What drives a mother to attempt a murder on her children? In Beloved Sethe attempts to kill her children out of fear, a fear of slavery. This fear of slavery was rightly placed in Sethe because of her choke cherry tree back, her loss of a husband, her unknown parents, and her sexually abused breasts. Sethe believes that killing her children is truly an act of love because it will save them from these toils, and she may have been making the right choice, but ultimately she was making a choice out of fear. She didn't want her children to have to go through the troubles of slavery, nor did she want to constantly worry about their well being. To her she believed the simplest way to avoid her fear, was to try to hide from it. She decided that the fear of death was less daunting than the fear of slavery, and so she attempted to hide in death from the lurking evils of slavery.
Another aspect of fear in the novel is once again the fear of slavery; however, this is a societal fear. An interpretation of the novel reveals that Beloved is representative of Sethe's past haunting her. This past includes her time in slavery, and so when Sethe escapes into the new community around 124 she is bringing the legacy of slavery with her. Something the community does not want. This is why the community does not warn Sethe when the schoolteacher arrives; they unconsciously, or even consciously wanted Sethe to be taken away. By the end of the novel though the community acknowledges the legacy of slavery and sets out to protect Sethe. They scare away Beloved and save Sethe from making another rash decision when she tries to kill Mr. Bodwin.
In Beloved no single person was capable of overcoming their fear, it took an entire community.
Hi, Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI like your comments regarding fear. There's a lot about fear in that book, and it makes me think not only of the fear of the slaves, but also the fear in the slave owners that made them be so brutal. You're so right, too, about the whole community having to come together. It makes me think of all the movements that require courage to begin, and how often there's no one person courageous enough to take it on...but a whole group of people can help allay each other's fears. Even some memories can be fearful, as you also point out.