ears the only thing Sethe was not deprived of was bitterness and hatred. Thus, after escaping the captivity, the only life she had ever known, freedom was pure heaven. For twenty eight days, she and her four children lived in a state of bliss. Unfortunately for them, this freedom was short lived. On that twenty eighth day, as Sethe and her children worked in the yard, the white plantation owner, known as School Teacher, approached Sethe's house in search of his lost slaves. Sethe, temporarily overwhelmed by her own horrific memories of slavery, decided that death was the only escape, that freedom through death was better than the living death experienced by slaves on a plantation. Herding her children into the work shed, she got hold of a saw blade with the intent of killing herself and her four kids. Fortunately for the other three children, she only had time to kill one of them. At the sight of the dead body, School Teacher turned and left, "there was nothing there to claim" (Morrison 149).
             Such an incident is not easily forgotten, nor is it easily forgiven. People no longer stopped to visit Sethe's house. Her two sons, Buglar and Howard, run away, never to be heard from again. The only family Sethe is left with, the only joy in her life, comes from her one remaining daughter, Denver. Unfortunately, for the wellness of the family, Sethe is unable and incapable of expressing her love in a suitable manner. Because Sethe lived her entire life deprived of love, she was clueless when it came to properly expressing her own feelings of love. As a result of this, and also to prevent her own past from infecting her daughter, Sethe keeps an overbearing watch over Denver. Denver is restricted from leaving the house, and is thus deprived of all the freedoms of the "outside world."
             In the months and years following the murder of her child, Seth's life is in a state of shambles. She does her best to hide the...