Gender Roles In Toni Morrison's Beloved

Throughout Beloved by Toni Morrison, the role that men play, both as a presence and as an absence, is highly explored by Morrison. Even though the main characters are women, their stories would drastically have differed if the men’s roles throughout were either more present or, on the contrary, more absent. Major male characters that impacted Sethe, Beloved, and Denver’s life in intensely different ways include Halle, Paul D, and the Schoolteacher. Overall, despite the lack of a major male character, the role of men is crucial in order to develop the story for all of the women roles. To begin, Morrison introduced Halle as one of the “Sweet Home men.” During Sethe’s time at Sweet Home, there were seven of the so called “Sweet Home men,” and Sether would get to choose which one to make her husband. After a very long time, Seth finally chose Halle, who she had four children with later on in life. During Seth’s time at Sweet Home, Hall was always there for her, as much as his life allowed. When Sixo, another Sweet Home man, decided to run away, Halle and Sethe decided to run away together to get a better life for themselves and their children. When it came time to do so, Halle was nowhere to be found but Sethe continued on, pregnant with their fourth child. Once Sethe made it to 124 with a newborn child, Halle …show more content…
The role that men play, both as a presence and as an absence, is highly explored by Morrison through characters like Halle, Paul D, and Schoolteacher. The lives of the women in the novel were impacted in many ways, and sometimes in the most severe way, by the actions and the characteristics of the male characters throughout. Despite the lack of a major male character, in order for the story to occur, the role of men is crucial, even though they struggled with their own lives behind the scenes of the