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draft, Project #2

Sethe’s Tormentor (Project #2 Draft)-Part Uno

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In Beloved, the main character, Sethe, is living in Ohio, a free state for blacks, with her daughter Denver. Sethe escaped the harsh brutalities as a slave, however, she continued to relive the bad memories she endured as a slave at Sweet Home. As Sethe lived her new life at 124, she tried not to mention the past to Denver, but it would always come up through the daily activities of her life or when Beloved, her deceased daughter, would ask her to retell stories of her life. As for Beloved, her ghost came back to ignite Sethe’s bad feelings of the past. Beloved caused Sethe to feel depressed for killing her and the attempted murder of her other children (Morrison 175-179). However, the memory that really haunted Sethe’s conscious was when “those boys [the nephews of the Schoolteacher] came in there and took her milk
they held her down and took it
Schoolteacher made one [of the boys] open up her back and when it closed it made a tree
they used cowhide on her and took her milk
they beat her while she was pregnant and they took her milk” (Morrison 19-20). Therefore, if Sethe’s milk was not stolen, her husband, Halle, would have escaped with Sethe and their children and help Sethe give birth to Denver while they were escaping to Ohio; she would not have gotten post-traumatic stress from that harsh ordeal, which would eventually cause her to kill Beloved for fear that the pain she endured would also happen to Beloved, and Beloved’s ghost would had never return to torment her for killing her.

When Sethe’s milk was stolen, it devastated her. The milk that she was going to use to nurse Denver after she left her womb was taken from her as if someone had rapped her (Morrison 19-20). The worse thing about that event was that her husband, Halle, “saw them boys [the nephews of the Schoolteacher] do that [steal Sethe’s milk] from her and let them keep on breathing air” (Morrison 81). Halle watched the whole ordeal but he could not do anything about it. “It broke him [Halle],” affected his psyche, and caused him to smear butter all over his face (Morrison 82-83). Sethe, Halle, and their children had planned to escape with Sixo and Paul D to Ohio but Halle was never seen after Sethe’s milk was stolen (Morrison 265). Since Sethe was pregnant, Halle was going to help Sethe and their children with their escape to Ohio but Sethe “did it. She got them [her children] out. Without Halle too. Up till then it was the only thing she ever did on her own
Each and every one of her babies,” including herself came to Ohio (Morrison 190). “She birthed them and got em [her children] out
she did that. She had help, of course, lots of that, but still it was her doing it” (Morrison 190). Furthermore, If Halle did not disappear, he would have helped Sethe to give birth to Denver and Amy Denver, the whitegirl, would not need to help Sethe during Denver’s delivery (Morrison 99-100).

Secondly, the pain that Sethe acquired from her milk getting stolen caused her to get posttraumatic stress disorder. “She’d gone wild, due to the mishandling of the nephew who’d overbeat her and made her cut and run” (Morrison 176). So, she swung her “baby [Beloved] toward the wall planks, missed and tried to connect a second time
 while “the two [Howard and Buglar] lied open-eyed in the sawdust,” and the “third [Beloved] pumped blood down the dress of the main one [Sethe]” (Morrison 175-176). In this scene, Sethe could not deal with the violation of her milk being stolen, so, it gave her a reason to take the life of Beloved and attempt to kill her other children as a means of saving them from the harsh brutalities of slavery. However, Sethe’s actions caused her other children, Denver, Buglar, and Howard to be afraid of her (Morrison 216 & 242). During Beloved’s funeral “neither Howard nor Buglar would let her [Sethe] near them, not even to touch their hair” (Morrison 216). They were afraid that Sethe would do the same thing to do them as she did to Beloved, so they eventually ran away (Morrison 245). As for Denver, she continued to live with Sethe because “she loved her mother but she knew she [Sethe] killed one of her own daughters, and tender as she was with her,” Denver was always living in constant fear that “the thing that happened that made it all right for her mother to kill her sister could happen again,” so, she was always watching her mother’s every move, less she be killed as well (Morrison 242).

Thirdly, since Sethe’s milk was stolen and she killed Beloved as a means to save them from the harsh brutalities of slavery, Beloved’s ghost returned in Sethe’s life to torment her for causing her death. When Beloved first came to 124, she was “feverish” from the cholera she had and she was “poorly fed” (Morrison 62 & 64). At first, Sethe takes her in and helps her to get better without knowing that it was her daughter (Morrison 61-65). Sethe believed that Beloved was a harmless child and that she was a good friend to Denver. However, Denver began to realize that Beloved was her deceased sister that came back to take revenge on Sethe, especially after she saw Beloved choke Sethe’s neck (Morrison 119). As Beloved’s health began to improve, she began to become more “demanding” (Morrison 283). Although, Sethe was fond of her presence (Morrison 63) and her eagerness for Sethe to tell stories of her life (Morrison 69), Beloved began to suck the life out of Sethe by her constant need to get everything from Sethe (Morrison 283). Whether it was food, clothes, or attention, Beloved “got it, and when Sethe ran out of things to give her, Beloved invented desire” (Morrison 283).

“Then the mood changed and the arguments began
 Beloved accused her [Sethe] of leaving her behind
And Sethe cried, saying she never did, or meant to—that she had to get them [her children] out, away, that she had the milk all the time and had the money too for the stone but not enough
Beloved was not interested. Sethe pleaded for forgiveness, counting, listing again and again her reasons: that Beloved was more important, meant more to her than her own life. That she would trade places any day. Give up her life, every minute and hour of it, to take back just one of Beloved’s tears” (Morrison 284).

However, Beloved did not accept Sethe’s forgiveness, instead she was being very disrespectful by slamming things around the house, wiping the table clean of plates [Beloved was eating a lot of food], throwing salt on the floor, and she broke a windowpane (Morrison 285). As Beloved gained more weight, Sethe lost weight and became neglectful in taking care of her own self. Instead of combing her hair or washing her face, Sethe “sat in a chair licking her lips like a chastised child while Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, and grew taller on it” (Morrison 295). Finally, Beloved attempted to kill Sethe with an ice pick but failed at it and disappeared (Morrison 309).

In conclusion, Sethe’s milk getting stolen was the most pivotal scene in Beloved because it brought an aftermath of pain and grief that followed Sethe from Sweet Home to Ohio. First, Sethe’s milk getting stolen, made her husband, Halle, get depressed and disappear from Sethe when they were supposed to escape to Ohio together with their children. Second, Sethe was dealing with post-traumatic stress from her milk getting stolen, which caused her to kill Beloved and lastly, Beloved’s ghost returned from the dead to torment and take revenge on Sethe for killing her. All of these events could have been avoided and she could have had her whole family together at Ohio. Instead these events broke Sethe’s family apart and caused Sethe to live in constant remorse for the killing of her daughter, Beloved.

 

Works Cited

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1987. Print.

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draft, Project #2

Project 2 Draft

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In the novel “beloved” by Toni Morrison, the characters face many hardships and go through many tough times. There is one moment though, that I feel had a major impact on all the following events and without said scene, the story would be very different. The scene I’m  referring to is when Schoolteachers nephews take Sethe’s milk.

The scene is described near the beginning of the story. Sethe mentions the tree on her back, and when pressed to explain herself, the following conversation ensues.

“…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!”

When asked about the tree she mentioned, Sethe starts talking about her milk and how important it was to get it to her daughter. Paul D seems confused at first about the change in topic, “We was talking ’bout a tree, Sethe.” She then explains how they held her and took her children’s milk, and when they found out she had told Mrs. Garner what happened, Schoolteacher had her whipped, even though she was very pregnant by then. Paul D is shocked to find out she was whipped while she was pregnant, but what bothered Sethe more was that her milk was taken. Her milk that she had for her little girl.

Soon afterwards she escapes, but without Halle. She has no idea why he hasn’t come as planned, until Paul D explains later in the story.

“He saw.” “He told you?” “You told me.” “What?” “The day I came in here. You said they stole your milk. I never knew what it was that messed him up. That was it, I guess. All I knew was that something broke him. Not a one of them years of Saturdays, Sundays and nighttime extra never touched him. But whatever he saw go on in that barn that day broke him like a twig.” “He saw?” Sethe was gripping her elbows as though to keep them from flying away. “He saw. Must have.” “He saw them boys do that to me and let them keep on breathing air? He saw? He saw? He saw?” … “It broke him, Sethe.” Paul D looked up at her and sighed. “You may as well know it all. Last time I saw him he was sitting by the chum. He had butter all over his face.”

Halle was in the rafters of the barn when the nephews came in and took Sethe’s milk. He was there witnessing the entire thing and was completely powerless to stop it. This drove him crazy, and kept him back when his wife escaped.

Sethe runs away tired, pregnant, barefoot, and alone. Without Halle to help her she nearly dies in the woods, luckily Amy Denver finds her, and nurses her back to health and helps deliver her baby. But the tree on her back, and her husband not being there, make the escape all the more traumatic.

She finally makes it to Baby Suggs, and starts getting better. She spends twenty-eight days with her family, new friends, and freedom. The rape of her milk, the beating, delivering in the forest, Halle still gone. These things don’t leave her mind, and when the Schoolteacher shows up at 124, she loses it. She knows what he is capable of, and she goes ahead and tries to “save” them from what she clearly believes is a fate worse than death.

If her milk hadn’t been taken, Halle would have been fine, and escaped with her. Delivering in the woods would still have been an ordeal, but with Halle there and no tree on her back, it wouldn’t have taken such a toll on her. Without that she would never have been able to kill her child.

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draft, Project #2

PROJECT #2 PART 1 (DRAFT)

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Beloved by Toni Morrison is a novel about Sethe’s life and how her past comes back to haunt her in many ways. Sethe as a person has endured many forms of suffering during her slave years. Throughout the story, we see many scenes that contribute highly to the storyline itself. These scenes may even bring up a symbol that will be brought up to the end of the story. Going back to Sethe’s suffering, we see one form of suffering that really carried on throughout the story. That suffering is the moment her milk was stolen from her. Milk played a huge symbol in this story and without the scenes that bring up this major symbol, this story would probably be completely different.

The scene I’d like to bring up is a scene that happened in the beginning of the book. On Chapter 1 Page 19 (Red Book), we see a scene that depicts Sethe’s suffering regarding her milk. In this scene, we hear what happened to Sethe after running away. “After I left you, those boys came in there and took my milk. That’s what they came here 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.” To simplify this, Sethe was beaten down and her breast milk was forced from her. This quote is very important because it starts off the whole milk topic in the story. After reading this part, we also see that Sethe was treated poorly and inhumane. In other words, she was treated as a cow and not as a human being. This scene is important and without it, the story would be different. For starters, we wouldn’t take milk into account when reading this story. It would just be something that happened and not something major. This scene also brings up the topic of her suffering and how that suffering scarred her. Lastly, as I mentioned before, this scene was a starter that brought about a chain reaction throughout the rest of the story.

Moving on, we go further into the story. The time milk was taken from Sethe by the nephew of school teacher still lingered in the mind of Sethe. It was very traumatizing for her which now brings up a scene in Chapter 7 Page 83 (Red Book) of the story. “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 very traumatizing to not only her but to her husband Halle as well. It was something that both of them couldn’t even take off their minds. It wouldn’t be surprising if many people knew about this incident. This incident hit Halle really hard and he became a Halle we didn’t really know. The single thought of milk drove Halle insane. Unfortunately, Halle was never seen again after the butter incident which of course would hit Sethe, his wife at the time, pretty hard. After reading this, we can already assume that Halle is dead. The thought of being a widow is something that she couldn’t really take. This stuck to her even after leaving Sweet Home. This scene is one of those pivotal scenes because without Halle’s disappearance, Sethe wouldn’t have had a broken heart. She wouldn’t have also recalled this scene many times after thinking about Halle. This scene also enabled Sethe to grow in a way. If it wasn’t for Halle’s disappearance, Sethe wouldn’t have moved on to start rebuilding her family from scratch with Paul D. Going back to the original milk robbing scene, if that scene hadn’t happened, the scene discussed on this paragraph would have not happened which essentially is a novel changing scene.

Later on in the story, we see a Sethe that is more caring towards everyone especially Beloved and Denver. She loved her children which is her duty as a mother. She wanted to give whatever she had to her baby however, we saw earlier in the book that her milk was taken from her which scarred her. This however didn’t stop her from wanting to provide love for her loved ones. This brings up our next quote which can be found on Chapter 8 Page 118 (Red Book). “There was no question but that she could do it. Just like the day she arrived at 124-sure enough, she had milk enough for all.” To restate this, there was without a doubt that she could provide for her children especially due to the fact that she had enough milk for all her children. As I mentioned before, Sethe wanted to provide for her children. Regardless of what happened and what could happen, she wanted to give no matter what. Based on this, we can probably see a development in an obsession towards this one goal. Now what exactly does this have to do with the scene we read on Page 19 (Red Book)? The answer to that is we can see that she shows signs of growth and development since the day her milk was taken from her. She prepared herself to give up everything just to provide her children with her nutrients. In addition to that, Sethe was now able to do something she couldn’t do back then as a slave and that was to feed her children with her breast milk.

In conclusion, that one scene from Page 19 (Red Book) played a very important role in the story. It enabled Sethe character to grow as a woman and not as the cow she was depicted as during her years as a slave. This scene resulted in crucial events, the most important being the Halle incident because it resulted in the major move into 124 with Paul D to rebuild the family she lost as a slave.

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Week 11

Beloved quote project 2

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Introduce: Denver

In the story Beloved Denver comes off as a shelter person very antisocial, sad, depressed and soft spoken. Throughout the story you watch how Denver character change for the better.

 Quote:

Sethe took two swift steps to the stove, but before she could yank Denver’s collar, the girl leaned forward and began to 9cry.

“What is the matter with you? I never knew you to behave this way.”

“Leave her be,” said Paul D. “I’m a stranger to her.”

“That’s just it. She got no cause to act up with a stranger. Oh baby, what is it? Did something happen?”

But Denver was shaking now and sobbing so she could not speak.

The tears she had not shed for nine years wetting her far too womanly breasts.

“I can’t no more. I can’t no more.”

“Can’t what? What can’t you?”

“I can’t live here. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I can’t live here. Nobody speaks to us. Nobody comes by.

Boys don’t like me. Girls don’t either.”

“Honey, honey.”

“What’s she talking ’bout nobody speaks to you?” asked Paul D.

“It’s the house. People don’t–”

“It’s not! It’s not the house. It’s us! And it’s you!”

“Denver!”

“Leave off, Sethe. It’s hard for a young girl living in a haunted house. That can’t be easy.”

 

Interpret: Denver was very sad to the point where she broke down in tears in front of a stranger she doesn’t know. This shows that she is overwhelmed with the way she was forced to live. Sethe lifestyle affects Denver a lot. She felt isolated or held hostage because she’s the only child her mother had left. She wasn’t able to have a regular life as other people her age would.

Analyze: The Author started of the paragraph with: Sethe took two swift steps to the stove, but before she could yank Denver’s collar
..

Denver had a build up of emotion which was let out by her mother action when they were cooking. She expressed how she felt right there and then.

Apply: In the story Beloved, Denver comes off very jealous and shy in the beginning. She dealt with jealously when it comes to Paul D and Sethe. She also dealt with jealously when it came to Beloved and Sethe. Denver played an important role through the book she knew who beloved was before Sethe. When Sethe got sick she looked for work gained a job and cooked for her mother. She was a changed person by the end of the book from the shy girl who won’t say much and was shelter in the house. She learned her way around she became more confident and independent.

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Homework, Week 11

Five-Step Method for Quoting “Beloved” (Project #2)

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Introduce: In Beloved, the main character Sethe is presently living at 124 with her daughter Denver, however, she continue to relive the bad memories she endured as a slave at Sweet Home. Although, she tried to not mention the past to Denver, it would always come up through the daily activities of her life or when Beloved, her deceased daughter, would ask her to retell stories of her life. As for Beloved, she ignited Sethe’s bad feelings of the past, causing Sethe to feel depressed for the things she did that haunted her very conscious. Therefore, because Sethe was dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder from the harsh sufferings of slavery, Beloved used Sethe’s anguish to torment her even more. (I rarely use quotations from the text for my introduction)

Quote: One of the harsh sufferings Sethe went through, is when she was tied down at Sweet Home by men for her nursing (breast) milk. “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!” (Morrison 19-20)

Interpret: In this quote, the owners of Sweet Home hold down Sethe, so that they take her milk. As her milk was being stolen, the schoolteacher was taking notes of this as if she was a lab experiment. Furthermore, her husband, Halle, had to witness this while he could not do anything about it.

Analyze: When Sethe’s milk was stolen, she was violated. Sethe was helpless and there was nothing she could do because she belonged to the owner of Sweet Home. This traumatic scene played a negative effect to Sethe’s psyche, causing her to kill her daughter, Beloved, and attempt to kill her other children, Denver, Buglar, and Howard, to spare them of the harsh life of being a slave.

Apply: (1)“Growled when they (Sethe and Beloved) chose; sulked, explained demanded, strutted, cowered, cried and provoked each other to the edge of violence, then over. She had begun to notice that even when Beloved was quiet, dreamy, minding her own business, Sethe got her going again. Whispering, muttering some justification, some bit of clarifying information to Beloved to explain what it had been like, and why, and how come. It was as though Sethe didn’t really want forgiveness given; she wanted it refused. And Beloved helped her” (Morrison 296-297).

(2) “Denver thought she understood the connection between her mother and Beloved: Sethe was trying to make up for the handsaw; Beloved was making her pay for it” (Morrison 295).

Beloved was angry for what Sethe did to her, so she brought her torment by constantly fighting between herself and Sethe. Also, Sethe could not forgive herself for killing Beloved, so Beloved feed into Sethe’s misery, causing Sethe to feel more miserable for killing her.

This method is great but I am unsure if I am doing this right. Am I supposed to be writing my draft of part 1 in the format of the five-step method? As for my rating of this method, I believe it is helping me to organize where and how to use the quotation in my essay. However, this method does not help you to formulate a thesis statement.

 

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