“No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” ~ Lawrence Sterne In Toni Morison’s novel Beloved, the character of Denver exemplifies the Sterne quotation above. She is drawn to Beloved but is also fiercely loyal to her mother whom Beloved is steadily …showed first 75 words of 694 total…

…showed last 75 words of 694 total…tried so hard to win Beloved’s affections. The length of her indecision and the deep isolation she felt are evidence of her intense psychological pain. It is not until she is able to abandon Beloved, a symbol of Sethe’s (and through her Denver’s) past, that she can begin to heal her spiritual wounds and move into the future as an individual, actions that embody Toni Morison’s messages in the novel. *683 words