Blog Entry 4-Response and Reflection

In history class, we do not read or talk about what life was like emotionally for the former slaves after the war was over. I knew that former slaves suffered after the war, but I did not think that it would be as bad as it was for Sethe. When Sethe was a slave, horrible things happened to her. She was raped, whipped, and beaten. As a result, the emotional effects of what happened to her affected her children. Sethe became overprotective of her children, to the point where she would kill them to protect her children. Even though Sethe was incredibly strong and would not let others opinion about her get in her way, and was independent, when it came to her children she was still emotionally vulnerable.

I do not think that Toni Morrison is arguing all mothers where as protective and extreme as Sethe was before the war. On the other hand, I think that Toni Morrison is saying that for some of the women, their children where the most precious things to them, and they would do anything to protect them. This becomes clear when Sethe killed Beloved to prevent School teacher from taking her children from her. At the same time, she wanted to protect herself from being hurt because if School teacher got them, then they could be taken away from her. Sethe's children are the most precious things to her, and the thought to that that they would suffer like she did, to Sethe, is worse than death. Sethe's overarching fear is that they would be taken away from her, like Baby Suggs’ children were. This shows that she is emotionally vulnerable because her children are her weakness, which caused her to be so protective of them. If anything were to happen to her children, it is clear by the way that Sethe is so protective of her children, their death would destroy her.

We do not learn about what life was like on a person level for the women who were slaved, and what it was like for them when they had children of their own. This changed my mind on motherhood now and during that time. Before I thought of motherhood as an experience that helps you grow, and gives you a chance to teach all the things that you learned to you children. After reading Beloved, I now understand that to some mothers, their children are the most precious things to them and if anything happened to them, their life would be over. Sethe does not teach Denver about how to live and survive and spends most of her time protecting Denver. It is an extreme version of motherhood, but I have a better understanding on how their are different types of mothers.