Beloved vanishes

In the confusion following Sethe's attack on Mr. Bodwin, Beloved disappears. Some say she exploded, others that she vanished into thin air. Her footprints are seen by the stream, but they fade away. The community, and even Sethe and Denver, begin to forget her, as if she were a dream. The house at 124 is finally quiet, free of the ghost that has haunted it for so long. Beloved's departure leaves a void, but also a sense of release. She is remembered only as a story that is not to be passed on.