Beloved discussion

just finished beloved, first ive read by toni morrison. was not disappointed.

i think the scene when sethe gives birth on the ohio, it either tugs your heartstrings or you don't have a heart.

anyway, the one thing i didn't really absorb were two motifs throughout the story

1. the schoolteachers nephew 'stealing her milk'
2. halle having 'butter and klabber' on his face

i might be over analyzing, and its just unique expressions of shame or indignation. but if anyone has other interpretations i'd love to hear them.

thanks.

kevin.

re: 'stealing her milk' - I analyzed it the same way you did - not only did the scene represent shame on a general level but it signified a violent taking-away of her womanhood. Her identity as a woman and as a mother rested on her ability to provide sustenance to her child.

This was the first Toni Morrison novel for me too. I loved it.

Butter and klabber could also be that he didn't care what he looked like, whether he was messy or not. Just my interpretation. Read this book ages ago.

I interpreted it in a more literal sense. When the human body undergoes so much trauma and damage, it stops producing milk to try to heal itself. I imagine her milk dried up after this experience. They literally stole her milk.

I thought the theft was even more literate, the rapists physically depriving her of mother's milk in a violent mockery of breastfeeding.

I read Beloved for the 1st time in 2024, and it was my 1st Toni Morrison novel as well.
I interpreted the "stealing her milk" literally, similar to Johnny's interpretation. Sethe having her milk stolen is so horrifying to her, because they were stealing that which she wished to use to bond with her own baby, not have it be stolen by her vulgar lascivious rapist (one of "Schoolteacher's" nephews).
Regarding the 'butter and klabber': Halle, after seeing his wife getting raped and being helpless, he went mad and catatonic. In his madness, I assumed he was making a mockery of her assailant's face dripping with breastmilk.