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Work #331 · Mid (the Pulitzer-winning major novel)

Beloved

Toni Morrison
1987 · English
Novel · African American literature / modernist fiction

Sethe and the ghost of her daughter — Morrison's 1987 novel of slavery, memory, and what cannot be forgotten

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Beloved (Mid (the Pulitzer-winning major novel))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Beloved

The non-linear time of traumatic memory; the post-Civil War present and the pre-Civil War past.

Space

Beloved

Sweet Home plantation; the Ohio post-slavery free space; the spiritual space inhabited by Beloved.

Matter

Beloved

The embodied bodies of the formerly enslaved; the embodied returning ghost.

Observer

Beloved

Sethe, Denver, Paul D, Beloved as the multiple narrative observers.

Energy

Beloved

The energies of trauma, memory, survival, return.

Information

Beloved

The historical record of slavery; the family-personal memory; the spiritual presence of the past.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Beloved

Beloved has been continuously central to American literary, historical, and theological reflection. The Morrison Nobel (1993) and her broader legacy have been substantially shaped by Beloved.