Many critics mistakenly refer to ''Beloved'' as a ghost story. Mr. Joyner writes of the ''embodied spirit'' of the main character's murdered daughter. ''Beloved'' is not a ghost story.

Is Beloved a spirit?

Perhaps it would be more accurate to interpret Beloved not as a singular individual, but rather as a composite identity. That is, Beloved is a dual spirit that represents both Sethe's mother and her daughter.

What does the ghost in Beloved represent?

Beloved's ghost is used as a means to remind each individual in the novel of her/his personal past, and in the process, reminding the whole African American community of the suffering their ancestors went through during slavery. In order to achieve that objective, Morrison needs to render the ghost a sense of reality.