Humanizing Sethe
Why did Morrison give us the perspective of Schoolteacher discovering Sethe in the shed? We were asked to write on this in class, and I don't completely understand, but I had one half-formed idea I wanted to put here. I believe Morrison was essentially trying to defend Sethe's actions - or at least explain them. Schoolteacher's point of view is, in a book full of horrible things, disturbing. Morrison didn't just make him say racist things, she embedded deep deep racism into the foundation of his thoughts. He wishes Sethe hadn't been beaten so horribly... because now she's no longer profitable to him. He wishes the children hadn't been hurt... so he can own them. Constantly, he compares Sethe and her family to animals. It's jarring, especially because for most of the novel, white characters have had minor roles. While there are lots of descriptions of racism, the main characters themselves aren't racist. By using the Schoolteacher lens, Morrison show