Before comparing Morrison’s novel to that of a slave narrative it is first important to understand what exact constitutes a slave narrative. Most narratives were recorded after the Civil War and were first hand accounts of the lives of slaves. They focused generally on the pain of slavery and the hardships they had to overcome. They were simple, plain and to the point. Omitting a plot structure, a slave narrative was only fact. A slave narrative was not a novel, however they give writers an idea of “what it was really like.” Dr. Lori Askeland wrote “From the [slave] narrative came the spirit and vitality and angle of vision responsible for the most effective prose writing by black American writers.”

The themes in Beloved are very similar to that of a slave narrative. Sethe, the protagonist, had experienced life as a

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