D
I often worried for Sethe throughout the course of
this book. She has been through a life of traumatic events. Her childhood spent
as a slave without a family, and her older years spent with the haunting if her
dead child. Many people go through hard times in their lives, but not many have
scratched the surface of Sethe’s misfortune. For any person, time helps heal
emotional wounds, but it is necessary to have support whether that be from
family or friends. For Sethe Halle was that support in her life. After her “loss”
of Halle Sethe turned to baby Suggs, the town leader and mother figure for
Sethe. Apart from Baby Suggs, Sethe had the town too. Life seemed to take a
turn for the best after her escape. It only took 28 days, for Sethe to lose
everything.
We
know well the lengths of Sethe’s love, so it’s difficult to imagine the effects
of losing “her best part.” For 18 years Sethe beared the weight of her trauma
with no shoulder to lean on. Instead Sethe had to care for her children and
deal with a spirit all at the same time. She did all she could, but there are
limits to a person’s sanity. Luckily, Paul D found Sethe after 18 years. He was
the empathetic friend that Sethe lacked all that time. He helped her with
emotional and physical needs which often times are interrelated. Most of all
Paul D Showed he was willing to help with her troubles – whether that be a
ghost baby or a distrusting daughter. Their time at the carnival showed a new
beginning for everyone’s lives, even the townspeople warmed up to the new
family.
It’s
no wonder, Sethe felt comfortable enough to share the most haunting part of her
history. Paul D couldn’t even bare to look at her the same after she recounted
the day in the yard. “You’ve got two feet not four” he told her. Those words
cut deeper than he could’ve imagined. After the odyssey she went through only
to lose it all in a matter of days, and he saw her as an animal.
Sethe's story definitely is one of loss. As you said, she lost the people she relied on, Halle, Baby Suggs, and Paul D (at least for some time). However, she also lost her children. Sethe makes the decision to try to kill all of her children, and ends up succeeding with Beloved. However, with only one of the family on the "other side", she ends up being separated from her baby except in the somewhat violent ghost form. Then Howard and Bugler end up running away, fearing Sethe from her actions. While trying to do what she saw as protection, the boys only saw a crazy mother. This leaves Sethe only Denver, who is terrified that her mother might kill her. Once Beloved returns, Sethe loses her once again, and Denver starts to leave Sethe as she goes and works. Sethe becomes isolated once again. Paul D does return, but we don't know what happens. Will she be able to survive losing Beloved again?
ReplyDeleteThe story focuses so much on Sethe being a super mom, that when Denver finally leaves the house to become her own individual person, Sethe loses whats makes her who she is. The only one left in in 124 is a parasitic Beloved who feeds off Sethe's guilt and desire to "get her milk to her babies". We can also attribute her wasting away to her role as a mother being depleted. Now that she has nobody to raise, her purpose is gone and so is the point of her continuing to live. Sethe curls up into a ball to die on Baby Suggs' bed and had it not been for Paul D, she may have faded away.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Sethe experiences traumatic loss after traumatic loss throughout this novel. However, I think Morrison intentionally took away Sethe's emotional companions as a commentary on slavery and to show the reader how painful her life has been so we can see the murder of Beloved in perspective. Sethe loses Halle because of the heartless cruelty and abuse that Sethe undergoes, which causes Halle to snap emotionally. She loses Baby Suggs because she kills Beloved, but without the emotional trauma from slavery, Sethe would not have killed Beloved. And lastly, she loses Paul D because she killed Beloved. Morrison is showing the reader how, even though slavery is abolished, Sethe is still losing everyone she loves as either a direct or indirect result of slavery.
ReplyDeleteI was really annoyed at Paul D, especially his comment about her having two legs not four. Sethe has lost so many people who mattered to her, and Paul is another person on that list. Even if Paul had a right to be upset, calling what she did animalistic isn't accurate. An animal wouldn't be able to feel so strongly, or be thinking about the future enough to kill someone they love more than anything.
ReplyDeleteSethe is painted as almost a supernatural character, surviving incredible circumstances just to ensure a safe future for her family. Paul D's lack of understanding regarding Sethe's situation demonstrates how different their experiences after Sweet Home have been. Sethe got a taste of freedom for a month before having to experience the consequences of slavery. Paul D doesn't have the right to compare her to an animal based off of her actions, as he cannot comprehend what she's experienced.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Paul D was a little harsh on Sethe with the feet comment. He had also experienced the cruelties of Sweet Home with Schoolteacher in command and knew exactly how terrible it was for Sethe to experience it. I would’ve understood if he was surprised and horrified by her actions, and even if he’d had to leave for a few days to sort through his thoughts, but his complete and total abandonment of her felt far too harsh, and a bit selfish. He could see what was starting to happen from Beloved’s presence, and knew he was one of the only things keeping Sethe going. So, his sudden departure, without even saying goodbye, was just a terrible thing to do, and didn’t quite align with him as a character.
ReplyDeleteSethe doesn't have the same support system that many people have today. It is hard to imagine a person having to kill her children to save her children, but we see that she did it out of really strong love. When she tells Paul D this she believes that he will understand how much love it took to do what she did and why she did it, but she doesn't get that. Furthermore, what makes people think that what she did was bad was that fact that she loved them that much anyway. In the book we get from people the it is better to not get attached, but that is not how Sethe works. That is why it is so hard for people to look at what she did as not all bad. I think that nobody giving her the support she needed was bad and things could have been different if people didn't keep cutting her out of their lives. The ending was better that I expected it to be, but it is not easy to say that Sethe got a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a very said tale of events for her, losing someone she loved each time she thought that she had finally found someone to "lean on." It really goes to show how sad it is when Paul D leaves her after hearing her story and becoming yet another person who walked out of her life. However, I do think that Paul D's desire to rekindle their relationship near the end of the book shows that he wants to put an end to this cycle and put the past behind them. He wants to give her that support because he knows that he needs some support from her two, as he has had a fair share of traumatic memories. I think Paul D realized his mistake and is trying to make up for it, a very noble thing to do.
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