Beloved

Question: How does one become an “insider” or “outsider?”

As we discover the different layers of the protagonist in
Beloved, we find more and more answer to the big question. It is quite apparent
that Sethe is an “outsider,” however; this is not due to some personal action
she committed, but rather the mere fact that she is black. But the fact that
Sethe doesn’t physically appear to be an “insider” doesn’t completely rule her
out of this title in my opinion and this is because of her mental determination.
Sethe stops at nothing to find every way possible to level the playing field
and bring the white folks down to her level. Furthermore, I believe that we can
find more answers to this big question in the character of Beloved herself.
Being a ghost, Beloved obviously has a spiritual advantage over the other
characters. This enables her to manipulate characters and be the most prevalent
“insider” in the novel. Beloved introduces an entire new dimension to the big
question because of the fact that what determines being an outsider in this
instance are aspects of life that are uncontrollable and spiritual.