Sethe Killing In Beloved
Desperation or Murder? Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes, people have to do things that they don’t want to do to protect the ones they love. But what if that involves murder? Within Beloved by Toni Morrison, Sethe believed the decision to murder her infant child was necessary, yet instead it was a monstrous and an unjustifiable act that would have devastating effects on the events to come. In order to really grasp why Sethe made such a hasty, rash decision, her prior experience with slavery and the standard of motherhood within slavery must be analyzed in order to realize the yet unforeseen effects of her actions. Sethes life had never been one of luxury. Until her escape from the Sweet Home plantation, not a single
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While mothers are culturally known as the warm and nurturing type, there wasn’t that opportunity within slavery. Most women had multiple children from multiple different men, and were bred like cattle. Schoolteacher had described Sethe as “having at least ten breeding years left” (149). Women and mothers were seen as cattle, and most often treated as cattle, bred for extra workers. Additionally, most parents would never get to keep their children. Either they would be auctioned off, would run away, or end up killed. An example of this would be Baby Sugg’s experience with her eight children, all of which had gone from her. “I had eight. Every one of them gone away from me. Four taken, four chased, and all, I expect, worrying somebody’s house to evil” (5). In order to counteract this and keep her livelihood, Baby Suggs never made any connections or maternal bonds with her children. The expectations of motherhood weren’t all that sweet, but the harshness was needed to survive their harsh world. But with all of these hardships involved with slavery, is this good enough reason to kill? The truth of the matter is that Sethe cared enough about her children to sacrifice them. While she took pity on her children, it probably would’ve been in everyones best interest if she took a step back form her children. Stamp Paid described Sethe’s actions in that “She ain’t crazy. She love those
While mothers are culturally known as the warm and nurturing type, there wasn’t that opportunity within slavery. Most women had multiple children from multiple different men, and were bred like cattle. Schoolteacher had described Sethe as “having at least ten breeding years left” (149). Women and mothers were seen as cattle, and most often treated as cattle, bred for extra workers. Additionally, most parents would never get to keep their children. Either they would be auctioned off, would run away, or end up killed. An example of this would be Baby Sugg’s experience with her eight children, all of which had gone from her. “I had eight. Every one of them gone away from me. Four taken, four chased, and all, I expect, worrying somebody’s house to evil” (5). In order to counteract this and keep her livelihood, Baby Suggs never made any connections or maternal bonds with her children. The expectations of motherhood weren’t all that sweet, but the harshness was needed to survive their harsh world. But with all of these hardships involved with slavery, is this good enough reason to kill? The truth of the matter is that Sethe cared enough about her children to sacrifice them. While she took pity on her children, it probably would’ve been in everyones best interest if she took a step back form her children. Stamp Paid described Sethe’s actions in that “She ain’t crazy. She love those