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Beloved: The Degradation Of Slaves - College Essays

Beloved: The Degradation Of Slaves

“Two boys bled in the sawdust and dirt at the feet of a nigger
woman holding a blood-soaked child to her chest with one hand and an
infant by the heels in the other.” This gruesome image is a result of the
many degradations that black slaves face. The humiliation these slaves
suffer is often too much to deal with, forcing them to take action, even
taking the lives of their own children. In her novel, Beloved, Toni
Morrison uses her writing to powerfully portray the physical, spiritual,
and emotional degradation that American black slaves are forced to deal
with during everyday life. Although it is impossible for anyone to fully
understand the inhumanity and humility these slaves ...

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tree-like shape of the scars on her back. Like many slaves, Sethe is
whipped, only so badly that the scars form this shape; forever branding on
her tender back the agony she suffers along with many others. In addition,
Paul D. states, “ I had a bit in my mouth.” As a slave, Paul D. is
forced to wear a type of degrading mouth harness called a “bit” which
disables him from swallowing, let alone speaking. This not only belittles
slaves but it prevents Paul D. from coming to the aid of Halle during his
time of need. These displays of physical abuse that Morrison portrays in
her novel only begin to scratch the surface of the tortuous physical
degradations that American black slaves are forced to deal with.
In addition to physical degradation, the characters also undergo a
brutal dehumanization process or spiritual degradation. In the novel Paul
D. asks, “ They used a cowhide on you?” and Sethe’s response is, “And they
took my milk.” At this point, Sethe is no longer ...

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Beloved: The Degradation Of Slaves. (2005, April 11). Retrieved January 11, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beloved-The-Degradation-Of-Slaves/25149

"Beloved: The Degradation Of Slaves." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 11 Apr. 2005. Web. 11 Jan. 2026. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beloved-The-Degradation-Of-Slaves/25149>

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 4/11/2005 03:57:21 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Free Paper
Words: 869
Pages: 4

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