In class we discussed the scene in Beloved where Sethe kills her own child,
and the rationale for presenting this scene from the four horsemen’s viewpoint.
Initially, I thought of two different reasons why Morrison may have done this. This
scene unfolding from the four horsemen’s viewpoint can be more shocking to the
readers. Rather than being walked through the process that led to Sethe killing
her own child, we enter the shed with the four horsemen to see the baby’s
throat already cut and Sethe in the process of swinging Denver at wall. The
entire picture is a gory mess. The sight of “two boys bled in the sawdust, and
dirt at the feet of the n***** woman holding a blood-soaked child to her chest
with one hand and an infant by the heels in the other” (149) is quite
overwhelming. The other thought was the four horsemen’s point of view gives the
reader a clean slate without any emotions from the character projected onto
them. The four horsemen view Sethe and her family as animals which is evident
when he thinks, “unlike a snake or a bear, a dead n***** could not be skinned
for profit and was not worth his own dead weight in coin” (148). The four
horsemen equate the process of bringing back a runaway slave to that of hunting
a snake or a bear. Because of this, the four horsemen do not empathize with
Sethe. Readers draw their own opinions about Sethe’s actions devoid of the
influence of the emotional responses of the characters in the novel. As the discussion
progressed, Mr. Mitchell mentioned the importance of being able to see the four
horsemen’s perception of Sethe and it got me thinking about how an
understanding of the four horsemen’s views on Sethe could shed light on why
Sethe felt justified in killing her own children.
Earlier this year when we read Native Son we read about another murder
which seems almost unbelievable taken out of context. When Bigger murders Mary,
we understand it is an accident and that Bigger was backed into a corner, but
in class it was still necessary to discuss the absence of any other options for
Bigger because of the absurdity of the murder. It was crucial to understand the
sheer terror and sense of entrapment Bigger was feeling in the moment.
The premise of Sethe slitting the
throat of her own child seems even more absurd. How could we ever possibly understand
the logic behind killing one’s own child? Morrison narrates this story through
the viewpoint of the four horsemen and shows us what Sethe is up against. I
really appreciate Morrison’s narration perspective shifts throughout the novel,
and I think this one in particular is quite powerful. We have seen these men
physically and sexually abuse Sethe, but a look into their minds adds something
new. We see the twisted nature in which they see runaway slaves as animals. Sethe’s
reaction seems a lot more understandable with this information.
How would Native Son have changed if we had seen the murder through a
different perspective? I pondered whether this would give us a better
understanding of why Bigger feels so trapped. Mrs. Dalton physical blindness symbolizes
white people’s blindness to the problems black people face. If this scene were
played out through Mrs. Dalton’s perspective I suspect Mrs. Dalton inability to
understand Bigger’s struggles would be more apparent. Another case this
perspective shift could be useful is later in the novel when the reporters question
Bigger and when they open the furnace to find Mary’s body. This would give us
readers a better understanding of the oppressive force Bigger experiences.
