Oppressed due to race ...

In the story beloved, the character Sethe is oppressed various times in various situations. Reading the text through race and culture lenses allows you to focus how the characters race and culture affects the way she is oppressed throughout the novel.

An example of her being oppressed is when they take her milk from her. “‘And they took my milk.’ ‘They beat you and you was pregnant’ ‘And they took my milk!’” (20) This is an example of Sethe being oppressed by the schoolteacher in Sweet Home. This shows her oppression because they treated her poorly. They know she was pregnant and still mistreated her. They took her milk just because she was a slave. They believed that just because she was a slave she didn’t need her milk that her pregnancy wasn’t important. She was oppressed due to her race. The white people that owned the slaves in Sweet Home thought it was okay to oppress Sethe and beat her knowing she was pregnant. Sethe being African American meant she was bound to be mistreated. That her destiny for being African American and a slave was that the treatment she received was acceptable. She was not good for anything, but for sexual pleasure for the man at Sweet Home.

Sethe is also oppressed by the five guys that are there when she first arrives to Sweet home. “All in their twenties, minus women, fucking cows, dreaming of rape, thrashing on pallets, rubbing their thighs, and waiting for the new girl” (13). In this example you can see that Sethe is oppressed by the six man at Sweet Home because they are all desperately waiting for her to arrive. The way they describe themselves makes it seem like they only looked forward to her for sexual pleasure. Since there were no women they’d get sexually frustrated and her coming probably made them think that with her they’d get the sexual pleasure they’d been wanting and waiting for. Since Sethe was a slave and African American they’d know that no one would help her from not getting touched by men and that no one would help her. The men thought that Sethe being a slave would be easy sexual pleasure for them. That no one would go out of their way to help her or defend her. After Sethe being oppressed as sexual pleasure for men she believed that due to her race that is what she was meant for him and that was all she was really worth. Sexual pleasure for men.