Introduction & Thesis

 

Sethe's murder of her infant daughter is the main focus of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison.  I will delve into related cases of modern infanticide and compare them to that of Margaret Garner; Sethe's the real life reflection. I will examine differences between the cases in an attempt to show how time and context can alter your perception of the situation.

 

 

         Infantcide is the resounding focus of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison. The main character ex-slave Sethe struggles throughout the novel to cope with her murder of her infant daughter, who is refered to as"Beloved " because in life she had no name and this was her mother "payed" to have put on her headstone. In this site I will compare other cases of infantcide both similar and unalike to the crime committed by Sethe's real life reflection Margaret Garner in an attempt to show a diffrence of context. I will attempt to convey to you the diffrence between mindless killing and what I believe Margaret/Sethe did for her child:

Sparing her from a lifetime of suffering.