a slave to someone. Sethe believed that .what she had done was right because it came from true love (251). Slavery had to have affected Sethe psychologically because no mother in their right mind would kill their own children, but the negative affects of slavery and having been through the life of a slave, Sethe strongly believed that Beloved should not have to live the life of a slave. Sethe felt rather than having to suffer, Beloved would be better of dead. In Beloved, we see evidence of the affects of slavery on families during that time. Slavery has lead to the break up of many families. Going back to when Sethe was a slave, she did not have any parents herself, and lost her husband when she ran away to Ohio trying to free herself. Slavery also led her to kill one of her children, and the ghost of that dead child, Beloved, led to both of her sons running away. In attempts to break free from the chain of slavery, Sethe had to put her family aside to gain freedom for herself and her one daughter Denver. Baby Suggs lost all of her eight children due to slavery, four children were taken from her and four were chased away. She tells Sethe that she should be thankful that she had three children left but it was because of these conditions that many former slaves were able to grow into a closer bond with each other. Being a slave has not put Sethe in the right state of mind. The act of slavery stills lingers in her mind, as she cannot get over the years of her living as a slave. Like a soldier who fought in war would have flashbacks, Sethe often experiences a flashback of her own kind trying to forget all of the horrible memories. Sethe charges Edward Bodwin with an ice pick in the deranged belief that he is schoolteacher come for her babies (Furman 269). Being a slave and remembering her horrible past has led Sethe to believe that a white man who was there to give her daughter Denver a job was the schoolteacher that had mistreated her wh...
