In the novel Beloved, written by Toni Morrison and in "Looking for Zora" by Alice Walker, both of the communities in the stories had many similarities. In Toni Morrison's novel, the main character is Sethe, an ex-slave who lives with her daughter, Denver and boyfriend Paul D. in a small town. .
Sethe worked as a slave for many years, and escaped to freedom for 28 days. On the 29th day, her slave master found her, and tried to bring her back to the plantation. Sethe decides that she would rather kill her children than have them live a life of slavery, and tries to do so. She is only successful in killing her youngest daughter, Beloved. Throughout the story, Sethe is shown dealing with the ghost of Beloved haunting her, and making her sick with stress. Beloved drives Paul D. out of her home, and tries to make her mother suffer, just as she had. .
The town was a small community, and because of that everyone seemed to know of Sethe's past. She is outcast from the population, and viewed on as evil for killing her daughter. Once Paul D. finds out about her history, her too reacts like the town with disgust and confusion. He doesn't understand how she could commit such a horrible crime, and leaves her because of it. .
In Alice Walker's essay, "Looking for Zora", she tells a story about a woman who lived in a small, mostly African-American town. She is a very well educated woman, who is well liked by the townspeople. She leads a unique life that her niece is trying to discover more about in this writing.
Zora didn't get along well with her family, because her father thought that she was too headstrong. Even though she was well educated, she still spoke common "black English" like the rest of the population in her town. The homes where she lives were small, box-like houses that lined the streets. This is where she lived until her death, due to high blood pressure. Even in her death her uniqueness is shown in her tombstone according to Walker.