An Analysis of Motherhood Based on Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Abstract

Beloved is a one of the representative literary works of Toni Morrison, a well-known African American female writer. It is originated from a piece of real American history under the influence of slavery. The leading character, Sethe, is a black female slave who has excessive and stubborn maternal love. The narration in the novel of Sethe's shocking, fearful infanticide presents an incomprehensible, stubborn, heavy and twisted maternal love to all readers, revealing the miserable adversity of the black community before the abolition of slavery. On the whole, Beloved is attempting to challenge the conventional value and the public cognition of maternal love. The paper aims to analyze the motherhood of Sethe from two perspectives, maternal love and views of motherhood, through various angles or dimensions presenting the complexity of motherhood in black communities under specific historical circumstances and social environments.