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intolerable
incapable of being put up with
Her past had been like her present—
intolerable—and since she knew death was anything but forgetfulness, she used the little energy left her for pondering color.
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perfunctory
hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
Together they waged a
perfunctory battle against the outrageous behavior of that place; against turned-over slop jars, smacks on the behind, and gusts of sour air.
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immobile
not capable of movement or of being moved
For a man with an
immobile face it was amazing how ready it was to smile, or blaze or be sorry with you.
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undulate
move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
Paul D tied his shoes together, hung them over his shoulder and followed her through the door straight into a pool of red and
undulating light that locked him where he stood.
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intricate
having many complexly arranged elements; elaborate
He rubbed his cheek on her back and learned that way her sorrow, the roots of it; its wide trunk and
intricate branches.
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deprivation
the disadvantage that results from losing something
Her
deprivation had been not having any dreams of her own at all.
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rendezvous
a meeting planned at a certain time and place
Now it was too late for the
rendezvous to happen at the Redmen’s house, so they dropped where they were.
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simulate
give a false appearance of
Later he punctured her calf to
simulate snakebite so she could use it in some way as an excuse for not being on time to shake worms from tobacco leaves.
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intently
with strained or eager attention
So looking at each other
intently was a Sunday-morning pleasure and Halle examined her as though storing up what he saw in sunlight for the shadow he saw the rest of the week.
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condemnation
an expression of strong disapproval
Denver had taught herself to take pride in the
condemnation Negroes heaped on them; the assumption that the haunting was done by an evil thing looking for more.
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modesty
freedom from vanity or conceit
The walls of the room were slate-colored, the floor earth-brown, the wooden dresser the color of itself, curtains white, and the dominating feature, the quilt over an iron cot, was made up of scraps of blue serge, black, brown and gray wool—the full range of the dark and the muted that thrift and
modesty allowed.
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apparently
from appearances alone
Sometimes they ran along the railroad track laughing, too loud,
apparently, to hear her because they never did turn around.
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mediocre
moderate to inferior in quality
So, although the carnival was a lot less than
mediocre (which is why it agreed to a Colored Thursday), it gave the four hundred black people in its audience thrill upon thrill upon thrill.
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gratitude
a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
Arabian Nights Dancer cut her performance to three minutes instead of the usual fifteen she normally did—earning the
gratitude of the children, who could hardly wait for Abu Snake Charmer, who followed her.
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askew
turned or twisted to one side
Women who drink champagne when there is nothing to celebrate can look like that: their straw hats with broken brims are often
askew; they nod in public places; their shoes are undone.
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enunciation
the articulation of speech with regards to intelligibility
He recognized the careful
enunciation of letters by those, like himself, who could not read but had memorized the letters of their name.
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blemish
a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something
Denver tended her, watched her sound sleep, listened to her labored breathing and, out of love and a breakneck possessiveness that charged her, hid like a personal
blemish Beloved’s incontinence.
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profound
of the greatest intensity; complete
Just as Denver discovered and relied on the delightful effect sweet things had on Beloved, Sethe learned the
profound satisfaction Beloved got from storytelling.
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malevolent
wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
"The shoe strings don’t fix!” she shouted and gave him a look so
malevolent Denver touched her arm.
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bereft
sorrowful through loss or deprivation
During, before and after the War he had seen Negroes so stunned, or hungry, or tired or
bereft it was a wonder they recalled or said anything.
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clabber
raw milk that has soured and thickened
There is also my husband squatting by the churn smearing the butter as well as its
clabber all over his face because the milk they took is on his mind.
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offend
strike with disgust or revulsion
He wants me to ask him about what it was like for him—about how
offended the tongue is, held down by iron, how the need to spit is so deep you cry for it.
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unbearable
incapable of being put up with
Finally Denver’s breath steadied against the threat of an
unbearable loss.
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redundant
more than is needed, desired, or required
The break, followed by the
redundant announcement of labor, arched her back.
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deny
declare untrue; contradict
However many times Baby
denied it, Sethe knew the grief at 124 started when she jumped down off the wagon, her newborn tied to her chest in the underwear of a whitegirl looking for Boston.
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clarify
make clear and comprehensible
The desire, let alone the gesture, to meet her needs was good enough to lift her spirits to the place where she could take the next step: ask for some
clarifying word; some advice about how to keep on with a brain greedy for news nobody could live with in a world happy to provide it.
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righteous
morally justified
Into the empty space of not knowing about Halle—a space sometimes colored with
righteous resentment at what could have been his cowardice, or stupidity or bad luck—that empty place of no definite news was filled now with a brand-new sorrow and who could tell how many more on the way.
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divert
turn aside; turn away from
It was only a tiny disturbance anyway—not strong enough to
divert her from the ambition welling in her now: she wanted Paul D. No matter what he told and knew, she wanted him in her life.
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timid
showing fear and lack of courage
The consequence was a
timid but hard-headed daughter Sethe would die to protect.
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indifferent
marked by a lack of interest
The patience of her mother and grandmother in its presence made her
indifferent to it.
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muster
gather or bring together
Even when she did
muster the courage to ask Nelson Lord’s question, she could not hear Sethe’s answer, nor Baby Suggs’ words, nor anything at all thereafter.
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thwart
hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
Denver was alarmed by the harm she thought Beloved planned for Sethe, but felt helpless to
thwart it, so unrestricted was her need to love another.
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resurrection
a revival from inactivity and disuse
But the damage he did came undone with the miraculous
resurrection of Beloved.
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roiling
(of a liquid) agitated vigorously; in a state of turbulence
By the time they unhitched him from the wagon and he saw nothing but dogs and two shacks in a world of sizzling grass, the
roiling blood was shaking him to and fro.
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reminiscent
serving to bring to mind
The illness that swept them now was
reminiscent of the one that had killed half their number two hundred years earlier.
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involuntary
not subject to the control of the will
Then it was the cold house and it was out there, separated from the main part of 124, curled on top of two croaker sacks full of sweet potatoes, staring at the sides of a lard can, that he realized the moving was
involuntary.
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anticipate
make a prediction about; tell in advance
But sometimes—at moments Denver could neither
anticipate nor create—Beloved rested cheek on knuckles and looked at Denver with attention.
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indolent
disinclined to work or exertion
Where she was once
indolent, resentful of every task, now she is spry, executing, even extending the assignments Sethe leaves for them.
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defer
yield to another's wish or opinion
Deferring to his slaves’ opinions did not deprive him of authority or power.
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humiliate
cause to feel shame
But it was more than appetite that
humiliated him and made him wonder if schoolteacher was right.
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repulsion
intense aversion
When he stood up from the supper table at 124 and turned toward the stairs, nausea was first, then
repulsion.
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melancholy
a feeling of thoughtful sadness
So, when he saw the diminished expectation in her eyes, the
melancholy without blame, he could not say it.
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malice
feeling a need to see others suffer
The threads of
malice creeping toward him from Beloved’s side of the table were held harmless in the warmth of Sethe’s smile.
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dote
shower with love; show excessive affection for
Who had not even escaped slavery—had, in fact, been bought out of it by a
doting son and driven to the Ohio River in a wagon—free papers folded between her breasts (driven by the very man who had been her master, who also paid her resettlement fee—name of Garner), and rented a house with two floors and a well from the Bodwins—the white brother and sister who gave Stamp Paid, Ella and John clothes, goods and gear for runaways because they hated slavery worse than they hated slaves.
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desolate
providing no shelter or sustenance
And no matter, for the sadness was at her center, the
desolated center where the self that was no self made its home.
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exempt
freed from or not subject to an obligation or liability
In Lillian Garner’s house,
exempted from the field work that broke her hip and the exhaustion that drugged her mind; in Lillian Garner’s house where nobody knocked her down (or up), she listened to the whitewoman humming at her work; watched her face light up when Mr. Garner came in and thought, It’s better here, but I’m not.
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futility
uselessness as a consequence of having no practical result
Caught red-handed, so to speak, they would seem to recognize the
futility of outsmarting a whiteman and the hopelessness of outrunning a rifle.
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solemn
dignified and somber in manner or character
From the
solemn air with which Stamp had unfolded the paper, the tenderness in the old man’s fingers as he stroked its creases and flattened it out, first on his knees, then on the split top of the piling, Paul D knew that it ought to mess him up.
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maim
injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration
Nor was it there because the person had been killed, or
maimed or caught or burned or jailed or whipped or evicted or stomped or raped or cheated, since that could hardly qualify as news in a newspaper.
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cleave
separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
This here Sethe talked about love like any other woman; talked about baby clothes like any other woman, but what she meant could
cleave the bone.