How slavery ruined Sethe´s ability to sustain healthy relationships.

In Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, the main character, Sethe who is an ex-slave, is reunited with her deceased daughter. Sethe saved this daughter from her own fate, by cutting her throat, when she was just 2 years old. This relationship between mother and daughter develops throughout the book, and is an clear example of how slavery ruins the ability to sustain healthy relationships.

In an analysis of Toni Morrison's Beloved, “The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self”, Barbara A. Schapiro writes about the relationships between the characters in Beloved. Sethe's experiences as a slave drives her to kill her daughter Beloved, when schoolteacher; her former slavemaster, arrives at her house to bring her back Sweethome. This is an act of love, and as Barbara A. Schapiro puts it “Her humanity has been so violated by this man, and by her entire experience as a slave woman, that she kills her daughter to save her from a similar fate.”, and as Sethe states in the book "If I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her" (200). Like the analysis discusses, Sethe killed Beloved to save her from mental death, a thing Sethe herself has experienced.

Sethe´s emotional abilities is highly affected by her years as a slave, this is mentioned in the book, when Sethe says;  "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another" (95).  Sethe's eyes are also described as empty, symbolising her emptiness inside, coming from the expression that eyes are the windows of the soul; "deep down in those big black eyes there was no expression at all" (55). In “The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self” this is also mentioned by the author writing that;“Her eyes reflect the psychic loss and denial of self she has experienced on all levels in her life.”

The murder of Beloved, shows Sethe's unconditional love for her children, and when Beloved returns, that love will physically drain Sethe. Symbolising how loving Beloved takes more humanity, than Sethe has left after her life as a slave. In the analysis Barbara A. Schapiro writes;

“The dynamic suggests a mother being drained by the child's greedy, excessive need.”

Sethe does not have the emotional ability to give Beloved the love she needs, so when Sethe is emotionally drained, she continues to give physical love, like her limited amount of food, to satisfy Beloved. We can also see this change in Sethe and Beloved's physical appearance, as Beloved gets fatter while Sethe gets thinner."Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, grew taller on it"(250).

This symbolizes the odd dynamic between mother and daughter, set off by Sethe's years as a slave, which lead to her overpowering love for her children, blurring her judgement of right and wrong. This love shows in both the action of killing Beloved, then almost killing herself when she returns, as a consequence of giving Beloved everything she asks for.