Chronological Disruption in the Narrative

• Morrison utilises a fragmented timeline in 'Beloved'. The narrative frequently transitions between the present in Cincinnati, Ohio (1873) and different periods of Sethe's past on the Sweet Home plantation - reflecting the characters' traumatic experiences and their struggle for resolution.

• The disruption of chronological order highlights how the past of slavery is never entirely past - it seeps into the present and continues to affect the characters' lives.

• 'Beloved' often presents events from the past first, followed by explanations and reactions in subsequent chapters. This retrospective explanation style deepens understanding of the characters and their motivations.

Role of Memory and Flashbacks in the Narrative

• Morrison uses flashbacks to reveal the deeply traumatic experiences and histories of her characters. These non-linear recollections present the echoing impact of past traumas on the present.

• Memories in the narrative are often subjective and biased - each character often remembers the same event differently. This emphasises the deeply personal and individual ways in which people process trauma.

• Memory is portrayed as a living element in the narrative. Just as the characters cannot escape their past, the novel's structure itself feels besieged by history and memory, which intrudes upon the present at unexpected moments.

Diverse Narrative Perspectives

• 'Beloved' uses an omniscient third-person narrator, switching views between Sethe, Paul D, Denver, and even Beloved. This offers a multi-dimensional portrayal of the experiences and effects of slavery.

• Morrison also employs free indirect discourse, a form of third-person narration that incorporates characters' thoughts and emotions, allowing for a deeper exploration of their interior worlds.

• Narrators are not always reliable in 'Beloved', further contributing to the institution of memory as a subjective and often flawed component of the narrative structure.

Supernatural Elements and Their Impact on the Narrative

• The narrative structure of 'Beloved' incorporates a real ghost, further blurring the boundary between past and present. Beloved’s ghostly incarnation disrupts the narrative, reflecting the characters' disrupted lives.

• The supernatural intrusions into the narrative from Beloved act as a kind of emotional haunting, forcing characters to confront their buried histories.

• Morrison's narrative partly operates within the genre conventions of a ghost story which helps render the horrors of slavery and its ongoing effects on the descendants of slaves in a tangible, visceral way.