The novel Beloved is an extremely interesting piece of literature to view through the Marxist lens. With the basis of Marxism being the idea of a "destruction of social classes" the ideas really clash with the time period that Beloved took place in. With these ideas in mind I found that many of Sethes seemingly dark and profound actions throughout this book to actual have some justification. Before coming to 124 all that Sethe knew in life was oppression and loss.
While her owners in her time of being a slave were not as bad as some, it was still very clear that her quality of life was not to be desired. Once Sethe escapes and makes it to 123 life finally seems like it is worth living until the "schoolteacher" Sethes old slave master comes for her collection. Since she is so afraid for her children to be forced into a life of slavery she decided to take the life of her own child deciding that the evils of slavery are far worse than the unknown of the after life. "I stopped him, I took my babies to where they needed to be safe" (173). This quote really hit me and gave the realization that Sethe truly wanted the best for her children and that the choice she had made was the correct one. While Paul D has sympathy for Sethe about the killing of Beloved he tells her that she was simply blinded by her love for her child. Sethe gets the final word saying that "It ain't my job to know whats worse. It's my job to know what is and keep them away from what I know is terrible"(173) making it very clear that Sethes is in full belief she did the right thing for her child.
Sethes actions in this book only exemplify the problems in this world created simply by social classes. While slavery is a pretty extreme social class that is no longer present in the United States today, it shows the struggle and hopeless feelings that many may have today's society of being trapped in poverty. Beloved in many ways give lots of credibility to Marxist beliefs.
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