Stereotypes of women

Many stereotypes were saying that women are weak.  Like, they can’t do this or they can’t do that.  Many people would think this, but in Beloved, Sethe was strong.  She was able to strong as a mother and as a woman.  She loved her daughter and son, but she had to kill them, because of slavery.  Not many people could kill their children, because they spend a lot of time with them.  As for Sethe, she does not want her children to go what she has been through.  Sethe does not want her children, to know how he master treated in her slavery.  She does not want her children to be slavery, so she had to do something, that not many people could do, which would be to kill their own children.  In which, this shows that women are strong, like Sethe.  Sethe risked killing her children, because she does not want her children to suffer like she did, as a slave.

Another stereotype would be women loves their children “too much”.  Sethe killed her children because she does not want her children to go through the same experience as she did.  Paul D though her love is “too thick” because Sethe chose to kill her children from slavery.  Even though Sethe killed her children from the “horror of slavery”, Paul D though it was too much for a mother to kill her own children.  He also though her love was “too thick” because she is too close attached to her children.  They were both arguing of how Sethe’s love was too much.   Even though Sethe said that she does not want her children to be taken away from her from her old master.  Paul D still though it was wrong to kill her own children, because her old master might be coming back, and taking them.

Sethe's Beautiful Chokecherry Tree

"The wrought-iron maze he had explored in the kitchen like a gold miner pawing through dirt was in fact a revolting clump of scars.. Not a tree as she said" (25).  

"There are memories that time does not erase... Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.” (Cassandra Claire). Sethe and Paul D have memories about the past and they are constantly brought up throughout the book whether they are good or bad, the memories are still with them. A huge part of Sethe's life whether she likes it or not is the "tree" on her back. She tells Paul D when he arrives at the house, that she has what she thinks looks like a Chokecherry tree according to Amy. Trees represent different things depending on the person and their interactions with them. Paul D thinks "trees were inviting; things you could trust and be near; talk to if you wanted to as he frequently did" (25). Paul D sees a "brother" in a tree, what a pet is to us nowadays, something that just sits there and listens to you complain about whatever is on your mind. When he thinks of Sweet Home he thinks of that tree and how it helped him find who he is as a person. The tree helped him through the harsh times of slavery by being there when nobody else was and because of trees it helped him become free by following the flowering trees to the North. The tree on Sethe's back, made from being whipped so many times represents her past, but also could represent something that could grow into something beautiful. As much as the past is in the past for her, it just seems to be brought up in mysterious ways. As much as she tries to "run" away from her past it is there mentally and physically due to the tree on her back. She is always reminded that slavery will always be with her, she will never forget that at a time that she was once treated poorly just by the color of her skin and that she was once treated like an animal. 
A chokecherry tree which is sought to be on her back typically brings spring, bloom and peaceful nature instead of the pain and sorrow that the scar actually represents. To most trees represent life, strength, good fortune etc, Amy the one who discovered the "tree" on Sethe's back said, "It's a tree Lu. See, here's the trunk- it's red and split open, full of sap, and this here's the parting for the branches. You got a mighty a lot of branches. Leaves, too, look like, and dern if these ain't blossoms. Tiny little cherry tree blossoms, just as white. Your back got a whole tree on it. In bloom" (79). Instead of looking at the "tree" as a bunch of scars clumped together, Amy looks at each one of the scars on her back as a piece of a puzzle which somehow forms a beautiful chokecherry tree.
When we look at trees we forget that they were once a seed, we forget that they all developed from the ground. We forget that they had to go through tough days from being in the cold or the heat or being pushed around by the strong gusts of wind. But we also forget that from a little seed, the trunk, the branches, the leaves all make a strong, beautiful tree. And that is what I think is going to happen to Sethe is that her past will eventually make her out to be a beautiful and strong person. Her shady past will never be forgotten, but the little things in the present and future that make her happy will make the memories of her past "only bearable". 

Mother Duties

"The welcoming cool of unchiseled headstones; the one she selected to lean against on tiptoe, her knees wide open as any grave. Pink as a fingernail it was, and sprinkled with glittering chips. Ten minutes, he said. You got ten minutes I'll do it for free. Ten minutes for seven letters. With another ten could she have gotten "Dearly" too?" (5)

Sethe has just exchanged sex for seven letters on her baby girl's gravestone. Now, when reading this, Morrison makes clear two issues regarding the role of women which are: 1) prostitution and 2) motherhood.

With no hesitation, she mindlessly gives away what some today view as the most precious gift every woman holds, her body. Many women view the body as a temple, and to allow a stranger into the temple is a disgrace. When we hear of Sethe’s act of prostitution, we begin to question her morals concerning the importance of sex. When first reading this passage, we immediately think that Sethe finds no value in sex because it is in our nature to believe that a woman who has sex with just anyone for a  is a whore.The definition of a whore is a woman who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse in exchange for a desired item. And that is exactly the word we think of when we read this passage.

However, if we look at the reason for Sethe doing so, we begin to understand why she choose to do so and our view on her changes. Her reason outweighed the importance of her own temple. She values the need of her child far more than her body. Her love for her child is great and powerful, and we see this in her careless act of prostitution. She was quick to sacrifice herself for her child. Sethe giving up her own body, sacrificing herself shows just how much she loves her children and how far she is willing to go in order to bring satisfaction to her child.

 

The sacrifices mothers make are at times unbelievably. They do all they can to bring happiness to their children. Sethe serves as an example of this.

 

 

 

Why Sethe did not stand up for herself

“Nobody will ever get my milk no more expect my own children.  I never had to give it to nobody else- and the one time I did it was took from me- they held me down and took it.  Milk that belong to my baby.  Nan to nurse whitebabies and me too because Ma’am was in the rice.  The nurse whitebabies got it first and I got what was left” (236).

This passage of the Beloved, shows that many of the “whitebabies” are getting Sethe’s milk and Sethe could not use the milk for her own babies.  She did not want to give up her other people, other than her babies, but they pin her down, and they took her milk.  Sethe did not like that, because she did not get to say in this, even though it is her milk.  Sethe was not able to talk to the people that are getting her milk, because they thought that women, like Sethe, should stay quiet and not say anything.  Sethe was not able to stand up for herself, because she was held down, and the “whitebabies” are taking her milk.

This shows feminist lens, because she was pinned down and her milk was taken away from her.  She was not able to push them away, because the stereotypes would be that women would stay quiet and not say anything to anyone.  The word “milk” was taken away from Sethe because she was being raped.  She would keep saying that the men “stole her milk.”  So, I thought that she was being raped by the men, and she does not know what to do, but complain about it.

Sethe loved being a mother, because she was able to see her children grow.  She was able to have a family after slavery was gone, and she was happy to have her children until she had to give up her “milk” for the “whitebabies”.  She wants to save her “milk” for her children, because they are her babies, and she wants to care for them.  But she does not like how she has to share her “milk” to other children that are not her children.  She wants to keep her “milk” to her children, because they are her children.  Sethe does not like how many “whitebabies” are coming to her for milk.

Why did Sethe killed her children?

Text: Figurations of Rape and the  Supernatural in Beloved by Palma E. Barnett

Critical Lens: Feminist Lens

In the article of Figurations of Rape and the  Supernatural in Beloved by Palma E. Barnett, Barnett starts to talk about how Sethe was raped and how she does not want anyone to touch her children.  Barnett talks about how Sethe was a free woman, from slavery, but she was scarred from the abuse and rape that she’s been through.  “While Morrison Depicts myriad abuses of slavery like brutal beatings and lynchings, the depictions of and allusions to rape are of primary each in some way helps explain the infanticide that marks importance; the beginnings of Sethe's story as a free woman” (418).  Even though Sethe was free, Barnett describes how men looked at Sethe as a woman to have sex with.  She used “allusion to rape,” which means that the men dream of raping her, and they did not do anything to her.  By looking at this word, “allusion to rape,” shows how many people look at Sethe differently and they want something from her, other than using her as a slave.

Barnett says, “Sethe kills her child so that no whitman will ever “dirty” her, so that no young man with “mossy teeth” will ever hold the child down and suck her breasts” (251, 70, 418).  Barnette was trying to say that Sethe killed Denver and Beloved, because she does not them to get raped from men.  Sethe does not want Denver and Beloved to go what she went to.  Instead of letting them live, she killed them, so she would not have to see them suffer, like how Sethe did, when she was a slave.  Barnett was trying to say that Sethe been through lots of stuff when she was a slave, because she had no power to say anything and she has to stay quiet about it.

Paul D Vs. Sethe

Around the first few chapters of Beloved, Paul D and Sethe had an argument about Denver.  Sethe was defending Denver, because she wants Paul D to know that Denver is her daughter, and she she has every right to defend her.  Sethe felt like she has to defend Denver as a daughter, and also of how she was able to stand up against Paul D, when he was yelling at her.  Sethe was defending her daughter, and Paul D expects her to defend him back.  Paul D was surprised that Sethe was taking Denver's side, and was trying to argue with him.  Paul D did not expect Sethe to fight back, because he thought he was superior and Sethe was inferior.

Paul D did not like how Sethe was defending, Denver, because he felt betrayed.  For Sethe, she wanted to defend her daughter because she cares and loves her.  When Sethe asked Paul D to apologize to Denver, he said he did not want to.  Paul D says, “Why you think you have to take up for her?  Apologize to her?  She’s grown” (54).  This shows that even though Paul D did not start the argument, he still did not want to apologize to her because he thinks she’s “grown up.”  Sethe took this as an offence, because Denver is Seth’s child, and Sethe does not want her to get hurt.  Paul D argues back that Sethe cannot protect her every second of her life, Sethe felt like she was being disrespectful from Paul D.  Even though Sethe cannot protect her children all the time, but she would be able to protect her children as long as she lives.  She says, “Nothing!  I’ll protect her while I’m live and I’ll protect her when I ain’t” (54).  This shows that Sethe does not like how Paul D is treating her and Denver.  Paul D was trying to be masculine, but he cannot because Sethe is being a strong women and defending what is right to her.

Feminist Lens

Text: The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” by Barbara A. Schapiro

Critical Lens: Feminist Lens

In the article, The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” by Barbara A. Schapiro, it is about Schapiro talking about how people treat others differently.  She talks about Beloved and was being honest about the book.  Many men in the book look at women differently.

One thing that I agree with this article would be how women like Sethe and Beloved were treated differently.  Sethe was treated differently, because Schapiro was talking about how Sethe was raped from men. Schapiro said, “Sethe repeatedly asserts that the worst aspect of her rape was that the white boys "took my milk!" (17).  This shows that Sethe was not treated right when she was a slave.  The men wanted to raped her for her milk, because the men did not want her baby to have any milk left to drink.  Sethe did not know what to do when she was raped from the men, because she did not have any rights to say anything to the men that were her master and the men would want to do something to her.  Another one that Schapiro was talking about would be how Beloved was trying to seduced Paul D, when he was alone in the living room, trying to sleep.  Schapiro said, “Beloved repeatedly commands Paul D, "I want you to touch me on the inside part and call me my name" (116).  This shows that Schapiro was talking about Beloved kept repeating that to Paul D, and later on, he gave up and they had sex together.  Something about Beloved is making Paul D, want to have sex with her.

Something that I would disagree with this article would be how they kept talking about Beloved.  Schapiro was talking about how this Denver and Sethe were "possessing and objectifying" each other.

"Beloved

You are my sister

You are my daughter

You are my face;you are me

I have found you again; you have come back to me

You are my Beloved

You are mine

You are mine

You are mine" (255).

As you can see, this shows how "sticky" they to Beloved.  They are claiming her as if she is an object to them.  Sethe and Denver are "possessing and objectifying" Beloved by how they are saying "You are my sister", "You are my daughter", and "You are mine". This shows "possessing and objectifying" by how they are clingy to their ghost child. They do not want her to live and want her to stay with her forever.