Sethe Sacrifice In Beloved

“Beloved” In “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, the novel follows the life of an ex-slave African American woman named Sethe, living in Ohio in the 1800s told from both third person omniscient and limited. But even more it explores sacrifices, particularly shown with Sethe. Throughout many events Sethe sacrifices continuously to benefit her children and the ones she loves. One quote that displays this sacrifice can be read here; “I got a tree on my back and a haunt in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms. No more running--from nothing. I will never run run from another thing on this earth. I took one journey and I paid for the ticket, but let me tell you something, Paul D Garner: it cost too …show more content…
Sethe would have done almost anything to protect her children and provide for them. The reason she has so much live for her children, maybe even a hint of obsession, is because her own mother did not care much her and she wanted to do what she thought was best for her children. She wanted them to be fed. Her mother instincts kicked in and all she could repeat was that she could not give her children milk, the food to keep them from starvation. But this quote contradicts the reason she killed her daughter and attempted to kill all of her children. Sethe wanted to give the baby her milk to keep her alive, but then begins to reason why keep them alive? To make them endure the same dehumanization she had endured? Sympathy is earned for Sethe for all that she had to sacrifice and endure, but it made her more protective and loving. Which can connect to present situations. People are who they are through the experiences they go …show more content…
She did not look at them; she simply swung the baby toward the wall planks, missed and tried to connect a second time, when out of nowhere the ticking time the men spent staring at what there was to stare at–the old nigger boy, still mewing, ran through the door behind them and snatched the baby from the arch of its mother's swing.”]. This is not a personal essay of what I believe, but I will speak my mind. This quote made me cry. I do not know whether I should hate Sethe or sympathize with her. In a weird way all humans want to sympathize even with the wrong doers. We want to believe that all propel have a heart and have reasons to doing the wrong things they do which is what happens in this case. But now we have to think did she not just sacrifice her child to get her family out of Sweet Home? Out of slavery? But was it worth it? Was her sacrifice worth the pain she had caused? This tragic novel was written to describe a real life occurrence. The story had different names and different details, but this novel was used to describe this slave woman named Margaret Garner. But does it matter what name she had? Does her story have an impact on changing the world? I believe it could. One woman's pain and sacrifices should not go in vain. This novel explains how much pain and how dehumanized people were, not just any people, African Americans. Sacrifice is human nature, whether good or bad we must sacrifice