Beginning of Essay
“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 humil ....

Middle of Essay
.... in Beloved face is that of physical abuse. Morrison writes, “ That’s what they said it looked like; a chokecherry tree.” In this instance, Sethe is describing the 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 ....