something, so I started to look more into it. After doing my last blog about how Beloved impacted Denver, I started to think about Beloved's impact on the rest of the characters throughout the book. I noticed that she is a vital character for all of the characters and she had made a big impact on each of them. Beloved forces Paul D and Sethe to face their deepest pains to be able to move on with their lives.
       In one chapter there is a scene where Beloved rapes Paul D. It is almost as if she hypnotizes him and forces him not to refuse her. While that is occuring, Paul D keeps talking about a tobacco can slowly opening. This repreents his deepest pains that he had locked away in order to not remember.

"Call me my name."
"No."
"Please call it. I'll go if you call it."
"Beloved.' He said it, but she did not go. She moved closer with a football he didn't hear and he ddn't hear the whisper that the flakes of rust made eithor as they fell away from the seams of his tobacco tin. So when the lid gave he didn't know it. What he knew was that when he reached the inside part he was saying, 'Red heart. Red heart.' over and over again. Softly then so loud it woke Denver, then Paul D imself. 'Red heart. Red heart.(137-138)"

While having sex with Beloved he repeats "Red heart" to the point that it woke Paul D mentally and I believe that it means in his can was his heart. The can was closed and Beloved forced Paul D to open it, revealing his emotions and past that are traumatic and that he tried to forget which is the "Red heart." He was forced to face his deepest fears, ultimatly leading to Paul D leaving which was what Beloved wanted. I think that Beloved purposefully made Paul D face his past because she knew that he would leave if he did. Beloved wanted Sethe for herself, not to share with Paul D.
       Beloved also forced Sethe to face her most traumatic past. Beloved told Sethe who she truly was and basically giult tripped Sethe to the extreme o the point where she almost killed Sethe. She haunted Sethe physically and mentally. It wasn't until Sethe tried to "save" Beloved by trying to kill Mr. Bodwin, that Beloved forgave Sethe. The crime of killing her own dauhter had always haunted her, and by Beloved forgiving her, it released her guilt. By getting rid of Sethes guilt and forgiving her, it feels as if Beloved was allowing Sethe to live again and start to move on. Ultimatly Beloved had helped Sethe face her deepest pains and not be stuck in the past anymore.
      Overall I do not believe that these were Beloved's intentions to do so. She had negative intentions. She did not care about Denver at all (you'll get what I'm talking about if you read my past blog), she wanted to get rid of Paul D, and She wanted to Haunt Sethe so she would not forget what she did to Beloved. Even though she had negative intentions, Toni Morrison created Beloved in order to help all of the characters move on, even if it wasn't Beloved's intentions.