Toni Morrison's, Beloved, is a complex narrative about the love between mothers
and daughters, and the agony of guilt.It is the ultimate gesture of a loving mother. It is
the outrageous claim of a slave.? These are the words, of Toni Morrison, used to describe
the actions of Sethe, the central character in the novel. She, a former slave, chooses to kill
her baby girl rather then let her live a life in slavery. In preventing her from the physical
and emotional horrors of slavery, Sethe has put herself in to a realm of physical and
emotional pain: guilt. And in understanding her guilt we can start to conceive her
motivations for killing her third nameless child. Did Beloved's death come out of love or
selfish pride? In preventing her child from going into slavery, Sethe, too, protected herself,
she prevented herself from re-entering captivity. In examining Sethe's character we can
see that her motivations derive from her deep love towards her children, and from the lack
of love for herself. Sethe's children are her only good quality. Her children are a part of
her and in killing one she kills a part of herself. What hinders over Sethe is her refusal to
accept responsibility for her baby's death. Does she do this because she is selfishness or
because it need not be justified? Sethe's love is clearly displayed by sparing her daughter
from a horrific life, yet, Sethe refuses to acknowledge that her show of compassion is also
Throughout the work, seems to have two separate identities, which affect her
actions. When reunited with Paul D., Sethe recalls her reactions to School Teacher's
arrival with no mention to her daughter's death. "Oh, no. I wasn't going back there
[Sweet Home]. I went to jail instead?(42) Sethe believes she made a moral stand in not
letting herself be taken into custody. In her statement she has done two things, she has
disa...