er breasts, at last [be] insomebody elses hands (18). As soon as this thought occurs, the ghost attacks andwreaks havoc, the only remedy for which was its expulsion by Paul D. Sethes conscious,manifested in the ghost, wouldnt allow her to be freed by Paul in his way. ThroughSethes attempts to lessen her guilt and difficult past, she ironically worsens it. By lettingPaul D sleep in the house, Sethe begins to overcome her guilt and let go of her punishmentsubsequently Beloved begins to fall apart. It is not until Sethe, has to decide between PaulD and Beloved that we understand her grief. Paul D was to be her only savior and sherejected him, to endure her penance. Sethe does not want forgiveness, she wishes only topunish herself in order to mollify the pain of her past. Sethes guilt is her hollowness andher selfishness. Selfish because although she has saved them from an institution she fears,she has avoided the actual physical death that she inflicted upon her children. Once killingBeloved, her best thing, Sethe realizes that she will never again be whole, and in effect shewill never loose her feelings of guilt. Sethe knows that killing her daughter was wrong. And she also knows that killingher was right. She killed Beloved because she wanted freedom and she wanted herdaughter to have freedom. Beloved is the embodiment of Sethe, torturing her for love,like Sethe tortures herself because she does not. Her love from her children is presentedwhen she would choose to kill them rather then allow them to be broken by an evilinstitution. Love is Sethes primary motivation for killing her children. However, herselfish fault lies in the fact that she shifted the focus of responsibility from herself to theinstitution that has spawned her. Ultimately, it is Sethe who is responsible for her murdernot slavery. Sethe kills her daughter to demonstrate her love. She exhibits her selfish prideby rejecting her own guilt. When presented the notion...
