who chooses to kill her baby girl rather than allowing her to be exposed to the

physically, and emotionally damaging horrors of a life spent in slavery. There is

no other way to say it: she murdered her child. By killing her child, so dear to her

heart, the question arises whether Sethe acted out of true love or selfishness.

The fact that Sethe's act is irrational can easily be decided upon. Does Sethe kill

her baby girl because she wants to save the baby from slavery or does Sethe end

her daughter's life because of a selfish refusal to reenter a life of slavery? By

examining the complexities of Sethe's character it can be said that she is a

woman who chooses to love her children but not herself. Sethe kills her baby

because, in Sethe's mind, her children are the only good and pure part