The Ridiculously High Cost of Bank Overdraft Fees

The Ridiculously High Cost of Bank Overdraft Fees The Ridiculously High Cost of Bank Overdraft Fees The Ridiculously High Cost of Bank Overdraft FeesWhen it comes to sky-high interest rates, predatory payday loans and cash advances cant hold a candle to the fees banks charge when you overdraft your checking account.Anyone with at least a few thousand dollars in their bank account can spend money relatively freely without worrying about bank overdraft fees. Sure, they can’t just buy a couple boats out of the blue, but they can probably get groceries and gas without having to constantly check their account balance.For everyone thats living paycheck to paycheck, however, the threat of overdraft fees is constant and can quickly make a terrible financial situation even worse. It might not be debtor’s prison, but getting fined for not having money feels sort of Kafkaesque.So how bad are overdraft fees and how can you avoid them? Overdraft fees are heftyâ€"and profitable.Bank overdraft fees are pretty significant and widespread. But don’t just take our word for it! Here’s some bac kground on the current overdraft fee situation in America from Ilian Georgiev, CEO of Charlie, a text-based AI penguin financial advisor:“We’re facing a plagueâ€"of bank fees. In 2017, Americans paid a mind-blowing $34.3 billion in overdraft fees alone (not including all the other abused bank fees paid!), the most paid since 2009 during the end of the Great Recession.“On average in 2017, 38 percent of Charlie users overdrafted and paid $270 in feesâ€"the equivalent of a month of student loans, eight months of wifi, or a smartphone upgrade.”Bank fees tend to be around $35 or higher, and they can be charged multiple times in a short span of time. Some banks will also charge additional fees as time goes by on an overdrafted account. If you don’t immediately realize your account is overdrafted, those fees can quickly add up and you could be looking at hundreds of dollars worth of fines.So why do banks charge overdraft fees?To make money. Next section!OK, to be fair, banks clai m that overdraft fees are used to prevent bounced checks. But you can also get hit with an overdraft fee from trying to make an ATM withdrawal when you don’t have adequate funds, so that explanation might not be fully comprehensive.“The short answer and the truth as to why overdraft fees are so high is there is no federal law regulating what a bank can charge,” explained RJ Mansfield (@DebtAssassin1), consumer’s rights advocate and author of Debt Assassin: A Black Ops Guide to Cleaning Up Your Credit. Its a major source of income for many banks that charge from $25.00 on the low end to $38.00 at the top.”So how can you avoid these fees?Avoiding these fees.The simplest way of avoiding overdraft fees is to make sure that you always have enough money in your account before paying for anything or withdrawing any funds. But just because it’s the simplest method doesn’t mean it’s the easiest. It’s a pain to constantly check your balance, and if you have any auto-payments set up, it’s easy for your account to become depleted without you even realizing it. There has to be a better way!Well, there is. Actually, there are multiple better ways.“There are overdraft protection agreements that link other accounts within your bank to your checking account to cover checks that would normally overdraw your account,” advised Manfield. “This service often involves a fee which will be substantially less than an overdraft charge.”You can also go the app route.“Overdraft protection apps like Dave will advance you money ahead of your paycheck in the case you would otherwise have no money and incur an overdraft fee,” offered personal finance writer Dustyn Ferguson (@dustyndream). “These types of services are fairly cheap, with the Dave app costing just $1 a month. Even if you incur overdraft fees on average just once per year, this $1 a month fee will still save you money!”While not an app, Georgiev explained how Charlie, his chat-based financial a dvice AI, can prevent overdraft fees: “With Charlie, no fee will go unnoticed or get in the way of other, more useful expenses. On average, users have $114 in fees/yearâ€"but with Charlie they can track their spending, set up alerts, etc. to avoid putting any hard earned cash towards bank fees and to make sure their finances stay in shape.”You can check out our app directory for some more suggestions for tools that could help you prevent overdrafts.Setting up overdraft protections can be a hassle, but it’s much less of a hassle than dealing with overdraft fees. Getting out of a tough financial situation is hard enough without facing additional fines for not having enough money. But if you can remove the threat of overdraft fees, it’ll be one less thing to worry about on your journey to financial improvement.To learn more about how your finances safe from outsized fees, predatory lenders, and even outright scammers, check out these related posts and articles from OppLoans:Wha t You Should Look for in a Prepaid Debit CardSo Your Package Got Stolen … Now What?A Field Guide to Spotting Predatory LendersHow to Avoid Getting Insta-Scammed on InstagramWhat are your best tips for avoiding overdraft fees?  We want to hear from you! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.ContributorsDustyn Ferguson  (@dustyndream) is the personal finance aficionado behind  Dime Will Tell. He often blogs about his experiences and shares his secrets when it comes to making and saving more money to achieve financial success.Ilian Georgiev is the co-founder and CEO of  Charlie, a text-based personal assistant that helps average Americans worry less about money and have access to personalized financial advice. Prior to co-founding Charlie, Ilian was a Product Manager and the Head of Product in mobile gaming at Pocket Gems and Chobolabs. There, Ilian launched and scaled multiple chart-topping apps that have generated over hundreds of millions of revenue across hundreds of millio ns of users. When he’s not building penguins that talk about money and save you from your bills, Ilian enjoys sailing and using emojis in all parts of his life. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Vassar College and an M.B.A. from Stanford.RJ Mansfield  (@DebtAssassin1) is a consumer’s rights advocate and author of  Debt Assassin: A Black Ops Guide to Cleaning Up Your Credit.

Imperefct Charity in Bartleby, the Scrivener Essay

One typically displays acts of charity for the love of mankind or benefit of society. However, differentiating whether a generous deed reflects altruistic behavior or selfishness can be difficult. In Herman Melvilles Bartleby, the Scrivener, the lawyer performs charitable conduct toward Bartleby to acquire self-approval and an honorable conscience. The lawyer employs Bartleby, a lifeless man, as a copyist for his law firm. In the beginning of his employment, Bartleby works efficiently. However, Bartleby soon begins to deny the tasks assigned to him with the statement, I would prefer not to (1184). While irritated at Bartlebys response, the lawyer disregards his behavior. Typically, this type of behavior would result in†¦show more content†¦This demonstrates that the lawyer provides charity exclusively for self-gratifying motives and without concern for the wellbeing of Bartleby. As the lawyer continues to generously employ Bartleby for his own personal fulfillment, he eventually becomes annoyed with Bartlebys repetitive rejections of his assigned tasks. The lawyers anger escalates to a point where he physically attacks Bartleby, and for a split second, contemplates murdering him. Yet, the lawyers thoughts of murder cease when he recalls the divine rule, to love one another. Nevertheless, the lawyer goes on to explain that the main principle which drives charity is a great safeguard to its possessor (1197). The lawyer indicates a sensibility to loving Bartleby because of the direct benefit to himself. The lawyers love for Bartleby does not derive itself from generosity, but the mere self-interest [that] prompt all beings to charity and philanthropy (1197). In this particular case, the lawyer selfishly performs charity for fear that he might be imprudent enough to murder Bartleby. The lawyer portrays his self-interest when he moves his office and abandons Bartleby, due to his negative affect on the business. Because Bartleby continues to annoyingly dawdle around the old office, the lawyer attempts to rid the building of Bartleby, for the lawyer is fearful of being exposed (1201) and criticized by the public. Clearly, the lawyer speaks to Bartleby in hopes of relieving himself from any

Citizenship and Government in Henry Thoreaus Civil...

Citizenship and Government in Henry Thoreaus Civil Disobedience Philosophers, historians, authors, and politicians have spent centuries pondering the relationship between citizens and their government. It is a question that has as many considerations as there are forms of government and it is rarely answered satisfactorily. A relatively modern theorist, author Henry Thoreau, introduced an idea of man as an individual, rather than a subject, by thoroughly describing the way a citizen should live many of his works. He indirectly supplements the arguments he presents in his essay Civil Disobedience through a comprehensive selection of adages found in his other works. In particular, the phrases A simple and independent mind does not†¦show more content†¦The only real power the State holds over any individual is the promise of brute force; it never intentionally confronts a man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses (687). Therefore, many acts the State requires will be unjust—they can and will force a man to slave for the sake of an ordeal he does not believe in. As Thoreau notes in Civil Disobedience, a wise man will only be useful as a man (678). In essence, Thoreau believes that a man who toils at any ruling institution’s bidding simply because it bid him to do so sacrifices his own facilities as a human being. He then becomes nothing more than a man put on a level with wood and earth and stones... Command[ing] no more respect than men of straw, or a lump of dirt (678). Another quotation that helps to explicate Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience is To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. In this phrase, Thoreau uses the term awake as an euphemism for being fully aware of one’s concept of right and fully in control of one’s moral and physical existence. Understandably, people who are consistently awake, in this sense of the word, are hard to find: There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man (680). Also, the fact that Thoreau has never met a man who was quite awake implies that fully conscious individuals have difficulty existing in modernShow MoreRelatedBeing a Good Citizen Essay960 Words   |  4 PagesDoes good citizenship necessitate following the laws despite some kind of injustice within them? Are good citizens obliged to blindly follow the government policies? It follows then, what is good citizenship? Henry David Thoreau provides an adequate definition of good citizenship within his essay, Civil Disobedience; Thoreau discusses certain characteristics of a good citizen. Examples of Thoreaus definition exist in both the ancient and contemporary culture. Sophocles describes Antigone as a goodRead MoreSelf-Reliance and Good Citizenship in Henry David Thoreaus Essay, Civil Disobedience804 Words   |  4 PagesSelf-Reliance and Good Citizenship Civil Disobedience is an essay by Henry David Thoreau on the place of civil disobedience in society. It analyzes men in society, the folly of majority and most importantly of all, it analyzes good citizenship. It looks at what it means to be a good citizenship and the most recurring theme is self-reliance. He discusses obedience to principle, independence from the government, and intolerance of injustice, which are all just kinds of self-reliance. Self-Reliance

History of La Cosa Nostra Free Essays

Running Header: {History of La Cosa Nostra} History of La Cosa Nostra UNK Dr. Neal CJ 380 12. 01. We will write a custom essay sample on History of La Cosa Nostra or any similar topic only for you Order Now 2011 Envision a world where crime is king; a world where mobsters were more influential than political figures, controlled law enforcement, and ran cities to line their own pockets. They stole from whom they wanted and murdered those that got in their way. While it sounds like something out of a movie, it actually happened here in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. The American Mafia has evolved over the years as various gangs assumed and lost dominance: the Black Hand gangs around 1900; the Five Points Gang in the 1910s and ‘20s in New York City; Al Capone’s Syndicate in Chicago in the 1920s. Since the 1900s, thousands of Italian organized crime figures, mostly Sicilian Mafiosi, have come illegally to this country. The Italian Immigrants crowded into older lower class neighborhoods of American cities, sometimes given names such as â€Å"Little Italy†. These neighborhoods suffered from overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions. Living together in such closed communities created little more than a microcosm of the society they had left in Europe (par. 3, Black Hand). Some criminals exploited this fact, and began to extort the more prosperous Italian’s in their neighborhood creating a crime that would eventually snow-ball into an epidemic known as ‘The Black Hand’ (par. 3, Black Hand). The extortions were done anonymously by delivering threatening letters demanding money, signed with crudely drawn symbols, such as a knife or a skull. People paid the Black Hand extortionists in the fear that American law had no understanding, or power, to help them (par. , Black Hand). Many who fled here in the early 1920’s helped establish what is known today as La Cosa Nostra or the American Mafia (par. 10, FBI). La Cosa Nostra, or the LCN as it is known by the FBI, consists of different â€Å"families† or groups that are generally arranged geographically and engaged in significant and organ ized racketeering activity (par. 30, FBI). The LCN is most active in the New York metropolitan area, parts of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and New England. It has members in other major cities and is involved in international crimes (par. 1, FBI). During the 1920s Prohibition era, when the 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution banned the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcoholic beverages, Italian-American gangs along with other ethnic gangs entered the booming bootleg liquor business and transformed themselves into sophisticated criminal enterprises, skilled at smuggling, money laundering and bribing police and other public officials (par 2, History Channel). By the end of the ‘20s, two primary factions had emerged, leading to a war for control of organized crime in New York City. The murder of faction leader Joseph Masseria brought an end to the gang warfare and in 1931 Sicilian-born crime boss Salvatore Maranzano crowned himself the â€Å"capo di tutti capi,† or boss of all bosses, in New York (par 3, History Channel). Two of the most powerful La Cosa Nostra families, known today as the Genovese and Gambino families emerged from Maranzano’s restructuring efforts. Maranzano named Luciano the first boss of what would later be known as the Genovese family. Unhappy with Maranzano’s power grab, Lucky Luciano had him murdered that same year (par 3, History Channel). Charles â€Å"Lucky† Luciano became the new leader. Luciano then masterminded the formation of a central organization called the Commission to serve as a sort of national board of directors for the American Mafia, which by then consisted of at least 20 crime families across the country (par 3, History Channel). New York, which had become America’s organized-crime capital, had been divided into five main Mafia families; everywhere else the Mafia operated, there was just one crime family per city. The Commission’s role was to set policies and mediate disagreements among the families (par 3, History Channel). In 1936, Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison. Ten years later, he was released from prison and deported to Italy, never to return. When he was convicted, Frank Costello became acting boss (par. 49, FBI). Costello led the family for approximately 20 years until May of 1957 when Genovese took control by sending soldier Vincent â€Å"the Chin† Gigante to murder him. Costello survived the attack but relinquished control of the family to Genovese. Attempted murder charges against Gigante were dismissed when Costello refused to identify him as the shooter (par. 50, FBI). In 1959, it was Genovese’s turn to go to prison following a conviction of conspiracy to violate narcotics laws. He received a 15-year sentence but continued to run the family through his underlings from his prison cell in Atlanta, Georgia (par. 51, FBI). The Genovese family went through a succession of bosses until Lombardo, his two captains in prison and his health failing, turned full control of the Genovese family over to Gigante, the man who tried to kill Costello 30 years earlier (par. 56, FBI). Gigante ran the family from behind the scenes while pretending to be mentally ill until he was convicted of racketeering and murder conspiracy in December 1997. Gigante’s odd behavior and mumbling while he walked around New York’s East Village in a bathrobe earned him the nickname â€Å"the Odd Father† (par. 58, FBI). The other powerful New York mafia family was the Gambino Family. The Gambino family was named for its most powerful boss, Carlo Gambino, a smart, cunning individual with a fascination for the works of Prince Machiavelli. His sharp business sense, and traditional values, earned him the respect of his allies. Don Carlo was never arrested during his career as boss, and he died of natural causes in 1976, leaving brother-in-law Paul Castellano in charge of operations. From 1976 until his assassination by John Gotti in 1985, Castellano would come to be known as the â€Å"Boss of Bosses†. Big Paulie Castellano was never a mobster in the classic sense, but rather a racketeer. He didn’t even hang out with other gangsters, preferring the company of businessmen, and other â€Å"important† individuals. Castellano had few enemies, but John Gotti believed Aniello Dellacroce should have been made boss, and he had often been chastised by Castellano for dealing drugs and conducting operations without prior consultation. When Big Paulie was arrested by the FBI after bugs planted in the mobsters home had provided several hours of recorded evidence, rumors began to circulate as to whether he would rat out fellow Gambino Family members, John Gotti, now acting in lieu of Dellacroce who had recently died of brain cancer, decided it was time to plan Big Paulie’s retirement (par. 1, Gambino Family/Paul Castellano). Castellano was gunned down outside Sparks Steakhouse in Manhatten as Gottie and Sammy the Bull Gravano watched from a nearby car. Throughout the 80s, Gotti earned the nickname, the â€Å"Teflon Don†; for none of the charges brought against him would stick†¦ At least until the early 90s, when he was indicted and tried on a RICO (Racketeer Influenced, and Corrupt Organizations) case; this time facing a prosecution armed with mobster turned informant Sammy â€Å"The Bull† Gravano, who had been Gotti’s own underboss, and who provided damning testimony against his former boss, particularly about about the Castellano murder. Gotti was sentenced to life imprisonment, and later made several attempts at a second trial, all of which were denied. John Gotti died of cancer in the Springfield, Missouri federal prison hospital, on June 10th, 2002 (par. 1, Gambino Family/ John Gotti). Another of the five families is the Bonanno crime family, originally headed by then twenty-six-year-old Joseph â€Å"Joe Bananas† Bonanno, Sicilian-born and one of the youngest bosses of all time. The Bonanno War or â€Å"Banana Split† occurred when the Commission demoted Bonanno to underboss, sparking fervent family in-fighting among those who sided with Bonanno and those who sided with the new boss, Paul Sciacca. The fighting continued until 1968, when Bonanno suffered a heart attack and retired, though by this point the Commission had stripped the Bonanno family of its seat (par. 3, Investigation and Discovery). Troubles with the law have plagued the family, leading one newspaper to report that 75 of its 150 members have been indicted on various charges (par. 5, Investigation and Discovery/ Bonanno). The Columbo Family is the fourth of the five families. Following the Castellamarese War of 1929-1931, the family emerged as the Profaci family. It was headed by Joseph Profaci, without much threat to his leadership, until the 1950s. After Profaci’s death, Joseph Magliocco took over for a short time before the family was handed over to Joe Colombo, and the family bears his namesake to this day (par. , Investigation and Discovery/ Columbo). The family has been greatly depleted from its heyday, and continues to be ruled by Carmine Persico, now 73 years old, from prison with help from those family members who remain on the ground (par. 6, Investigation and Discovery/ Columbo). The Fifth Family, the Lucchese crime family, as it is known today, emerged out of the Castellamarese War of 1929-1931 , with Gaetano â€Å"Tommy† Gagliano serving as the appointed boss and Gaetano â€Å"Tommy† Lucchese as the appointed underboss. The family was known for its successful forays into industries such as trucking and clothing. Following Gagliano’s death in 1953, Lucchese took over and successfully ran the organization for many years with an excellent reputation. He never received a criminal conviction in his 44 years in the Mafia (par. 1, Investigation and Discovery/ Lucchese). By the mid-20th century, there were 24 known crime families in America, comprised of an estimated 5,000 full-fledged members and thousands of associates across the country. Prior to the 1960s, some government leaders, including FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, voiced skepticism about the existence of a national Italian-American organized crime network and suggested instead that crime gangs operated strictly on a local level. As a result, law enforcement agencies made few inroads in stopping the Mafia’s rise during this period (par. 6, History Channel). Since its beginnings La Cosa Nostra has been involved in a variety of rackets including gambling, loan sharking, labor union corruption, prostitution, and drug trafficking to name a few. Labor unions provide a rich source for organized criminal groups to exploit: their pension, welfare, and health funds. There are approximately 75,000 union locals in the U. S. , and many of them maintain their own benefit funds. In the mid-1980s, the Teamsters controlled more than 1,000 funds with total assets of more than $9 billion (par. 66, FBI). Labor racketeers attempt to control health, welfare, and pension plans by offering â€Å"sweetheart† contracts, peaceful labor relations, and relaxed work rules to companies, or by rigging union elections (par. 67, FBI). Labor law violations occur primarily in large cities with both a strong industrial base and strong labor unions, like New York, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Senator Estes Kefauver’s Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime did not out rightly expose the complete, brutal reality of the Mafia to the American public. Nor did the Appalachian incident ignite immediate action on the part of the federal government. However, something changed when dozens of Mafia bosses met one 1957 November day at Joseph Barbara’s estate to select Vito Genovese as the boss of bosses. The response by law enforcement of the past had been to try to take down the bosses. But what became evident with the realization of the existence of such a â€Å"syndicate† was that even if Mr. Big were removed, his family would remain intact; it would simply transfer hands, usually resulting in the family being renamed. New legislation would have to be of an entirely different mold in order to be of any use to law enforcement, and such a campaign wouldn’t come into play until after the death of FBI Director Edgar J. Hoover (par. 9, The Mafia and American Law). In 1970, Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, this proved to be a powerful tool in the government’s war on the Mafia, as it allowed prosecutors to go after crime families and their sources of revenue, both legal and illegal. During the 1980s and 1990s, RICO laws were used to convict numerous high-level mobsters. Some Mafiosi, faced with long prison sentences, broke the once-sacred code of omerta and testified against their fellow mobsters in exchange for a place in the federal witness-protection program. At the same time, Mafia membership declined as insular Italian-American neighborhoods, once a traditional recruiting ground for mobsters, underwent demographic shifts and became more assimilated into society at large (par. 7, History Channel). References GangRule. com, The Black Hand. (2011). Retrieved 6:52, December 7, 2011, from http://www. gangrule. com/gangs/the-black-hand Italian Organized Crime, (2011). The Federal Bureau of Investigation website. Retrieved 2:32, December 7, 2011, from http://www. fbi. ov/aboutus/investigate/organizedcrime/italian_mafia Mafia in the United States. (2011). The History Channel website. Retrieved 5:25, December 7, 2011, from http://www. history. com/topics/mafia-in-the-united-states. The Five Families. (2011). The Investigation Discovery website. Retrieved 2:32, December 7, 2011, from http://investigation. discovery. com/investigation/mobs-gangsters/five-families-03. html The Gambino Family. (2002). The Gambino Family website. Retrieved 6:52, Dece mber 7, 2011, from http://www. gambinofamily. com/carlo_gambino. htm How to cite History of La Cosa Nostra, Papers

Why sleep is important free essay sample

Why sleep is important sy utt1eMisssree Sleep is food for are Brain. Just like your body, We need the right food to help develop and support are growing body. Are 3rains go through a process every time we sleep called memory consolidation, What this does IS, When we are sleeping are brains go through everything that happened throughout our day and makes them long-term memories. If we arent sleeping well are brains cant make this process happen, Which can cause memory loss. Without Sleep (Brain Food) are brains wont be able to unction properly, lust like are body wouldnt be able to function without the right healthy foods. Protein, fruits, veggies and dont forget your water! ) Sleep can affect your health In many ways. Sleep affects fat regulation, If you dont get enough sleep your body will store fat, yes store It! unlike If you get a full mghts sleep your body will be able to know what to do with the tat when you take It In and will be able burn t. We will write a custom essay sample on Why sleep is important or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Make sure you are eating the right kinds ot tat though, coconut oil, olive oil. avocadoes. seeds, nuts etc. Bad tats such as, Fried food, sugar, flour. argarine, and soon can store as fat even If Ã'Ÿure getting a good night sleep. Nso not sleeping can cause you to eat too much BAD food, and to much caffeine. Your body shouldnt rely on coffee or energy drinks to give you energy. your body should rely on sleep for energy. yes sleep! People that dont get enough sleep has a higher percentage of getting over-weight than people who get a good night sleep every night. NM wait am minute, Im not saying that just because you start getting a good night sleep, youre magically going to wake up one morning with a six, pack and a fabulous butt. What I am saying though, is your body needs sleep to help fat regulation. Can lack of sleep really put my life at risk? The answer is yes it Can! Sleep Keeps are heart healthy, Sleep interacts with Our blood vessels, so lack Of sleep has been related With vnrsening Of blood pressure and cholesterol, all risks leading to heart disease and stroke! Not sleeping can lead to Cancer! People Who work night shifts, or have late bedtimes, time after time again, have a higher percent chance Of getting Breast and/or Colon Cancer! Sleep reduces Inflammation in the body. The more stress hormones (

Kool

Lilith - The Female Demon in Beloved, by Toni Morrison essays

Lilith - The Female Demon in Beloved, by Toni Morrison essays Lilith is a poignant character in Jewish, Christian, and Greek Mythology, who is generally perceived as a female demon. Theologians believe Lilith to be an evil demon that controls a certain number of animals, and it wasn't until nearly 100 A.D. that visual depictions appear of her and her animals. Lilith is also related to motherhood because Lilith represents the power that women draw from giving birth. In short, Lilith is a demon that is deceitful in every manner: socially, physically, and mentally. In Shirley A. Stave's criticism, Toni Morrison's Beloved and the Vindication of Lilith, Stave explains Toni Morrison's use of the myth Lilith in her novel, Beloved, and how Morrison explores the artifacts of motherhood in Beloved with great ebullience. Stave correctly identifies instances when Morrison employs Biblical allusions, adulthood, and parallelisms between the legend and the novel itself. Stave makes her point clear; the role of motherhood in Beloved is represented by the female demon, Lilith. Although Stave makes this argument with much support from other criticisms and Biblical references, she doesn't divulge Morrison's true function of having Lilith be present in Beloved: Lilith is Beloved. One must see that Beloved is the literal representation of Lilith to fully comprehend the deceitful acts of Beloved. Throughout Morrison's novel, Beloved, is put in different situations that make her portray Lilith. The mentality of Beloved comes from Lilith. Most of Beloved's actions directly mirror the Bible's text when describing what Lilith is. In the Bible, Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and are banished from the Garden of Eden because Lilith played a role in the decision of Eve. For this to be portrayed in Beloved, Morrison uses Paul D and Beloved, Beloved of course being Lilith. Beloved approaches Paul D when he is vulnerable and asks him to, "[T]ouch me on the inside part" (Morrison 137). ...