Slavery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Abstract

This research paper examines the theme of slavery in the novel Beloved which is written by Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison in the Novel Beloved describes the horrors of slavery and depicts its aftermath on African Americans. In her novel Beloved Toni Morrison conveys her strong feelings about slavery. One of the major themes throughout the book is the impact that slavery has on the individual.  Morrison utilizes the characters Mr. Garner and Schoolteacher to illustrate how slavery affects everyone in a different way.  The story is perfect for all who did not experience nor could imagine how it was to be an African American in America. Beloved lends a gateway to understanding the trials and tribulations of the modern African American. The Novel has many things that occur that are very striking and most of which have to deal with the treatment of the African Americans. The book as a whole shows to what lengths African Americans were willing to go to avoid enslavement of themselves or their children. In the novel the most extreme case of someone avoiding enslavement comes from the main character when she attempts to kill her children. The main character Sethe is not willing to let her children end up re-enslaved and would rather see them dead. I think from my point of view that Sethe was justified in her actions.