Sethe's Stereotypes In Beloved

Sethe, a single-mother who escaped from Sweet Home Plantation, runs to the home of Baby Suggs, her mother-in-law, in hopes of starting a new life for her children; however, the past takes form and restricts Sethe from moving forward. Being the only child her mother kept and remembering that she only talked to her mother once, Sethe and her mother represented the typical non-attachment type of love that slaves knew. Sethe has decided that she was going to be different; she did not want to live in a world of loneliness. Disregarding the stereotype of how slaves should love, Sethe loved Halle, but more than that, she loved her children with all her heart. When Sethe runs away from the plantation with her children to Baby Suggs, Sethe is finally

As a child, Sethe was surrounded by the idea that a woman’s purpose was to breed and not form an attachment to their children. Sethe’s mother “threw them all away but [Sethe]. The one from the crew she threw away on the island. The others from more whites she also threw away. Without names, she threw them” (Morrison 74). She disregarded all her children and even though she kept Sethe, there was no love or attachment between the two, showing the slave stereotype of parent-child exists. As Beloved enters Sethe’s family and life, Sethe is forced to face the past in the present through Beloved’s questions and indirect reminders of the past. Sethe attempts to become a different mother for Beloved and makes up for killing her as a child, breaking the stereotype. For slaves, often mothers do not keep their children or do not get to care for their children with all the work that must be done on the plantation. However, with Sethe, she forgets about her job and takes both Denver and Beloved ice-skating and caters to Beloved’s every desire. This relationship becomes more overpowering when it is seen that “Sethe's eyes bright but dead, alert but vacant, paying attention to everything about

Subsequently, after Sethe’s infanticide, Sethe attempted to isolate Denver, not only from her own past but also from the surrounding community, confining Denver to a life alone with the baby ghost of Beloved. Denver becomes sensitive to attention and maximizing the communication she has with other people. So, when Beloved arrives in her reincarnated form, Denver becomes very attached to Beloved as “[to] go back to the original hunger was impossible. Luckily for Denver, looking was food enough to last… It was lovely. Not to be stared at, not seen, but being pulled into view by the interested, uncritical eyes of the other” (Morrison 139). As Beloved acts like a child, with constant need of attention from Sethe, Denver steps up to become Beloved’s parent to form a bond where Denver will finally get reciprocated attention, breaking the stereotype. When Sethe becomes overcome with the past, Denver rises to the occasion and takes charge of supporting the family. In a discussion with Lady Jones regarding work to help earn an income for the family, Denver declares, “‘I want work, Miss Lady.’ ‘Work?’ ‘Yes, ma’am. Anything.’ Lady Jones smiled. ‘What can you do?’ ‘I can't do anything, but I would learn it for you if you have a little extra.’ ‘Extra?’ ‘Food. My