Sethe is always afraid. From the beginning to the end of Beloved, she always has a fear of something. There are a lot of memorable instances of when Sethe shows fear but none resonate more to me than the events that take place in chapter 16. Everything about that chapter is memorable. The fear of Sethe in particular stands out to me. Schoolteacher has found 124 and is coming to bring Sethe’s children back to Sweet Home. Sethe knows what it is like to be a slave. She knows how hard it is to live that life. She chooses to try and kill her children rather than let schoolteacher take them back to Sweet Home. The horrific events occur on page 149; “Inside, two boys bled in the sawdust…” and, “…woman holding a blood-soaked child to her chest…” and finally, “She did not look at them; she simply swung the baby towards the wall planks…” Toni Morrison is able to really drive home the fear that Sethe has for her children. She is willing to kill all four of them rather than let them be taken back to Sweet Home where they will be slaves for the rest of their lives. The question is and will always be; is Sethe justified in her behavior?
Personally, if I had children I don’t think there are any circumstances that would justify me killing them. Maybe I feel this way because I have never been part of something as execrable as slavery, but it still just does not seem right to me. However, Sethe has been. She has been to Sweet Home. She has been raped, whipped, and tortured numerous times and she doesn’t want her children to go through that. She must think that being a slave is worse than death and by trying to kill Howard, Buglar, Beloved, and Denver she is actually saving them. Even though I believe that Sethe is completely insane in trying to kill her children, I can understand where she is coming from. Sethe clearly cares about her children and wants them to live the best life that they can. If that life means staying out of slavery, then Sethe will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.
According to an English essay titled, “Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A Cardiogram of Love and the Search for Identity,” Sethe is justified in trying to kill her children because in the world that Morrison created for Sethe, “love means salvation from slavery.” (pg. 7) I do understand what this essay is saying in that Sethe loves her kids and since, according to the essay, love is about staying away from slavery then she is justified in trying to keep them out of slavery by killing them. However, I do not totally agree with this statement. I think part of the reason she tries to kill them is love but I ultimately think the biggest reason is fear. I think it has more to do with fear because Sethe has been told her whole life that it is important not to love anything too much because that thing can be taken away just as quickly as it was given. Sethe has the fear of her children being beaten, mocked, and worked to the bone. She has the fear that her children will be tormented to the point that they will try to kill themselves. Sethe knows that if she does not try to kill her children in the shed, she will always have the fear that her children will have to live the same horrible life that she had to live through. And for Sethe, anything is better than that.
To conclude, fear is a key aspect of Sethe’s life. Trying to kill her children to keep them out of slavery is just one example of many. Life at 124 is so hectic that Sethe always has instances where there is something for her to fear. What is your opinion of chapter 16 and are there any other memorable passages from the book that involve Sethe being afraid of something?
A link to the English essay that I used is below:
http://fc.dwight.edu/~psanders/A1%20EE.pdf?FCItemID=S0009132A
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Trying to understand everything they've been through, I think Paul D is almost a hero for returning to Sethe despite her actions, maybe because I think she is justified in killing her children. To go along with a cliche, loving is being able to let go. However, I suppose that could be turned around: Sethe was not able to let go, hence she killed her children. Still, I think she knows the atrocities of slavery more than we can understand from Morrison's [expertise] writing. I agree with you in that she acted out of fear, but that fear is there specifically because she knows how harsh slavery is.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your final question, I definitely agree that 16 is a key chapter. You nailed the key quotes depicting Sethe's fear, but another that helps me understand the scene better is when Baby Suggs was attempting to get Denver out of Sethe's grasp. "They fought then. Like rivals over the heart of the loved, they fought. Each struggling for the nursing child. Baby Suggs lost when she slipped in a red puddle and fell," (152). Not knowing much about parenting, Sethe nurses Denver without cleaning up. Though she might have known not to feed Denver that way, Sethe was numb. She entered a certain mindset that only focused on what might happen, a mindset that allowed her to attempt the murder of her children. This whole scene shows the extent of fear and Mr. Adam, you described it wonderfully!
My opinion of chapter 16 is that Sethe was justified in attempting to kill her children. As Ronnie pointed out, we don't know the exact harshness and cruelty of slavery through Toni Morrison's writing, and we also will never be able to grasp the overall knowledge of slavery because we were never there ourselves. It is extremely hard to experience such serious things as slavery vicariously, it is more of a first hand experience.
ReplyDeleteI think chapter 16 is an important chapter, and it adds a huge twist to the outcome of the novel. I think another memorable example of Sethe being afraid would be when she believes that the white people are coming for her, so she attacks Mr. Bodwin when in reality, Mr. Bodwin is only trying to help her.
Sethe's fear causes her to due irrational things throughout the novel including attacking and attempting to murder numerous people.