A Mother's Influence

Throughout Toni Morrison's Beloved, Sethe tries to protect her children, in the way that she sees the world, to the best of her ability. While caring and loving your children is a necessity for their growth, that love coming from a negative place can lead to a mother making wrong decision. This was basically the thesis that my group came up with for our passage presentation. I didn't pay much attention at first, but I think that Sethe's mother plays a huge role in how Sethe becomes so protective of her children. On pg. 240, Sethe talks about her life with her mother and her mother's death. All she really knows is that her mother was hanged. She continues to think that this was for some other reason than running away. She tells her self that no mother would just leave their child alone, especially in a system as perverse as slavery. Or would they? I think that Sethe truly does think that her mother didn't care for her as much as she thought previously.  Therefore, her love for her children has stemmed for a place of darkness and negativity in her life. This love that come from bad places can lead to wrong choices. This is just an idea.