For the characters in Toni Morrison's Beloved, identity is unimaginably valuable yet unbearably painful to come to terms with. Today, people might say that one's self and one's identity is what Paul D called one's "best thing." Former slaves, like Sethe and Paul D, did not know what it was to be in charge of one's self until they were out of slavery, and this absence of personal identity meant dehumanization. Sethe was treated like an animal, constantly working and being forced to breed like livestock. Multiple characters believed that it was important not to love anyone too much. This is another idea that stems from dehumanizing treatment, and it runs like poison through the black community and families in Beloved.
Glorious victories occur, though, when Denver blossoms into a strong, independent woman, and Paul D tells Sethe she is her "best thing." Though it is important to never forget or cover up the horrors of their pasts, it is essential that they never allow the past to consume them and instead stand tall in the direction of the present. The past has largely molded their identities but it does not define their identities. They, themselves, are "the definers."
