How does Toni Morrison present the white people’s attitude towards the black people in American society?

Answer

How does Toni Morrison present the white people’s attitude towards the black people in American society? [NU: 2016]        

The novel “Beloved” is a historical fiction (1987) by Toni Morrison (1931–2019). It depicts how white people treated Black people with cruelty, control, and racism. Slavery made them see African Americans as less than human. White people’s attitude was based on ownership, punishment, and fear. Morrison presents this through Sethe, Paul D, and Baby Suggs.   

Black People as Property: White people considered slaves not as humans but as property. Even at Sweet Home, where Mr. Garner was considered a “kind” master, the men were still owned. After Garner’s death, Schoolteacher reduced them further. Morrison writes about the Schoolteacher in Part One. The schoolteacher says about Sethe:   

“Put her human characteristics on the left; her animal ones on the right.”

This line shows how white people denied humanity to slaves. They classified them like animals, erasing their dignity.  

Physical Violence and Punishment: White people kept power through brutal punishment. Sethe remembers being whipped until scars grew into a tree-like mark on her back. Morrison describes in Part One, Ch. 3: 

“It was as though a whole tree sprouted on her back.”

This “chokecherry tree” is a symbol of slavery’s cruelty. Violence was the language of white masters. It left scars on both body and spirit.

Sexual Exploitation and Humiliation: Morrison also shows how white men abused Black women. Schoolteacher’s nephews held Sethe down and stole her breast milk. In Part One, Ch. 1, Sethe bitterly recalls: 

“They used cowhide on you? And they took my milk!”

Stolen milk from Setahe’s breast is not only rape but also theft of motherhood. White men robbed Sethe of her ability to feed her baby. Their racism was mixed with sexism, which created double pain for Black women.  

Breaking Families: White people destroyed Black families by selling children and separating husbands and wives. Baby Suggs lost all but