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Slavery Exposed In Toni Morrison's Beloved

1895 Words8 Pages

Morrison 's two works are filled with situations where mothers are put to the test; obligations are sole providers, demand in the upbringing of their children and the way in which they make use of their power are constantly being supervised and questioned by the community and society and it also argues that some of what these women think, feel and act can be regarded as an outcome of slavery. In Beloved, Morrison portrays a single woman named Sethe, who raises her children with the memories of slavery constantly present. In Beloved the author explores the mother-child bond, presenting depictions of the supernatural where the reader witnesses a dead infant return to life. Sethe is a mother who has experienced terrible events and she is a woman …show more content…

Morrison does not depict a perfect bond between Sethe and Denver. Although Sethe does not always communicate with Denver, the daughter still feels her mother’s emotions as something very subtle, almost supernatural. Denver is neglected by her mother and her loneliness is more apparent than before. Moreover the former bond between mother and daughter is broken and it shows slavery destroyed Sethe’s possibilities to have a normal relationship with anyone. She becomes the sole provider of the family when her husband left as a result of slavery. With the fear of having her children taken away constantly present, the relationship Sethe has with her daughter Denver, is filled with stress and anxiety. Her memories of Beloved, even before her return, are filled with guilt. Sethe and Beloved’s stories, intertwined, reveal the ghastly reality of slavery. Because of what black slaves have experienced, and black people cope with to this day, on a daily basis, their history, culture and spiritual values become a vital part of their lives. In Beloved, Morrison shows the torment of slavery and its memories which affect everything Sethe does and most certainly affects how she raises her children. Moreover, the readers are shown the importance of history and why it is a vital part of black people’s life. Slavery has left its scars, in particular in the mentality of black

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