Sethe's Decision

Beloved is a very complex novel, and the climactic scene in the novel is the most striking of all. Sethe’s decision to kill her children to keep them safe seems astounding, and unbelievable on the surface, but as you begin to understand the situation she was in and her history, we can see that while still a very debatable action, her killing Beloved isn’t as obviously horrific and terrible as it initially seems. Sethe is literally trapped, in a woodshed with schoolteacher and his party approaching, and she faces the seemingly inevitable possibility of being returned to slavery. She seems to lash out, and knowing that resisting schoolteacher and his party would be futile, she kills Beloved instead.

The killing is a bit more complex than the immediate horrified response due to the context of the situation. Sethe’s inability to escape combined with her remembering the horrors of slavery cause her to take the drastic measure of killing Beloved. In many ways however, the ploy actually works. While the cost is immense, she convinces schoolteacher that she is damaged goods, leaving nobody to take care of Denver if she is taken back to slavery. Howard and Buglar are covered in blood, and as a result deemed unfit to help around Sweet Home as well. She successfully protects the rest of her family and herself from a return to Kentucky, and puts Beloved where schoolteacher cannot reach her. Beloved, along with the rest of her family, is safe from slavery, and as a result, the decision accomplished what is was supposed to. Obviously, it is still an objectionable action, as we see when Sethe and Paul D part and Paul D basically calls Sethe an animal for being unable to control her emotions and find another way. This is significant, because even Paul D, who understands the horrors of slavery in a way few do still finds her actions despicable and unexplainable.

Her whole life (and the whole book) seems to revolve around this moment. This day is ingrained in the events of the future, as seemingly everywhere Sethe goes and is, she is reminded of it. Denver suffers from the social stigma attached to Sethe’s deeds as well. The ghost is a constant reminder to Sethe of her choice on that day, and when Paul D returns and drives away the ghost, it returns in flesh to Sethe, although she doesn’t seem to realize it at first. It is really interesting that Sethe doesn’t connect the fact that the name of their guest is Beloved to the gravestone initially, because it seems that a mysterious person appearing shortly after the ghost disappeared whose name was Beloved should ring bells. Its almost as if Sethe truly wants to forget, but cannot seem to no matter what she does. She tries to ignore the name and strangeness of Beloved at first, despite Beloved’s strange, obsessive fascination with her.