Why Sethe’s children weren’t hers "It is the ultimate gesture of a loving mother. It is the outrageous claim of a slave". These are the words that Toni Morrison used to describe the actions of the central character within the novel, Beloved. That character, Sethe, is presented as a former slave woman who chooses to kill her baby girl rather than allowing her to be exposed to the physically, emotionally, and spiritually oppressive …showed first 75 words of 680 total…

…showed last 75 words of 680 total…than allow them to be broken by an evil institution. Love is, then, Sethe's primary motivation for killing her baby. However, Sethe's love for her children does not preclude her responsibility for Beloved's death. Indeed, Sethe's selfish fault lies in the fact that she has shifted the focus of responsibility from herself to the institution that has spawned her. Bibliography Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. Morrison, Toni. Interview. Documentary. Public Broadcasting Company. 1987.