Character Analysis of Sethe from Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Sethe is a single mother who resides in 124, a home that is set in the countryside of Ohio near Cincinnati. She and her daughter Denver are the only ones to live in this home when the story begins. They have lived there for many years without much trouble, except for the fact that their house is haunted by the ghost of Sethe’s dead daughter, Beloved. Sethe is perceived as a strong and independent woman who does not need a man to satisfy her needs. She was happily married to a man named Halle for several years, but he ends up going crazy after witnessing Sethe’s rape by Schoolboy’s nephews, and is never seen again. As well as being strong and independent, she is also filled with many …show more content…
As the novel progresses, it is noticeable that underneath the façade there is an emotionally distraught woman with a difficult past which still haunts her. Her life as a slave was miserable due to Schoolteacher. She did not want to be treated like livestock; therefore, she and several other slaves attempted to escape. Although she managed to save her children, she and the other slaves were not able to run away and were recaptured. For punishment, Schoolteacher allowed his nephews to “take [Sethe’s] milk” (20). While pregnant with Beloved, Sethe was sexually abused and again treated like livestock as if she was a cow. Afterwards, she was whipped to silence by cowhide, because she told Ms. Garner what Schoolteacher and his nephews had done to her. From that moment on, she was scarred. The scars on her back from the whipping are described as a “chokecherry tree [with a] trunk, branches, and even leaves. Tiny little chokecherry leaves” (18). Scars never go away, and if they do they are still noticeable. These painful scars will always remind her of her past as a slave. While she is talking to Paul D, she says that there are “some things you forget. Other things you never do. (43)” In this statement, she is not particularly talking about her past as a slave, but instead she is talking about the death of her daughter Beloved. Beloved’s ghost continues to haunt …show more content…
Because of the horrific events that she endured in her life, she would have rather killed her children than have them suffer the way she did. Her children are “her best thing[s], her beautiful, magical best thing[s]” (296). A mother’s love for her child is something that is very strong. It is a bond that only people who have experienced it themselves can really understand. She feels that she is nothing without her children. Sethe’s original “plan was always that they would all be together on the other side, forever”, but that was not the case. Instead she is stopped from killing the rest of her children and put into Jail. Her love for her kids is so intense that she would go to the extreme of killing her own flesh and blood. By doing this she made sure that “no one, nobody on this earth, would list her daughter’s [animal] characteristics” (296). Whether her choice to kill Beloved is ethical or not, she did it out of love, and that is all that matters to her. Protecting her children from Slavery was her purpose for trying to kill them, and she did just
Sethe is a single mother who resides in 124, a home that is set in the countryside of Ohio near Cincinnati. She and her daughter Denver are the only ones to live in this home when the story begins. They have lived there for many years without much trouble, except for the fact that their house is haunted by the ghost of Sethe’s dead daughter, Beloved. Sethe is perceived as a strong and independent woman who does not need a man to satisfy her needs. She was happily married to a man named Halle for several years, but he ends up going crazy after witnessing Sethe’s rape by Schoolboy’s nephews, and is never seen again. As well as being strong and independent, she is also filled with many …show more content…
As the novel progresses, it is noticeable that underneath the façade there is an emotionally distraught woman with a difficult past which still haunts her. Her life as a slave was miserable due to Schoolteacher. She did not want to be treated like livestock; therefore, she and several other slaves attempted to escape. Although she managed to save her children, she and the other slaves were not able to run away and were recaptured. For punishment, Schoolteacher allowed his nephews to “take [Sethe’s] milk” (20). While pregnant with Beloved, Sethe was sexually abused and again treated like livestock as if she was a cow. Afterwards, she was whipped to silence by cowhide, because she told Ms. Garner what Schoolteacher and his nephews had done to her. From that moment on, she was scarred. The scars on her back from the whipping are described as a “chokecherry tree [with a] trunk, branches, and even leaves. Tiny little chokecherry leaves” (18). Scars never go away, and if they do they are still noticeable. These painful scars will always remind her of her past as a slave. While she is talking to Paul D, she says that there are “some things you forget. Other things you never do. (43)” In this statement, she is not particularly talking about her past as a slave, but instead she is talking about the death of her daughter Beloved. Beloved’s ghost continues to haunt …show more content…
Because of the horrific events that she endured in her life, she would have rather killed her children than have them suffer the way she did. Her children are “her best thing[s], her beautiful, magical best thing[s]” (296). A mother’s love for her child is something that is very strong. It is a bond that only people who have experienced it themselves can really understand. She feels that she is nothing without her children. Sethe’s original “plan was always that they would all be together on the other side, forever”, but that was not the case. Instead she is stopped from killing the rest of her children and put into Jail. Her love for her kids is so intense that she would go to the extreme of killing her own flesh and blood. By doing this she made sure that “no one, nobody on this earth, would list her daughter’s [animal] characteristics” (296). Whether her choice to kill Beloved is ethical or not, she did it out of love, and that is all that matters to her. Protecting her children from Slavery was her purpose for trying to kill them, and she did just