Toni Morrison - Beloved

Thesis Statement

Beloved never became a slave but she was a victim of slavery.

Outline

In Toni Morrison Beloved, the main character Sethe must confront the past and Beloved in order to heal the wounds it has caused. The main character Sethe is disturbed by the traumas of racism and slavery, which caused her to kill her first infant name Beloved. Throughout the novel, Sethe works hard to avoid the past, which has caused her nothing but pain and horror while she was at the Sweet Home. The relationship between Sethe and Beloved takes an inverse role when Beloved resurfaces. Sethe, in particular, shows the tendency to hold back the past; but until she faces Beloved, she truly cannot enjoy the future. The key to her happiness is to get rid of the effect that slavery had on her.

Analysis

The main character Sethe understands the tragedy of being a slave, and being treated as an animal. She is determined that her own children should not go through the same treatment she has received at the hands of white slaveholders. Her main antagonist is the system of slavery and she knew the pain it had caused her, both directly and indirectly. She barely seen her mother as an infant and was never looked after properly because of this she was never nurtured properly. When she has her own children, she is determined to do her best and to make sure that her sons and daughters do not go through the same life pattern of slavery that she had been through. Therefore she believes that by killing them they would not become slaves, but go to a better place. In order to keep her children from becoming slaves to Sweet Home, she tries to murder all four of them but only succeeds in killing her oldest daughter with the intention of giving her a better life. Even though she knew she was acting reasonably and in good faith, she also knew it was wrong of her to act that way. She attempts to be a stable mother for her children during the time of slavery, which defines them as property. The main reason for killing her baby was to protect her from a lifetime of slavery. Thus, should be excuse for killing her daughter.

“At the center is Sethe, whose story makes us think and think again about what we mean when we say we love our children or freedom.” (Morrison 16)

Sethe first realizes that Beloved was her own daughter when she took both the Denver and Beloved to ice-skating. She realized it when she was singing a song and Beloved knew the song as well. She then realized that the Beloved actually being the baby ghost re-born, from the fact that she knew a song that Sethe made up to sing to her children. "I made up that song, said Sethe. I made it up and sang it to my children. Nobody knows that song but me and my children" (Morrison 176) "Beloved ...