Question 4
A very pivotal part of the novel is the chapter that explains Sethe's attempt to murder her four children in order to save them from slavery. Sethe was able to escape with all 3 of her children, while pregnant with her fourth. However, Baby Suggs had 8 children, 7 of which were taken from her. This is similar to Sethe's past as well. Sethe's mother gave birth to several children but she only kept Sethe. Unlike Baby Suggs, Sethe's mother threw her other children overboard since they were fathered by white men.
However, Baby Suggs did have one child that she was able to keep, and that was Halle. Halle was Sethe's unofficial husband, and he cared about his mother more than anything. The only reason Baby Suggs let Halle buy her freedom, was because she knew how much it meant to him. I believe that this has a very strong parallel to how Sethe feels about her children. Baby Suggs lost all of her children, whereas Sethe fough to save her children. First, when she escaped from slavery with them, and second, when she attempted to kill them. Baby Suggs could have fought to buy Halle out of slavery. My question is...why didn't she?
What really struck me was the way that Baby Suggs treated Sethe after "the misery." She simply took the dead baby away from Sethe, and handed her Denver to nurse. And when Sethe immediately put Denver to her chest, Baby Suggs started screaming at her. "Baby Suggs slammed her fist on the table and shouted, 'Clean up! Clean yourself up!'" (Morrison, page 152) I would have thought that since Baby Suggs had lost all of her children, that she would have a bit more sympathy for Sethe after she tried to do something so horrific, just to keep her kids out of slavery. In a way, I think Baby Suggs resents Sethe for having children to love.
i think that baby suggs was more unsure of how to react in a situation with losing her kids since the closest one she ever had bought her freedom then she never saw them again. I think that Baby Suggs would have been able to cope more had she raised all or at least more than one of her children. It was said throughout the story how Sethe loved her children to much, so it seems like the other characters who went through slavery like Baby Suggs and Paul D knew not to love things that werent thier property.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Sethe was completely ignorant about loving her children too much, I think in her heart she just wanted a chance to love them as much as she could. She knew that they deserved more than slavery. Sethe understood the risks, but she wanted her children to have fulfilling lives. And even though Beloved was not able to, Sethe gave Denver the chance to love and be loved. I think that's a major point that Morrison was trying to make.
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