In “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison, one significant event that occurred was Sethe killing her baby daughter. This is a central event within the story because its action is what held the story together. Many of the following events were a result of that action. Sethe killing her two year old daughter was an important scene in the book because it displayed her love for her children, its action lead to 124 being haunted by the child ghost, it caused the child to return in the form of Beloved, and it helped with the development of Denver’s character. If Sethe had never proceeded with killing her child, many events in the book would not have occurred.
Shortly after escaping Sweet Home, the four horsemen, schoolteacher, one of his nephews, a slave catcher, and a sheriff, came to claim Sethe along with her children. Sethe quickly ran to the shed where she planned to kill her children to protect them, but only succeeded in killing one. Once the horsemen witnessed what she has done they thought, “Right off it was clear, to schoolteacher especially, that there was nothing there to claim. The three (now four—because she’d had the one coming when she cut) pickaninnies they had hoped were alive and well enough to take back to Kentucky, take back and raise properly to do the work Sweet Home desperately needed, were not (Morrison 175).” The horsemen, especially schoolteacher, came to realize that their trip had been in vein. They thought they would have claimed more slaves, but from what they have seen, Sethe was not well enough to take back to Sweet Home. This quote signifies that the schoolteacher desperately needed slaves for Sweet Home who were alive and well, but after Sethe’s actions he felt that there was nothing for him to claim there.
Sethe killing her child showed her love for her, and for the rest of her children. If she had never done what she did, schoolteacher would have taken them all back to Sweet Home. Sethe so desperately wanted to protect her children from the life that she grew up in, which is why she killed her daughter. It was the only way she could have protected her.
From the time that Beloved spent with Sethe and Denver, Sethe comes to realize that she is her daughter and wants to explain why she killed her. Sethe thinks, “How if I hadn’t killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her… I’ll tend her as no mother ever tended a child, a daughter. Nobody will ever get my milk no more except my own children (Morrison 236).” In other words, if Sethe had not killed her child she would have died a slave, and Sethe could not bear to see that. Now that her daughter is back she gets another chance to redeem herself by tending her daughter like no mother ever tended a child. Also, she declares that nobody, but her children will ever get her milk. This quotation shows that Sethe killing her child protected her from being captured by schoolteacher and taken to Sweet Home. Sethe’s love for her child is displayed in this quote. Killing her child allowed her this opportunity.
Resulting in the death of Sethe’s child, 124 was haunted by the ghost of it. It often shook the house and threw things around. The ghost that haunted 124 was an effect of Sethe killing her child. If Sethe had not killed her, the house would not have been haunted. The ghost caused Sethe’s sons, Howard and Buglar, to run away. No one visited 124, leaving Denver in isolation from other people. She had no company other than the ghost of her sister.
Denver comes to acknowledge that Beloved is her sister. She was the one who haunted 124, and kept Denver company. Denver thinks, “Beloved is my sister. I swallowed her blood right along with my mother’s milk. The first thing I heard after not hearing anything was the sound of her crawling up the stairs. She was my secret company until Paul D came. He threw her out. Ever since I was little she was my company and she helped me wait for my daddy (Morrison 243).” Denver knew that Beloved was her sister. She knew that her sister was the ghost that haunted 124, and kept her company secretly over the years. Denver believed that her father was coming to get her, and her sister waited with her. This secret relationship that Denver had with her sister was due to the fact that her sister was the ghost that haunted the house.
Sethe grew more and more attached to Beloved. She began to arrive to work late and even miss days just to stay home to spend time with her daughter that she once lost. Eventually, Sethe lost her job and could barely feed her children or herself. As Denver sees what the return of her sister is doing to her mother, she left 124 to seek work. The return of Beloved had contributed to the development of Denver’s character. She was once reluctant to step outside the walls of her house, but then willingly does so to seek help. Sethe killing her child contributed to the cause of this. The return of the dead child allowed Denver to mature and leave her home, just as her brothers.
The death of Sethe’s child is a central event in the story. This event leads to 124 being haunted by the ghost of the child, Beloved’s character coming into the story contributing to the development of Denver’s character, and most importantly this event showed Sethe’s love for her children. If Sethe had never killed her child the story would have been completely different.
Works Cited
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage, 1987. Print.
