Being a woman

We are women, but are we also slaves. Is it our destiny to always serve others? In this blog, I will analyze what it truly means to be a woman and a slave. For this study, I am going to read and analyze books on woman slavery , precisely African slaves. It will help us take a deeper look into our real values, women values.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Beloved: someone's property

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be someone else's property? Have you ever wished you could vanish and escape the cruel sufferings women endured? Have you ever been in a hopeless situation? Well, if you are able to answer at least one of these questions, then you can understand the women from Beloved. If you got spared from being in any of these situations above, well you can only be thankful of this opportunity and tried to comprehend Sethe, one of the protagonists of the book. This book is the story of a woman who escaped slavery. Obtaining her freedom was not an easy accomplishment. In her route to liberty, she suffered many consequences. Through the book, she discovered that she will never obtain any freedom because she will always be haunted by her past.
Her name is Sethe, at thirteen years old; she was sold to the Gardner family as a replacement girl. The woman, who preceded her, Baby Suggs, was bought by his son, who was also a slave “nigger”. Coming into this house, she was already in a dangerous situation. See readers, in this house, there were already six slaves. Each one of them were young men of twenty years old, full of needs, needs that could be considered dangerous for a young-flesh woman. Sethe was not a beauty, but she had those flamboyant eyes that could pierce right through your soul, and this readers, was exciting for the young men. Luckily, she escaped being deflowered her first day in this house, because these “ niggers” were raised as men – something their owner would say and be proud of – Instead of violating her , they gave her the power to choose whoever she wanted. Your first thoughts readers would be that was not the worst situation. But, is being forced to choose a mate the definition of freedom? Everyday, she would be raped by these young men’ eyes, who would decipher her from head to toe if only they could. To me readers, it sounds as fearing for your body every hour of the day. Fortunately she was never raped by any of them as they were able to control themselves. However, she had to choose one of them. Being charmed by the nicest among them, she chose him and end up marrying him. During that period, marrying signified: being available whenever the men needed to satisfy his physiological needs.
Readers, this is only the commencement of Sethe’s misery. Her freedom and her body were stolen from her. I am mostly outraged by the way the six men expected to use her for their own benefits from the beginning. If she was a young man, none of that would have happened. The men would adopt her into their own misery life. However, because she was a girl, she had a duty; to satisfy the men need. They were all in their twenties “dreaming of rape and waiting for the new girl” (Morrison 11). From the beginning she was supposed to be someone’s property if not everyone. Slave she will ever be.

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