Motherhood and Creative Energy in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Sethe exerts the vibe of creative energy that complies with what Alice Walker calls the artist. Sethe does not show the artist within her at all times. It is only when she is free from the institution of slavery that she is able to let the artist show through her motherhood. This is because as a slave,she is constantly questioning her identity of human being and of a woman because slaves were thought to be cattle in human form, and slave women in particular were merely dengendered female slaves. Nonetheless, once Sethe escapes from Sweet Home and sets foot in 124, she finds a peace of mind and is able to mother her children the way she had always wanted to. While she fulfills the roles of a nurturing mother,she makes her children clothes, plays creative games with them, and tells them stories. Through these means she is able to let out the artist within her. However, when she is in anticipation of being thrown back into slavery, and fears that she will not be able to mother her children as she did during her first month at 124, she goes mad and is unable to make rational decisions; thus, the infanticide.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ.Sethe as an Artis 1
• Ⅱ.Being a Human Being Versus Being a Slave 4
• Ⅲ.Being a Woman Versus Beinga Degendered Female Slave 7
• Ⅳ.Sethe’s Liberation through Motherhood 10
• Ⅴ.Conclusion 17
• Works Cited 18
• Abstract 19