Comparing Abortion in Morrisons Beloved and in America Today :: comparison compare contrast essays

Abortion in Morrison's Beloved and in America Today      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, the main character, Sethe, commits a crime unthinkable and incomprehensible to most people today.   She murders her own child, her own flesh and blood.   The institution of slavery drove Sethe to make this drastic decision.   Comparing the situations of slavery to today's society is impossible.   Yet, we still see mothers killing babies (or fetuses).   The issue of abortion has been a constant in our society for years.   Is the emotional struggle to kill a baby made out of love or selfishness?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The cruelties of slavery from which Sethe plans to save her children are manifold in Beloved.   Sethe was living in a time completely different from our own.   She and other slaves experienced things that none of us could ever imagine; having breast milk stolen from her own body, being whipped by a chokecherry tree to the point of leaving permanent scars.   Other cruelties for Sethe are to know that her friends were hurt.   Sixo was roasted alive and Paul A hung.   Paul D is locked onto a chain for eighty-three days in a prison camp in Georgia.   These pains for her friends can be just as painful for Sethe.   All in all the life of a slave is dehumanizing.   Constant hiding and being on the run plays tricks on the mind of slaves.   Shown by Paul D in his most discouraging conflict comes in contact with a rooster, Mister.   Humiliated by the fact that an animal was walking around with more power, he doesn't understand how an animal can have a better life, and place judgement on a human.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the time of slavery the love between a mother and her children dims.   Through scars mothers and children were to have secret relationships.   In Sethe's only memory of her mother she was introduced to a scar underneath her breast which could always identify her mother.   After her mother was hung, Sethe did examine her corpse, but was unable to locate the symbol on the decaying flesh.   Imagining how these images design a psyche for a child, this memory would bruise them for eternity.   These morbid rememories for Sethe are reminders for her that she is living in an