Saturday, March 19, 2016

Poor Sethe

Before Sethe runaway from Sweet Home she is beaten and gets he beat milk stolen from her by school teacher and his nephews. After reading this Sethe is much more concerned by he milk being stolen that being beaten while pregnant. I did and maybe a little still don't understand why she is more upset about her milk being stole rather then being beaten and then possibly having a miscarriage, even Paul D agrees. I do understand that what the nephews did was horrible and a molestation, but she does really refer to being violated she is definitely more concerned about the milk being gone. My though is that her body will just make more milk, so personally I would be much more upset about the beating and molestation.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I think the reason she cares about her breast milk so much is due to the fact that, as we said in class, it's going to give life to the one thing she loves-- her children. I honestly think that Seethe is "used" to being beaten/violated by white people (which is a horrible thing to even have to say, but unfortunately, it's reality that slavery was). Sethe has given up hope for herself, but she is determined to get her kids away from Sweet Home and give her children a better life. Sure, her body can make more milk, but I think she's just very upset about the fact that these men feel like they can take away/harm her children. This whole scene definitely helps Morrison get across the whole idea about the importance of motherhood.

Unknown said...

The reason she was so upset about the breast milk is because that was the only way to get nutrients to her new born baby. She was not concerned about being beaten because that was a way of life at the time. She wanted to save her child that had made it into the world instead of worrying about the baby that hasn't made it yet. Sethe was only worried about her current family and not occupied with the future because she didn't know if there was going to be a future. Sethe cared so much about her new baby that she was only focused on the fact that the nephews took her child's only way to receive nutrients. Sethe was just being the best mother she could be. She needed to feed her baby so it would survive, she didn't care about the one on the way because who knows if it would make it or not.