“Thin love ain’t love at all.”

Past Trauma: Sethe’s own memories influence her decision. At Sweet Home, she was treated like an animal. In Part One, Ch. 6, she remembers,

“They used cowhide on you? … And they took my milk.” 

The Infanticide Act: Sethe succeeded in killing her baby girl. The child was still very young, only crawling. This was the daughter later remembered as Beloved. When the schoolteacher came to recapture her, Sethe was filled with terror. She believed slavery was worse than death.

In her desperation, she tried to kill all of her children so they would never be taken back to Sweet Home. She cut her baby’s throat with a handsaw, and blood covered the shed. She even tried to harm the others. At that moment, Stamp Paid rushed in and managed to save Denver, while the two boys escaped unharmed.  

The act shocked the community very deeply. People who once supported Sethe have now turned against her. They felt horror and anger. They believed she had gone too far. They also turned away from Baby Suggs, who was broken with grief and sorrow. From that time, Sethe lived in isolation. The community avoided 124, feared her, and saw her as dangerous.  

Isolation and Guilt: After the killing, Sethe lives alone with Denver. The community refuses to help. Baby Suggs dies in sorrow. The house at 124 becomes haunted by the angry ghost. Sethe carries guilt but insists she acted out of love. Morrison shows that slavery forced mothers into impossible choices.

Symbol of Slavery’s Destruction: Sethe’s act is not simple murder. It shows how slavery destroys family and humanity. Her desperate choice reflects the system’s cruelty. She wants to be free, but her past follows her. The killing is both resistance and tragedy.

In short, Sethe killed Beloved because she feared slavery more than death. Her act was shaped by love, trauma, and desperation. It remains one of Morrison’s most powerful messages: slavery could twist even a mother’s love into horror.