Perhaps you’ve read Beloved by Toni Morrison and seen Sethe as a cold-blooded killer who abandons her parenting to her daughter, Denver, and gradually loses her sanity after escaping slavery. However, I believe the brutal hardships of slavery deeply shaped Sethe’s motives- her act of killing came from a desperate desire to protect her child from a life of bondage. You might also think Paul D left because he couldn’t handle Sethe’s trauma, but I’m convinced he walked away not from her pain, but from his own inability to confront the constant threat and trauma that came with being Black in that time. Before judging Sethe, I recommend watching this video, which offers a perspective on how societal oppression affects individuals and connects these historical injustices to modern issues such as abortion laws and ICE policies.

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