ation of slavery through psychological means. It is a replay of ownership of the slave by the master. Beloved acts and speaks as if she owns Sethe. Beloved says at one point to Sethe, You are mine, You are mine, You are mine (Morrison 216). Again the emphasis on repeated three times shows the use of threes that Morrison uses. This shows how Sethe is still treated like a slave and therefore acts like a slave to Beloved. For a little while Beloved had this control over Denver, but she finally realized that what Beloved does is not right, so she goes for help. Beloved never allows Sethe to be free or never gives her anytime to realize she is being controlled. Psychologically Sethe does not realize that she is free because first the ghost of Beloved caused enslavement in 124 and now the flesh and bone of Beloved causes psychological enslavement.A last reference to numbers is used by Morrison to show the continuation of slavery. When Paul D. finds out that Sethe killed Beloved he makes a comment to Sethe that involves numbers, You got two feet, Sethe, not four (Morrison 165). He tells her to act not like an animal or piece of property, but like a woman. Paul D. tells her that she is not a slave and she should not act like one anymore. He uses that sentence to end the relationship because he cannot stand being physically enslaved by 124 or psychologically enslaved by Beloved. When Beloved is gone, both in ghost and flesh and bone, there is no physical or mental enslavement felt by these characters. It is only until Beloved is gone for good that Paul D. joins Sethe and Denver, in an equal relationship.Morrison uses the references to numbers to show the continuation and aftereffects of slavery through actions of characters, through physical aspects and through psychological aspects. 124 and the two different representations of Beloved is the physical aspect of enslavement. The different actions of the characters that live in 124 ...
