Margaret Garner Ask A Reconsider

Throughout the text, Toni Morrison evidently wishes to allude to the unimaginable hardships of slaves. The history of American slaves is rich with culture; however, there is nothing as prevalent in the lives of slaves as hardship. There are numerous tales of brutal lynchings and whippings that no human should ever endure. Life as cruel as a slave’s is hard to come by in time: that is why Margaret Garner’s tale is so perplexing. Morrison expands upon her own interpretation of Garner’s story to ask a daunting question. Is the life of a slave worth living at all? Margaret Garner’s decision to murder her child is one seemingly unimaginable to the everyday person, yet Morrison puts the reader in Garner’s shoes and asks them to reconsider. Morrison utilizes both poetry and prose in order to show the various aspects of slave life as well as the intricacies of their language, intellect, emotions, and individuality.

It is difficult for them to maintain their racism and judgment while simultaneously acting intelligently. In the real-life story of Garner, she is placed on trial and a decision is made regarding her future. “The decision after two weeks was that this was not a murder case but a fugitive slave case. She and her family were viewed as “property.” The family was returned to slavery” (Sherlene Shanklin). Just as in her true life, Garner, like Sethe, is viewed as property. Morrison demonstrates this countless times in her flashbacks to Sweet Home along with Sethe’s other altercations with white folk. Morrison desired to display this key aspect of Garner’s life because it shows the idiocy of the white people’s ideology. Morrison wishes for the readers to think, “How can property kill? How can property be put on trial?” By telling the story of Margaret Garner, Morrison is not only illuminating the reader about the life of the slave but of the white ideology of the time as