Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) stands as one of the most powerful explorations of race, slavery, and memory in American literature. The novel explores the lasting effects of slavery on people, families, and communities and is set in the years following the Civil War. Morrison’s work touches on a variety of topics, including trauma, gender, motherhood, and supernatural elements, but at its foundation is the theme of race. Morrison reveals how race was not only a sociological category but also a means of oppression, dehumanization, and resistance by fusing history with fiction.