... and hence, Beloved has been reborn times

 Sethe-escaped slave
 Denver-Sethe's daughter
 Beloved-baby killed at age 2 and has been 
  reincarnated
 Amy(Lu)-a white girl that helps Sethe escape 
  and give birth to Denver
 Halle-married to Sethe at Sweethome
 Baby Suggs-mother of Halle
 Stamp Paid-member of community and friend to 
  Baby Suggs
 Paul D-slave at Sweethome, visits Sethe 
  20 years after escape
 Paul F-slave at Sweethome
 Paul A-slave at Sweethome
 Sixo-slave at Sweethome
 Howard-son of Sethe, ran away at age 13
 Buglar-son of Sethe, ran away at age 13
 
  
 

 
 	During Sethe's run from slavery, the pregnant women finds 
 herself giving birth to the child. Sethe is actually forced to give 
 birth in an old rickety boat on the river standing between her and 
 her freedom. Due to the birth occurring on the river, Morrison 
 effectively uses this object to reveal an image of life. "As soon 
 as Sethe got close to the river her water broke loose to join it."
 (p 83). This event conveys the water of life joining with the water 
 of the river. It is in this conjunction that water is so potently 
 used to represent life. It is a sack of water that has kept Sethe's 
 baby alive for nine months and it is the river water in which the
 baby is born onto. Water is the essence of life and it is responsible
 for holding onto a baby's life while in the mother's womb. The break 
 of the sack is also responsible for signaling the baby into the world,
 thus giving the baby her new life. As the water flows from the 
 mother's womb, the river flows; both bringing the ones who encounter 
 it new life.
 	The river in this situation also represents the change from 
 a life of slavery to one of freedom. Sethe is escaping from her life 
 as a slave into a life that is her own. "Sethe was looking at one 
 mile of dark water, . . . a current dedicated to the Mississippi 
 hundreds of miles away. It looked like home to her..."(p 83). The 
 crossing of the river represents the crossing over of Sethe's life. 
 On one side of the river is slavery, the other side is the land of 
 freedom. Upon traveling across the river, Sethe begins a new life.
 One where she is free to make her own decisions and to accomplish what
 she wants. The river allowed her to make a new life for herself and 
 her child. The water contained in the river emancipated Sethe from a 
 life no human being should live. "The water sucked and swallowed 
 itself beneath them."(p 85). Here, Morrison gives the water its own
 persona. It is this persona or "life" that allows the water to help
 Sethe in her escape; without that "life", Sethe would not have been 
 able to conquer her old existence.	
 	Life is an ever occurring miracle. Each living thing in this
 world is born with the ability to create a life. These living things 
 are the couriers for the next generation. Within each of us are the 
 seeds of our future generations. "Spores of bluefern growing in the 
 hollows along the riverbank float toward the water..."(p 84). Morrison
 uses the image of spores floating on a river to represent the seeds we
 all have. These spores represent the matter that allows life to occur 
 and the water that gives them that life. This observation occurs after
 Sethe's baby has been born. It is point of reminiscence for Sethe. She
 looks at the seeds at sees her own children and realizes those seeds 
 are her responsibility. She is the one who has brought them into the 
 world and now she must guide them down the river of life, equal with 
 those floating spores. "And for a moment it is easy to believe each
 one has one-will become all of what is contained in the spore..."
 (p 84). Sethe chose to allow one of her seeds to grow and blossom 
 within her. It is now her hope that the child will grow-up with freedom
 in her veins and achieve the things Sethe never could. 
 

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