Beloved is a book about the lengths a mother will go to to protect her children. The book takes place after the civil war. It follows a woman named Sethe in her incredibly dangerous struggle for freedom. The book is largely inspired by the chilling story of a former African American slave, Margret Gardner, who fled to Ohio from enslavement in Kentucky.
When discussing the topics of black women and their crucial involvement in the Black Freedom Struggle and their maternal connections that come along with it, I can’t help but always think of Margaret Garner as a prime example of that. The book Beloved follows its own storyline to make readers critical think about and questions heavy topics such as infanticide. The book does an amazing job of detailing what freedom looked like for Sethe and the constraints she faced even after her escape to “freedom.”
The true story of Margaret Garner in brief is about a slave who ran away with all four of her children on one of the coldest nights recorded in Kentucky history. As a result of the weather, their plan for escape failed. As the slave catchers and Mr Garner had a shootout, it became clear to Margaret that they were going to be returned, so Margaret grabbed a knife and killed her two year old daughter.