Collective Trauma In Toni Morrison's Beloved

In 1987, Toni Morrison published her novel, Beloved, examining the consequence of collective trauma experienced by many African Americans due to the monstrosity of slavery. The novel is based on the true story of a black slave woman, named Margaret Garner, who escaped her plantation and killed her own child in order to prevent her from returning to enslavement. In the novel, Margaret Garnet is portrayed by Sethe, who lives at 124 Bluestone Road with her only remaining child, Denver. The house is possessed by the spirit of Sethe’s dead baby, Beloved, who resurrects in human form to haunt Sethe. The concept of collective trauma defines trauma that is experienced by all members of a group, while, people experience trauma in their own way the whole …show more content…
Both Sethe and Paul D, former slaves at the plantation Sweet Home, witness first hand the atrocities of slavery. Their first master, Mr. Garner, wasn’t afraid of his slaves, in turn, leading him to utilize violence as a means to keep his slaves in order. Mr. Garner says, “But if your man yourself, you’ll want niggers to be men too” (12). However, the death of Mr. Garner causes the conditions at Sweet Home to change drastically as their new master, the Schoolteacher, “arrived to put things in order” (11). With the changing of ownership, the conditions for the slaves at Sweet House change for the worse as the schoolteacher regards the slaves as objects rather than human beings. The dehumanization of these oppressed people and the trauma inflicted on their body produces a group of people that becomes something not entirely human in the …show more content…
Sethe’s decision to kill her children appalled many of the characters in book including Paul D, who experienced the horrors of slavery as well. In the scene where Paul D confronts Sethe for killing her daughter, Sethe justifies her actions, saying, “They ain’t at Sweet Home. Schoolteacher ain’t got em.” (194). Here the dehumanizing effect of slavery is clearly shown as it drives Sethe to make the decision to kill her own child rather than having them experience the atrocities of slavery. This decision comes directly from Sethe’s own horrific experience in enslavement where she would rather have her child die than to be placed into slavery. While Paul D believes that their could be another way to save her children without killing them, Sethe’s resolution to not allow her children to experience the horrors of slavery forces her to do anything in her power to keep them from returning to enslavement. The decision as a mother to do bodily harm to your own child displays the loss of humanity that occured to those who were enslaved. Paul D tells Sethe, “You got two feet, Sethe, not four” (194). This statement shows how African Americans were regarding as animals and Sethe’s decision to kill her child own serves to prove white people’s narrative of African American savagery. For Sethe, slavery makes her something less than