Throughout the first couple chapters of beloved, I have noticed the theme of slavery and how it destroys a persons identity. Slavery is no doubt one of the worst things that can happen someone and while slavery has an affect on someone through the endless labor that is required, perhaps its biggest influence is on someone's family, mind, and self esteem. Sethe, Paul D, and Baby Suggs all experience the effects of slavery on their families and in their minds.
In particular, we can see the effects of slavery wearing off on Sethe throughout the beginning of the book. In slavery, Sethe was treated as subhuman and seems to be alienated from herself and filled with seth-loathing. For example, when Paul D is rubbing the back of Sethe she becomes very insecure. All throughout slavery, a tree of whips has been growing on the back of Sethe and she feels relieved when Paul D comes to rub her back. When Paul D was rubbing her, Sethe says, "What she knew was that the responsibility for her breasts, at last, was in somebody else's hands"(21). Sethe was experiencing the aftermath of slavery ever since she escaped and now she was happy that Paul D is there to help take the responsibility. Also, later on in the book, Paul D says, "For a used-to-be-salve woman to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love"(54). Because Sethe seems to be full of self-loathing, she sees the best part of herself through her children. Paul D realises this and calls her out on it. Sethe says that she will be able to protect Denver when she is alive and when she is dead. While this is not possible, Sethe believes that Denver is a part of her and she needs to take care of her forever, even when she is not a child.
Slavery has also affected Baby Suggs and destroyed her family. Baby suggs self conception has been shattered through the loss of her family members which permitted her from being a caring mother. Baby suggs says that "men and women were moved around like checkers"(27). Nobody was safe slavery and it can take away anybody at any point in time. Baby Suggs children were all sold away or taken before she had a chance to see them grow up. She says that the longest one of her children stayed with her was for 20 years. Baby Suggs could not do anything about her children leaving and that takes a toll on a mother let alone one whose eight children were all taken. This must be why Sethe takes such good care of Denver as if they are the same person. Sethe does not know when the endless game of checkers is going to end especially when her own child might be a checker one day.
I like this post a lot and I completely agree. Slavery was one of the worst parts of our World and American History. Whites treated people like animals, savages, with no rights. The Whites treated the African Americans like they were their property and not even human. Imagine that, being someones ¨property¨ but you were a human being with just as many emotions and feelings as the person calling you their "property". Living like that for four hundred years is mentally incomprehensible. Although, without slavery we as a people might have made the same mistake in the future. If there was no slavery, people might not be striving for equality. If there was no slavery, important black and white figures that are crucial to American History such as Martin Luther King and Malcom X would not be known. Without slavery, we would be a completely different and maybe even worse America.
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