Sethe Bond In Beloved

It can be argued that the strongest bond of all is that of a mother and her children. This maternal bond is established, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually, as soon as the child has developed in the womb and it only continues to grow and prosper as the child grows. Children produce a sense of self-love, sacrifice, and the need to shelter them from any form of harm. This bond is so resilient that it has the ability to drive the mother to do the unthinkable in order to keep her child from harms way. In the novel, Beloved, by Toni Morrison, the bond between Sethe and her children is emphasized by the extreme and desperate measures that Sethe goes through in order to protect her children from a life in bondage and oppression. This bond intertwines love, loyalty, and strength together into a rope that

Sethe’s love for Beloved maintains her loyalty to her daughter and proves her strength. In a conversation between Sethe and her daughter, Denver, they consider the existence of Beloved in their home, 124. “‘For a baby she throws a powerful spell,’ said Denver. ‘No more powerful than the way I loved her,’ Sethe answered and there it was again. The welcoming cool of unchiseled headstones; the one she selected to lean against on tiptoe, her knees wide open as any grave. Pink as a fingernail it was, and sprinkled with glittering chips.” (5). This provided evidence that Sethe’s love for Beloved was more powerful than the spell that was bound to 124. In other words, it didn’t matter what Beloved did to Sethe or to 124, Sethe’s love would prevail each and every time; Beloved could wreak havoc upon 124 and Sethe, and Sethe’s love for her would not waver. This type of love is called unconditional love, a type of love that has no limitations or conditions, and Sethe’s love for Beloved accurately represents this