Got Milk?

While reading Beloved, one significant thing that I noticed was the symbol of milk. Breast-feeding is one of the most sacred acts still done today, which represents motherly love and unconditional support. For years, milk has been the symbol for nurturing and sustenance between mother and child, something that the protagonist, Sethe has a complicated relationship with. Sethe is a slave and works on the plantation Sweet Home. Since her mother was always working in the fields, Sethe would have to go without milk most times on account of the white children getting nursed first. In one of the latest chapters I read, Sethe needed to get milk to her baby, because “no one else can give it to her but me.” This shows how as a slave, this was one of the only ways Sethe could connect with her family, since nearly everything was stripped and stolen from her. Sethe does not want her children to go through the same thing, so she tries her best to always have enough milk. An example of this would be those who survived The Great Depression tried their best to make sure that their children never had to worry about money or if there was going to be food on the table for dinner. Those who are affected by both these things will forever be traumatized because they knew what it was like to not have enough.