Sethe's Defense System

Thomas Bebbington

p. 5, KP

AP Lang and Comp

April 2, 2013

Beloved Analysis 3

While reflecting on the images of Halle’s face covered in butter, Sethe yearns for the comfort of Baby Suggs, who represented a powerful figure in Sethe’s fight against past events in slavery. Toni Morrison utilizes repetition to demonstrate Baby Sugg’s ability to help Sethe relinquish the memories of her life in chains. While Sethe continuously mulls over “Halle’s face between the butter press and the churn”, she aches for “Baby Sugg’s fingers molding her nape, [and] reshaping it” (101). Morrison employs the word “reshaping” to portray Sethe’s gradual battle against the recurrent memories that plague her life eighteen years later. In slavery, one’s neck is used in an effort to control and dehumanize, and Baby Suggs helped Sethe heal the physical and mental wounds inflicted upon her while enslaved. While comforting her, Baby Suggs says, “Lay em down, Sethe. Sword and Shield. Down. Down. Both of em down” (101). The repetition of the word “down” coupled with the use of weaponry represent a prerequisite to peace. Baby Suggs insists that and her “sword and shield” protect her against the horrific occurrences of slavery, and that Sethe must relinquish this defense system before living again. Out of habit, and even after Sethe’s self liberation, she still expects life at 124 to be as cruel as life in slavery. Baby Sugg’s words helped Sethe drop her “heavy knives” that protected her against “misery, regret, gall, and hurt” (101). Morrison utilizes the imagery of weapons once more to compare Sethe’s fight against her enslavement to an unrelenting duel. After her arrival at 124, Sethe had won the battle, but the war scars and the habitual safety precautions remained. She relied on Baby Suggs to walk her through the process of recreating her life, a life in which a safety barrier is no longer a survival tactic, but a hindrance to a happy life.