Friday, November 3, 2017
Mrs. Garner and Sethe
The interaction between Mrs. Garner and Sethe after Halle asked to marry her especially interested me. The tone that Mrs. Garner uses in talking with Sethe is extremely condescending. At the end of their conversation, Mrs, Garner says, “You are one sweet child.” This line stuck me because when you think about the dynamic between slave and slave owner, It is hard to believe that a slave would ever feel comfortable enough or feel compelled to talk with their slave owner about a topic such as this. While Mrs. Garner is not blatantly cruel with Sethe she speaks to her in such a way that shows Sethe as a child. It makes me ask myself.. What constitutes a child? Does a girl become a woman when she reaches a certain age? Sethe is only years old when she got married to Halle but to me she seems to be much older because of what she has experienced.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think you make a good point about what constitutes a child. I agree that Sethe does seem more mature than her age.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I believe Ms. Garner believes she is acting like a mother to Sethe, but really she is treating Sethe as inferior to herself because she is still a slave. No matter how nice she thinks she is being, she is a slave owner and therefore and abuser to Sethe.
ReplyDeleteI often forget how young Sethe is when during the whole story. I'm pretty sure at this point she is only 14 years old which explains why Mrs. Gardner would talk to her that way. Another part of it is that Mrs. Gardner sees Sethe as less than her. I really liked what your blog.
ReplyDelete