Beloved 2
"It is the ultimate gesture of a loving mother. It is the outrageous claim of a slave"(Morrison 1987). These are the words that Toni Morrison used to describe the actions of the central character within the novel, Beloved. That character, Sethe, is presented as a former slave woman who chooses to kill her baby girl rather than allowing her to be exposed to the physically, emotionally, and spiritually oppressive horrors of a life spent in slavery. Sethe's action is indisputable: She has killed her child. Sethe's motivation is not so clearly defined. By killing her "Beloved" child, has Sethe acted out of true love or selfish pride? 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 of who she is and must be protected from the cruelty and the "dirtiness" of slavery(Morrison 251). In this respect, her act is that of love f
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Toni Morrison, School Teacher, Paul D's, School Teacher's, Beloved Sethe, Nonono Simple, Ultimately Sethe, Ironically Paul, Unfortunately Sethe's, Beloved Sethe's, sethe's character, love children, sethe refuses, sethe's motivation, kill baby girl, baby girl, sethe kills, dirty bad, school teacher, baby sethe's, act committed, sethe's love children, sethe refuses own, sethe's words suggest,
Approximate Word count = 1619
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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