Vulnerability Seen in Women

“I am full God damn it of two boys with mossy teeth, one sucking on my breasts the other holding me down, their book-reading teacher watching and writing it up...Add my husband to it, watching, above the loft-hiding close by-the one place he thought no one would look for him, looking down on what I couldn’t look at all. And not stopping them-looking and letting it happen” (83).

In this excerpt taken from Beloved, Paul D reveals to Sethe that her “lovely” husband, Halle, who ended up abandoning Sethe, is a bystander of one of her worst nightmares. She is convinced that Halle was never a good husband for her. He had made empty promises and left her vulnerable to care for her children on her own. Halle was present at the scene in which the white boys were fulfilling their desires of sexually abusing Sethe, yet he did little to prevent it from happening. Ideally, men are usually portrayed as the heroes in movies, books, novels etc. The presence of men is most valued in society because people think they have the power to change and do the right things for others. The most daunting piece about this all, is the fact that there were three bystanders watching and letting it happen. The following analysis serves to show how the gender roles of men are challenged and how they are depicted, as well as seeing the strength that Sethe holds.

Individuals today usually have so much respect towards teachers because they are seen as venerable figures. One of the white boys was “holding [Sethe] down”, and a school teacher was also involved by happily documenting the scene. Nevertheless, the school teacher is a bystander himself as he is documenting this experience from the amusement it brings him. Nowadays, actions like these are seen as a sexual assault or harassment, however, by reading through the Feminist Lens we can see how the roles of men back then were much more unaware and uneducated towards the treatment of women. Sethe was restrained and could not have done much to protect herself. In this situation she had no power whatsoever. Sethe, the only woman in the room, was being oppressed by the others. Sethe claims to have been filled “of two boys with mossy teeth” and having one of the boys “sucking on [her] breasts”. The white boys invaded her privacy and lost respect for themselves including Sethe’s respect. The actions they took serve to show the lack of humanity each men possessed.

Furthermore, in this excerpt Morrison portrays the white boys as savages hungry for Sethe. The masculinity and pride of the white boys in this case, have made them become into tamed beasts. Their ambitions are reflected as if they were a group of dogs playing tug a war with a toy. In addition, her own husband was sitting there watching Sethe being raped by these men. Halle could have stood up to protect and defend his wife, but he became absolutely traumatized by these actions and abandoned Sethe. Sethe exclaims that Halle was watching “what [she] couldn't look at all”. She was unconscious and in a weak mental state of mind because she was absolutely helpless in the moment.