Close Reading Experts 1

I read an essay by Terry Paul Caesar who read Beloved through a feminist lens. Terry went deep into the relationship between the general connection throughout mothers and daughters and how that relates immensely in this book between Sethe and Beloved. He touched basis with the idea of women as slaves. He has very well understood what a mother truly is and what a daughter is and what they can do for one another. Terry talks about how Sethe killed her baby to save both herself and more importantly, her child. Sethe saved herself from the responsibility with commitment and the attachment of her baby because it felt like hard work and dedication as it was stated with the idea that Sethe saved her baby from having to go into slavery. She did not want her baby to go through her very same footsteps even though it is very typical for a child to do so. She wanted the best for the baby and wanted the baby to be protected as much as possible. Throughout this time period of slavery, black women eventually had their children taken away from them and they usually didn't get to allow their child's future to be made. Sethe wanted to control and be though what happened to her children, therefore, she went to the extra step and ended the life of one of her kids.

Terry’s interpretation of feminism through Beloved has allowed me to get a better understanding of what aspects women carry and how women are capable to do things that men are not. I never would have imagined Sethe’s willing to kill her baby as a way for her to save herself. That is an insane thing to do because you are losing something as valuable and very important in your life where not that many people would do. It seems that the duty of a mother felt like slavery to her all over again because it took a lot of dedication and strength. She had to raise the child all by herself while keeping in mind that she is not getting any support from anybody else. She has already struggled enough trying to support herself and now she has someone else to support as well. Reading this essay has also allowed me to deeper understand the relationship between Sethe and Beloved. Beloved has come back because she wants to kill Sethe for what she has done to her and her miserable life. Beloved wants to get revenge over Sethe for everything she has put her through and hopes to show her guilt and regret.