On a physical level, slavery was devastating, but it destroyed people on an emotional and spiritual level as well. Two of the pivotal characters in the novel are truly broken by their experiences. Sethe is originally a very strong woman and mother. She fiercely loves her children, successfully arranges for all of their escapes, and even escapes herself, despite being brutally whipped and injured. However, eventually, she cannot withstand any more torture, and when schoolteacher shows up in Ohio to take Sethe and her children back to Sweet Home, she has a mental breakdown. Once a loving and devoted mother, she now takes it to extremes and maims her children under the impression that she’s protecting them.
Her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, was a formidable character as well until the incident. She worked almost her entire life as a slave and bore eight children (and lost all of them). When she finally gains her freedom, she spends her time working with the Underground Railroad and preaching to freed slaves. However, after Sethe’s mental break, Baby Suggs breaks as well. She no longer preaches, despite Stamp Paid’s encouragement, and becomes depressed. She dies in bed, lonely and tired of living. 
4 comments:
So, so true. Excellent insight!
One thing in particular that I appreciate in the novel is how it explores dehumanization through the symbolism behind animals. We see multiple circumstances where the slaves seem to be intermixed with the animals, with the animals often receiving more respect. Specifically, the line where Paul D said that the jump from calf to woman was not mighty struck me as it showed the hopelessness and loss of emotion involved with their situation.
I absolutely agree. One thing I often think about when it comes to freed slaves was mental health resources. Back then, and up until fairly recently, mental health wasn’t really something people considered or tended to. If you battled depression or PTSD, there was just something wrong with you. But what if these freed slaves had access to the mental health resources we have today? Think about the changes in their lives. They could’ve gone through extensive therapy or been on medication or a combination of the two. They could’ve gone on to live completely different lives, and maybe if Sethe was treated for her mental health the infanticide would not have happened at all.
(Sophia)
I totally agree with this post. Sethe had some very traumatic experiences as a slave. More specifically, when she is raped and she has no house but to let it happen. Why? Because she is property and she has no say in the matter. Sethe doesn’t want this for her children and she resorts to the unspeakable: she tries to kill her own children. The only reason she would do such a thing is to save them from a horrible life. She knows what it’s like to be a slave and she doesn’t want the same for her children. When the white men come and see the bloody mess that is in the woodshed, they simply leave, disappointed they can’t get another slave. They don’t even care about the lives of the children because they simply want to enslave them. This shows how they truly think about the Africans. They only see them as property, not living souls, causing the dehumanization of slaves.
Post a Comment