Beloved is heavy on metaphors. It's easy to miss a major theme or metaphor if you don't pay very close attention to what's being said and implied in the book. One of the metaphors I recently picked up on is the idea of the "haunting" of slavery in a post-slavery era. In Beloved, the ghost of the dead baby of the family haunts 124. This is accepted by all, and while several, like Denver's brothers, dislike the fact that the house is haunted, they seem to be helpless against this ghost.
This seems to echo pretty consistently the way that slavery was thought of at the time. There were very few slaves who thought that they could just take on their masters and get rid of them. Most of the slaves had to reluctantly accept suffering as not just a passing thing, but as a way of life. The only other way out of their situation was escape, which was dangerous and could be hard, as some slaves would have to leave their families. This too is echoed in Beloved's plot. To escape the ghost, Howard and Buglar leave the house and their family so they may can get away from the suffering the experience at 124. Just as slavery would break up families with sales of family members, the ghost broke up Sethe and Denver's family.
Another theme along these same lines is the idea that even in a post-slavery world, the ghost of slavery lives on. Denver herself has never experienced slaver firsthand, but there is always the constant reminder of the past. This grows ever stronger with Paul D's arrival at 124. He manages to drive out the ghost. Can we see him as taking its place in a different type of haunting? The memories of Sweet Home, both good and bad, are seemingly being forced upon Sethe, who by all indications wants to forget Sweet Home. Halle's memory too haunts Sethe. At first she was haunted by his apparent abandonment of her, but now, after Paul D tells her about the butter incident, she is haunted by his insanity.
The themes of slavery "haunting" a post-slavery world are quite literal in Beloved. They even still apply now, almost 150 years after slavery has ended. The "N-word" is so taboo since it is a horrible reminder of the time. The same goes for the historical "Sambo dolls" and "slave banks" that were referenced in Invisible Man. There probably isn't a more fitting metaphor for slavery than a ghost.
