Italianmadonna

A life, even a slave's life, is sacred and should not be thrown away. When Sethe took that blade and cut open her crawling already? baby's throat she was taking something that was not hers to take. The life belonged to that child and Sethe had no right to steal it from her. Life is precious and holy even when it is filled with misery.
Slavery is the lowest point of human existnce. It is harsh and degrating but it is still a life. Sethe was defiled and violated as a slave, especially under the cruel reign of the Schoolteacher. Her mild was stolen and her back was permenatly scarred from the ruthless beatings of her slave owners. It is true that Mr. Gardener and his wife were relatively kind to their slaves but their social position could not be ignored. The life of a slave does not belong to that slave but it is better than death. A life of misery is always better than no life at all.
What Sethe did was also unnatural and against her deepest instincts. Mothers are not meant to kill their own children, even if they consider it for the child's own good. Killing Beloved caused Sethe to life a worse life than the one she would have had if she had stayed in slavery. It is true that she was now free from slavery and belonged wholly to herself, but she was now a captive to her guilt and remorse, which can be more binding than physical chains.
It is because of this guilt that Beloved returns. Beloved is the phsical representation of all that Sethe hated and feared. (ironic that she should love her) Beloved represented Sethe's baby girl who Sethe killed out of love. She had all the same characteristics of the baby and had knowledge that only a child of Sethe's would know. Beloved-the-women loved sweet things, something that could be drawn back to Sethe giving her baby a rag soaked in sugar while the baby was carried to freedom and Baby Suggs's house. She also asked Sethe