Monday, November 21, 2016
A Mother's Love
The full story of Beloved's death that was revealed at the end of part one was shocking and horrifying. This scene I think was one most important in the book in exploring the themes of maternal love and the unending consequences of the horrors of slavery. The gruesome nature of the scene forced the reader to try to find some justification for Sethe's actions. But I don't think that we can understand what she was truly feeling that made her decide to kill her children. I cannot imagine how complex love for her children was that made her believe the best way to protect them was to kill them. This complexity of the love between a mother and her children continues throughout the story and is best shown in the relationship between Sethe and Beloved when she comes back to 124.
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I agree, I think there is so much strength in her decision to kill her child. While, I do not understand what it means to be a mother and to create a child and love that child so profoundly. I think Morrison does an excellent job portraying the complex love that a mother provides.
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