In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Sethe killing her own daughter highlights her commitment to her children and the strength of her motherly love. Sethe kills her daughter to protect her from the inhumane treatment she faced. At first, Sethe’s actions seem unjust and wrong. However, as the novel continues, Sethe’s account of her past and the cruel treatment she faced make her actions seem justifiable; she would truly do anything to keep her children from living through the terrors of slavery. Sethe’s devotion to her children is revealed from the moment when she sees her former slaveholder. With Schoolteacher and his nephews in sight, Sethe is haunted by the memories of her brutal past. The cruelties and inhumane treatment she faced at Sweet Home, where slaves were treated like animals and studied like an experiment, leave Seth scarred. She escapes from Sweet Home determined to have a different fate for her children, and committed to never having them become victim to slavery. As soon as she sees Schoolteacher and his nephews, “She just flew. Collected every bit of life she had made, all the parts of her that were precious and fine and beautiful, and carried, pushed, dragged them through the veil, out, away, over there where no one could hurt them.” (Morrison 192) This scene highlights how much she would give up …show more content…
The neglect she faced from her mother explains some of the choices she makes. She does everything she can to avoid abandoning her children as her mother did to her. When the threat of her children being sent into slavery arises, she decides that she would rather have them face death then relive any of her past experiences. From the death scene, it is evident that Sethe believes killing her children rather than having them face slavery is the ultimate commitment to her children and expression of maternal