Sethe In Beloved

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Many novels feature strong mother figures who are represented in different lights through their relationships and lifestyles. The personal struggles the mother faces in her life can deeply affect the way she bonds with her children. In Beloved, the mother figure, is a former slave whose actions throughout the novel are controversial. Many are seen as cruel and inhumane by readers, but it is her hardships throughout life that cause her to act in such ways and serve as a form of justification for her behaviors.
The novel Beloved is set in the time period after the American Civil War. Sethe, the mother in the novel, is a slave who flees from her slavemaster in hope of gaining freedom when she crosses the border to a free state. Sethe bears a total of …show more content…

Sethe and Beloved have a very complex relationship due to Sethe’s previous actions. Beloved is similar to a parasite to Sethe draining the life out of her. Sethe loses her job and gives her portion of food to Beloved which makes her begin to waste away. When Sethe tries to stand up and reassert her position as the mother Beloved becomes violent. It seems as if Sethe begins to assume the child position and Beloved the mother (pg. 5 Matthews).. Most parents would never allow their child to treat them in such a terrible way, but should be able to understand how a parent will go without for their children. She feels so much remorse from murdering her child that when Beloved comes back she sees it as a second chance to make things right. Sethe even imagines her family being whole again when she says, “If her boys came back one day, and Denver and Beloved stayed on -- well, it would be the way it was supposed to be, no? (pg 132).” Sethe gives Beloved what she wants and allows her to take over because she does not want to loser he again. This shows just how much Sethe does love and care for her

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