the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

in the role of the mother. IrnageS of nurturance pervade the
novel in association with Sethe, whose children are the
meaning of her existence and by nurturing whom she derives
Immense satlsfaction in her otherwise meaningless life. She
braves all odds to reach her chlldren at any cost, leaving
even her husband behind:
All I knew was I had to get my milk to my baby
glrl. Nobody was golng to nurse her like me.
Nobody was golng to get 1t to her fast enough or
take 1t away when she had enough and dldn't know
lt. Nobody knew that she couldn't pass air if you
held her up on your shoulder, oily zf she was
lylng on my knees Nobody knew that but me and
nobody had her milk but me (B 20)
When Sethe tells the story of her escape, she stresses that
she dld it alone, out of love for her children.
5 0
Nobody
could take care, nurse and mother them llke she could, she
loses herself In the mother-role
By casting Sethe in the
role of nurturer, Morrlson lndlcates the lmage of the great
mother as an embod~ment of the femlnlne prlnclple
2.2.3.3. The flercely maternal protective lnstinct in Sethe
1s revealed In her conversation wlth Paul D
"I don't care
what she [Beloved] is Grown don't mean nothing to a mother
k chlld is a chlld.
They get blgger, older, but grown?
What's that suppose to mean? In my heart it don't mean a
thing (B . 56) Sethe firmly asserts that she wlll protect
her "when I'm live and 1'11 protect her when I aln't (B.56).
Possessive though Sethe's love for her daughters may sound,