Butter
Toni Morison’s Beloved utilizes a nonlinear method of storytelling in order for the reader to develop opinions based on what certain characters do and do not know. One example of this that stuck out to me was the “Butter scene”. While we all agree that it was horrific and repulsive, it is interesting to consider the many aspects that made this moment so climactic. Originally when explaining how the assault went down (“After I left you, those boys came in there and took my milk. That’s what they came in there for. Held me down and took it”), you can understand how terrible it was and how she felt very vulnerable and alone. Sethe had previously explained that her main goal was to “get my milk to my baby girl”, and then vocalizes to Paul D the extent in which it mattered to her (“‘They used cowhide on you?’ ‘And they took my milk.’ ‘They beat you and you was pregnant?’ ‘And they took my milk!’”, essentially saying that even being whipped was less monumental than the viola