Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Filling in the Blanks
Wow. So the reading for last night dropped a bombshell. I can't say I didn't see something like this happening with the hinting at the cuts on the baby's throat, but still it came as a shock. Sethe killed her children in order to keep them from being taken in to slavery. Although it is a very rash decision, Sethe obviously thinks it it the right thing to do. She doesn't want her children to have to go through the same pain she endured. When Sethe first tells Paul D after he confronts her with the newspaper clipping he leaves. It seems like Paul isn't coming back, and she knows it.
Now, from my perspective I thought that Paul should have stayed, that he wasn't being sympathetic. But I think we could almost flip this idea and say that the readers who agree with Sethe's ideas are too sympathetic. We see the pain and the struggles Sethe has gone through to protect and provide for these children. We know what she is thinking, but Paul does not. Although he knows Sethe, he can't seem to wrap his mind around killing the children. Paul knows the struggles of slavery. He was in jail for a long time because of something he did while he was enslaved. You would think he might be a little more sympathetic towards Sethe, but he's not.
When you read this, what did you think about Sethe's choice of killing her children? Do you think Paul should have stayed based on their past in Sweet Home the fact he came back for her? Do you think Paul is coming back?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You ask very difficult questions. I'm not sure if I can say I agree with Sethe's choice of killing her children once she sees schoolteacher. I can understand the logic behind this decision, and I also understand the reasoning she gave in the book (it being her job to keep her children away from danger). With this being said, I don't think the decision to kill her children was at all moral (obviously). I think Paul D's reaction was to be expected. If you told me that you murdered your own child, regardless of the reason, I would definitely be alarmed and horrified. Maybe he just needs time to figure out what he wants to do, but I hope we figure out soon.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, we really don't have the right to judge Sethe for her actions. She was put in a situation almost no one can truly relate to. And while it is natural to be alarmed or shocked at what happened, ultimately we have to just accept it. What happened to Sethe was probably worse than anything that will happen to me in my life. To say whether or not she should have done what she did would be unfair of me.
ReplyDeleteAs I read the chapter describing Sethe's shocking actions, I couldn't help but think about Paul D.'s words to Sethe, "you love too much." I don't think I can really blame Sethe for her actions. This is a woman who just endured years of hardship and servitude and has finally had a chance to taste freedom and provide that for her young family. The prospect of entering that dark world again, or even worse, having her children enter it must have been too unbearable for her. In the end, she did what she did out of love.
ReplyDeleteI agree that with Vinay that we don't really have the right to judge Sethe for what she does. I think we can sympathize with her, and the other characters in the book, but it's extremely hard to really empathize with her and understand to the full extent where she has been. One thing that really struck me about this scene (I guess there are so many things we can take from it), is that the eyes in which it is scene is the whole reason she claims to have done it (the schoolteacher). It seems like a very adrenaline-based response (in the same way that people can lift cars off of others, even though that's not physically possible normally -- called "hysterical strength"). The scene is not just her killing her baby, it's truly a call and response in the narrative. Still have more to sort through, though. But nice post :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else that we don't quite have the right to judge Sethe, and I think on that same note, we can't judge Paul D for having the reaction we did. Although I've got to say, when he told Sethe about Halle in the barn (something that arguably, he shouldn't have told her), she didn't leave him, so it seems a bit unfair that when he learns something bad, he leaves. Still, this entire thing is an awful situation, so I shouldn't be judging him for making the decision to leave.
ReplyDelete