The novel Beloved by Tony Morrison is about a African American Lady names Sethe and how her past experiences are haunting her physically, mentally and emotionally. Sethe has survived multiple forms of suffering that is explained early in the novel as she is experiencing flashbacks of her slave years. As you read through this novel we see many scenes that contribute a great deal to the storyline. Some scenes are as clear as water but some are hidden symbols that was brought up once again more towards the ending of the story.Going back to Sethe’s suffering, we see one form of suffering that really carried on throughout the story. This suffering is of course from the scene where Sethe’s milk was taken from her. The milk scene played a major contribution as a symbol in this story. If Sethe’s milk was never taken from her the entire novel might have taken a different path and I will explain to you why.
The scene that I would like to bring to attention and I believe was a very significant detail to the story can be found in the beginning of the novel in chapter 1 page 10. This is a scene where we can easily depict the anguish and suffering that Sethe had to overcome.
“I had milk,” she said. “I was pregnant with Denver but I had milk for my baby girl. I hadn’t stopped nursing her when I sent her on ahead with Howard and Buglar.”
Now she rolled the dough out with a wooden pin. “Anybody could smell me long before he saw me. And when he saw me he’d see the drops of it on the front of my dress. Nothing I could do about that. All I knew was I had to get my milk to my baby girl. Nobody was going to nurse her like me. Nobody was going to get it to her fast enough, or take it away when she had enough and didn’t know it. Nobody knew that she couldn’t pass her air if you held her up on your shoulder, only if she was lying on my knees. Nobody knew that but me and nobody had her milk but me. I told that
to the women in the wagon. Told them to put sugar water in cloth to suck from so when I got there in a few days she wouldn’t have forgot me. The milk would be there and I would be there with it.”“Men don’t know nothing much,” said Paul D, tucking his pouch back into his vest pocket, “but they do know a suckling can’t be away from its mother for long.”
“Then they know what it’s like to send your children off when your breasts are full.” “We was talking ’bout a tree, Sethe.”
“After I left you, those boys came in there and took my milk.That’s what they came in there for. Held me down and took it. I told Mrs. Garner on em. She had that lump and couldn’t speak but her eyes rolled out tears. Them boys found out I told on em. Schoolteacher made one open up my back, and when it closed it made a tree. It grows there still.”
“They used cowhide on you?”
“And they took my milk.”
“They beat you and you was pregnant?”“And they took my milk!”
To explain this in simpler terms, Sethe was beaten down by schoolteacher’s nephews and her breast milk was taken from her by force. This flashback is very important because it begins the symbolism of milk in the story. After reading this, we can see that Sethe was treated poorly in the past. This scene is very important because without this part of the story the entire story would of been told differently. Sethe’s mindset would of been completely different. The events that trigger this flashback of her milk being taken from her would not of happened. This scene also brings the topic of her suffering and how the suffering frightened her. This scene brought a chain reaction throughout the rest of the story.
Sethe’s milk being taken from her is probably the most significant part of Beloved. This was a very traumatizing moment in the story not only for Sethe but for the readers as well. With that said I would like to bring to your attention another scene from the story that can be found in chapter 7 page 41 of the novel.
“There is also my husband squatting by the chum smearing the butter as well as its clabber all over his face because the milk they took is on his mind. And as far as he is concerned, the world may as well know it. and if he was broken then, then he is also and certainly dead now.”
In other words, the incident where milk was taken from Sethe was traumatizing not only to her but to her husband Halle as well. It was something that both of them could not get out of their minds. This horrific incident put unwanted thoughts in Halle’s mind and did not know how to deal with this kind of stress. This one single incident drove him insane and drove him away for good. Halle was never seen agin after the butter scene which impacted Halle and his wife Sethe pretty hard. After reading this we can pretty much assume that Halle would be dead. Just the thought of being a widow to Sethe was a very unsatisfying feeling . This feeling stayed with her even after leaving Sweet Home. This scene is one of the most pivotal scenes in the story that resulted directly from the scene where Sethe’s milk was taken from her. Because of this Sethe’s heart was broken because of the loss of her husband Halle. I think this scene was also a direct relation of Sethe being able to being able to grow and move on. Without Halle’s disappearance Sethe would still be with Halle and not have escaped from Sweet Home to start a new life with Paul D and she would of probably still been living at Sweet Home. Therefore the milk scene was a very significant and story changing scene.
As we read on later in the story we begin to see a different side to Sethe. She is more compassionate towards everyone especially to Beloved and Denver. As a mother she loved her children. She wanted to give everything she had away to her children whoever the milk scene did in fact still take place so she is scared but that did not stop her from showing love to everyone around her.
Seth wanted to provide for her children regardless of what has happened or what could happen in the future. Based on the knowledge that we have of Sethe we can conclude that she has somewhat of an obsession with her goals. I believe that Sethe began this obsession with this goal the day her milk was taken from her. If this had not happened the entire story line would have changed. Since the day that her milk was taken from her she began preparing herself to give up everything that she had in order to provide for her children.
I would also like to talk about the events surrounding the milk incident that occurred as a direct result of it. As we know, Paul A and Sixo are missing throught the entire book because they are dead. The milk scene was a direct contribution to their deaths because they dies right after Mrs. Garner was notified about the attack. After that, the schoolteacher found out about the grand escape and proceeded to execute them. The birth of Denver was also a result of the milk scene. Denver was conceived by Sethe with the help of Amy. During the escape, Sethe, seriously injured, was ready to give birth but the conditions were too intense and almost died in labor. Amy found her struggling and insisted on helping her. She got Sethe to a safe place to give birth and proceeded to help with the delivery of her baby. To show her recognition for her help Sethe named her child after Amy Denver and named her baby Denver. Lastly, the murder of Beloved. The thought of slavery tainted Sethe’s mind and she refused to let her children live the same way that she was forced to live so she attempted to kill them but only succeed in killing one in the process which was Beloved.
In conclusion, the milk scene was the most significant and story changing scene in the entire novel because this event transformed Sethe and her entire mind set. This event enabled her to grow as a woman and not an animal that she was pictured as in the beginning of the story when she was still living in Sweet Home. This scene resulted in many crucial events that in the end all surrounded that one scene where Sethe’s milk was taken from her. If the milk scene had not taken place, Halle wouldn’t have ran away, Paul A and Sixo wouldn’t have died, Denver wouldn’t have been born properly and Sethe would not have kill Beloved which would of totally transformed the entire story line.
