Denver in the last section of the books seems to represent a bridge between the community and Sethe. While Denver becomes so afraid of Beloved at 124 she decides to go visit Lady Jones for help. She tells her that Sethe is sick and asks if Lady Jones knows of any work she can do. Though Lady Jones doesn’t have any work she tells the community about Sethe’s problems. The community starts bringing baskets and gifts of food and various things by the house to show their support and help the family. Denver in return brings the baskets back to their owners. By doing this she learns and befriends a good portion of the community.
I believe in this section Denver is supposed to represent the antithesis of Beloved. Denver finds her freedom and begins to act independently. While, Beloved slowly beginning to kill Sethe in the house seems to be a representation of how terrible and violent the past was. Denver is reaching out to the community and acting independently. She represents the future. Sethe represents the present and she is the main focus of the book because she shows the reader that in the immediate aftermath of slaverly the suffering did not end. Sethe is tortured by her past (Beloved) to the point where it is killing her. There seems to be very little salvation possible for Sethe. Denver on the other hand, representing the future, seems to show that the future is optimistic.
At the end of the book, when the community gathers to exorcise Beloved, Morrison is showing that the African American Community can unite and move beyond their pasts. They can with each other’s support begin to start the healing process and begin the fight to assimilate into American culture.
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