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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Beloved 2


Sethe

I feel that Sethe is the glue that holds this book together. She is a strong independent woman who wants the best for her children. Sethe is willing to go to extreme measure to make sure her children do not have the life she had. This is especially true for her girls. Knowing the life she has had at Sweet Home, Sethe does not want rape and abuse for her girls. She is a mother who is willing to kill her children so that they do not have to continue the life she has/had.

When I was beginning to read this book the teacher I work with mentioned she loved Morrison's work. I asked her to tell me some of her favorite parts of the book and she mentioned Sethe's love for her children. When Becca, the teacher I work with, was reading this book she was pregnant with her little girl. She said that the love that Sethe had for her children made her cry almost every time she picked up the book to continue reading. Becca also stated that the book made her realize the love a parent has for their child. Willing to take them out of the world so that they do not have to carry around the burden as she had to was a concept Sethe must have had to prepare for.

Sethe also mentions early in the book that "I got a tree on my back and a haint in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms. No more running-from nothing." (p21) *(Haint- Southern colloquialism def., ghost, apparition, lost soul) I feel that this statement to Paul D led to very high emotions in the book. Sethe has been living a hard life caring that weight around with her and even though there is a spirit in her house and nothing to her name she is tired of running from things in her life. Throughout the book Sethe is rooted in the past with Beloved. She dwells in the past affecting her family and her future. It is not until she realizes in the present and future that she can let go of the past.

Overall, Sethe was a strong woman who centered her world around her children. She was willing to take them out of this world to provide them a better 'life'. I am not a parent, but I know when I do become one I will want the very best for my children. I do not know if I could go to extremes the way Sethe did though.

CJ

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