In her novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison focuses on the theme of slavery destroying the individual even after the the characters escape their lives of servitude.
The treatment of slaves as property or as animals is a commonly learned about concept in history classes, and Morrison brings it to life in the embodiment of her characters. An example of a character feeling a loss of a human identity is the character of Paul D. He is a slave on the plantation Sweet Home and in a recalling of his past, he restates that he “‘was something elses and that something was less than a chicken sitting in the sun on a tub” (86). This statement presents the damage that slavery does to a person’s outlook on life and themselves. Paul D begins to realize that he
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Another example of belittling slaves and the view of slaves being more animal than human occurs to the main character Sethe. “She was looking at him now, and if his other nephew could see that look he would learn the lesson for sure: you just can’t mishandle creatures and expect success”(176). Morrison employs words such as “creature” to convey the viewpoint of the slave owner, that idea that the character Sethe is only a piece of property. This passage shows the inhumane treatment Sethe was put through and also that the only punishment given to the person who inflicted the pain was a conversation that explained that animals will not respond well to “mishandling” (176). A third scenario in which slaves lose their identity as a human being is the loss of family connections. Due to the slave system many spouses, parents, children, and grandchildren were ripped away from their family because they were sold to other farms or households. This practice minimized the despair and other emotions felt by the slaves because they were viewed as less than human and had no worth ethically. An example of this separation is depicted by Morrison through the character of Baby Suggs. Baby Suggs is mother of (7 or 8) and she was prevented from