My initial reaction to Beloved has been amazing. I have enjoyed seeing Paul D’s development, the magical elements, and have even learned to enjoy the abrupt flashbacks. But throughout all the good, I cannot seem to like Denver.

Now this is a good thing for the novel and the ultimate compliment to Morrison’s writing. Good art is supposed to make the consumer feel some type of emotion. But for the love of god, Denver gets on my nerves. She acts like a pre-teen despite being a grown woman. She blames Sethe for all of her problems instead of doing something about them. Denver is 18 years old,  she can leave her haunted house if she wants to; she can venture out and make the friends she always wanted. But instead of doing either of these things, she blames her mother, the person who risked her life and worked extremely hard to put Denver in a postion where she can live comfortably at 18 while providing Sethe with no additional income. She gets mad at Paul D for taking Sethe’s attention. You’re 18, you should not be fiending for your mother’s attention anymore. You should want her to be happy and support anyone that gets her closer to said happiness.

Her relationship with Beloved further built my disdain for her character. She is so egotistical that she gets upset that Beloved did not return for her, as if that would make any sense. She wasn’t even conscious when she died, how would she remember you? She even tells Beloved to not tell Sethe who she really is. She is in no place to ask that and the fact that she would further proves that she is at least a little bit narcissistic.

Again, I’d like to reiterate that this is a good thing; that Toni Morrison making me feel something about one of her characters is a sign of high-level writing. Nevertheless, I still dislike Denver.