In Beloved, Toni Morrison writes about a very important and controversial time in American history. It is not easy to describe the lives of freed and escaped slaves and the people dear to them. Morrison, through the use of diction, personification and repetition, creates a story that grabs attention as well as makes the reader feel as if they are part of the novel.
             Diction is extremely important to any good writer. The title of the book was chosen carefully and is conveyed throughout its contents. Beloved is a very meaningful word in this text; not only is it the title, but also the name of a very important character. Whenever the title of a book is seen in its context, it is important to think about what the author is saying (if anything) through the deliberate use. The relevance of the dead baby's headstone only saying 'BELOVED' is not seen clearly at first. After being introduced to the character Beloved, it is clear that the title of the work and the engraving on the tombstone were chosen with purpose. The reader gleans that Beloved is a character not to be taken lightly upon first introduction. It is evident that she is the reborn spirit of Sethe's dead child. This is known by her name, all of the similarities between Beloved and a newborn and the allusion to Sethe birthing a child at first sight of Beloved. The name Beloved takes on greater meaning (as stated before) when the reader looks back to where Sethe is thinking about the headstone of her deceased child. "With another ten [minutes] could she have gotten 'Dearly' too?...she could have had the whole thing...Dearly Beloved. But what she got, settled for, was the one word that mattered." (Beloved 5) Upon introduction to Beloved, the reader learns that she possesses many qualities of a newborn child. She has three scars on her forehead "so fine and thin they seemed at first like hair, baby hair before it bloomed...", she has a hard time keeping her eyes open, she can't ...