Sethe's love
Beloved is a story about trauma. It's a story brimming excruciatingly full with trauma, yet we cannot forget the love. Love is both a hand in the exacerbation of every painful experience, and the center of the healing process. Each character is different -- Beloved's possessive, toxic love, Denver's dependent love, and of course, Sethe's unconditional motherly love. We find Sethe initially to be the perfect picture of a heroine; for her children, she overcomes seemingly impossible odds with the superhuman strength of mothers, reminiscent of the stories where buses are lifted to save an infant. And of course the one, unforgettable need that pulls her forward: I have to get my milk to my children . I remember the graphic, heart-wrenching description of Sethe's journey to 124 with Denver; I feel like I would simply have dropped dead and given up if I were Sethe -- milk, baby, and all. Her journey calls for readers' admiration and love. However, when we finally l...