Sethe’s actions in Beloved are looked upon in horror by everyone who know what she did. To kill a child no more than two years old and to be proud of it was despicable in the eyes of others. However according to Sethe, her actions were justified and they were out of love.
“"For a baby she throws a powerful spell," said Denver. "No more powerful than the way I loved her," Sethe answered,” is said in the very beginning of the book. From the start, Sethe stands by the idea that the murder was an act of powerful love.
This idea is one that is difficult to understand for those who have not been in Sethe’s place. How can she proudly claim that such an act of violence is also an act of love? Love is a sacrifice but was Sethe’s sacrifice too extreme?
It is understandable for Sethe to want to protect her child from the evils of slavery and at the time, it was very hard to do. Even when they were in Ohio which was a free state, the fugitive slave laws allowed for them to be hunted down like animals. Sethe herself hoped that her own mother was not killed because she tried to run away without her so it would make sense that Sethe’s number one priority is to keep her children away from Sweet Home and wherever they may have been sent afterwards. Nothing could be more important to her than keeping her children safe from the white people. And arguably, when you're dead you're safe.
Denver is scared of her mother and claims her brothers left because they were too. And being hurt but told that it's out of love is a mark of many dangerous relationships. It isn't healthy to live in fear of someone who claims to love you. And worse, who claims to be willing to hurt you out of love.
What disgusts the townspeople so much about Sethe's crimes were that she was not humbled. There was no shame in the fact that she had hurt and killed her child. She was almost proud of it. And while there is something to be proud of in keeping her children away from the four horsemen and Sweet Home, murder is less laudable. But she loved her child enough to want them away from Sweet Home. Did she love them enough to take a chance that they could have a better life?
And even if it was out of love, how is it up to Sethe to decide for everyone whether it is better to die or be put into slavery? Does she really love her children if she gives them no chance at a future?
