What struck me the most about this reading was the new perspectives that in the series of monologues starting at Chapter 20. I was especially intrigued by Denver’s thoughts, given that besides, Beloved, Denver is the character where we have gotten the least from her perspective in the narrative. As readers, we have been apprehensive of Beloved’s presence and have feared for Sethe’s safety, given that we know that Beloved died at Sethe’s hands. We know that 124 has been haunted by Beloved’s presence, and she has returned in a corporal form with the possible intention of harming those who live there, namely Paul D (the outsider who was trying to find his place in their family), and Sethe (the person who killed her). We have seen that Denver is intrigued by Beloved and has tried to connect with her, but in this chapter we learn that Denver is also concerned for Beloved’s safety.
Denver has chosen to stay with and love Sethe out of fear, now that we know that Sethe’s two sons had to flee from 124 after Sethe tried to kill them after she murdered Beloved. This revelation completely changes the way that we read Denver and Sethe’s relationship, now that we know that Denver is afraid in her own house, and is still scared of what her mother might to do Beloved. It will be interesting to see if and how these revelations are brought out into the open and how they will force Sethe, Beloved, and Denver to address their relationships with one another.
I think noting that we, as readers, now interpret Denver’s actions and words differently than we had the rest of the novel prior to the murder scene. You can definitely sense certain fear Denver has, and she attempts to protect Beloved from Sethe. Even earlier on Denver tries to keep Beloved quiet about who she was. At the time, I thought she wanted to keep Beloved to herself, but now it could be due to her fear that Sethe could hurt Beloved again.
Denver’s monologue reveals deep-seated feelings of fear. Prior to this point in the novel, Denver’s actions towards Sethe could be perhaps be interpreted as genuinely lovely; however, the monologue sheds light on the fact that fear motivates her compassion. I think Denver’s mention of Halle plays an important part in this passage. Denver feels compelled to protect Beloved from Sethe and holds on to hope that her father will come serve as a protector/mend the situation.
Denver’s fear is warranted, but also lacking in understanding. Although Denver does try to understand where Sethe was coming from, she does not know the horrors of where her mom came from because her mom shielded her from it. It seems that Denver now puts blame on people without knowing the full story, like Paul D. On the other side, Denver also romanticizes things she doesn’t know the full story for either, like Halle. It seems we have an Allegory of the Cave-esque situation that is described on the bottom of page 247. So while Denver does acknowledge the relationships she is knowledgeable about in a valid way, she is missing information that makes her account ironic in a dramatic way.