Beloved Book Notes Summary

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Sethe believes Beloved is her murdered daughter reincarnated. She takes account of all the coincidences and connections that prove Beloved is her daughter.

"I would have known right away who you was when the sun blotted out your face the way it did when I took you to the grape arbor. I would have known at once when my water broke. And when I did see your face it had more than a hint of what you would look like after all these years. I would have known who you were right away because the cup after cup of water you drank proved and connected to the fact that you dribbled clear spit on my ace the day I got to 124.

I would have known right off, but Paul D distracted me. Otherwise I would have seen my fingernail prints right there on your forehead for all the world to see. From when I held your head up, out in the shed. And later on, when you asked me about the earrings I used to dangle for you to play with, I would have recognized you right off, except for Paul D." Chapter 20, pg. 203

Now that they're together, Sethe is going to teach Beloved everything a mother should teach a daughter. Sethe, because her mother was just an unknown woman in a rice field, wishes to become the mother she never had.