Close Reading of Beloved

“Then she’s of one mind and you another? If you can call whatever’s in her head a mind, that is.”

“Excuse me, but I can’t hear a word against her. I’ll chastise her. You leave her alone.”

Risky, thought Paul D, very risky. For a used-to-be-slave women to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had to settled on to love. THe best thing, he knew, was to love just a little bit; everything, just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, we, maybe you’d have a little love left over for the next one. “Why?” he asked her, “Why you think you have to take up for her? Apologize for her? She’s grown?”

“I don’t care what she is. Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother.  A child is a child. they get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that supposed to mean? In my heart it don’t mean a thing.”

“It means she has to take it if she acts up. You can’t protect her every minute. What’s going to happen when you die?”

“Nothing! I’ll protect her when I’m live and I’ll protect her when I ain't.”

Sethe to Paul D, pg. 54

In this quote Sethe and Paul D are arguing about Denver, Sethe’s daughter. Denver said something to Paul D that made him feel like he was being attack, and at the same time surprised her mother. Sethe told Denver to leave the room, and once she left the room, Paul D started to say things about Denver that Sethe did not appreciate. Through this argument Sethe shows characteristics of being a loving mother, except she also shows extreme characteristics. Also, she is not the stereotypical submissive women in the relationship.

This passage reveals that Sethe is possessive of Denver and will defend her every time. This is evident because Sethe is fighting back with Paul D. For instance, when Paul D says that she cannot protect Denver all the time, and how she can not protect Denver when she is dead, Sethe fights back, telling him that she will “protect her when I’m live and I’ll protect her when I ain’t.”  By saying that she is going to protect her when she is no longer alive, it shows how she is possessive of Denver. It shows that she is possessive of Denver  because she has no control over protecting her when she is not alive, but Sethe still says it. In addition, she is fighting back with Paul D, and not letting him talk bad about her daughter. Another example, is when Sethe tells Paul D, that he cannot say anything back about Denver and that she “can’t hear a word against her.” This shows that Sethe will defend Denver because she is trying to prevent Paul D from saying that Denver is not smart, or that she is crazy. Furthermore, Sethe shows how she is possessive of Denver by telling Paul D to leave Denver alone. By saying this, she is almost forcing him to stop because she does not want anyone to talk about her child the way that Paul D is.

Sethe is not submissive in her relationship with Paul D, in fact she is aggressive. For instance, throughout the passage, Sehte has a very aggressive tone. This is evident through how yells at Paul D, and how she says words like “Excuse me” and “I don’t care.” In this context those words have a very aggressive meaning. When people say “Excuse me” in similar situations that Sethe said it, they are trying to fight back or defend himself or others. Words similar to “Excuse me” tend to build the argument up, making it much worse. This shows that she is submissive because most submissive women in relationships during that time would have let themselves get pushed around and not fight back as hard as Sethe is when Paul D says something bad about her child. Furthermore,  by building up the argument, she is not letting Paul D, and it could seem that she wants him to surrender. Using an aggressive tone exemplifies that she is not a submissive women because she is defending her daughter and not letting herself get pushed around by Paul D.

Sethe exemplifies qualities of a stereotypical caring mother, but she also shows some more extreme qualities as well. In addition, she does not act submissive in her relationship with Paul D. This tells us that Sethe is as very strong women, and will not put up with some of the things that other women in relationships will not put up with. She shows that she is not like other women during that time and will protect her child and herself no matter who it is.