Freedom And Possession - BELOVED and THE AWAKENING
Freedom And Possession - BELOVED and THE AWAKENING
In the past, women have put up a huge fight for their rights. They have had a long and difficult struggle to gain the freedom and possessions that they have today. Whether black or white, the women still faced similar struggles. They both had a dream to be free. They both had to fight to have a mind of their own. They both had to run from their 'owners'. The fictions Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Awakening by Kate Chopin tell of these struggles. Even though Sethe is black and Edna is white, they have a similar fight for freedom and possession.
Both Sethe and Edna decide that they are going to begin the struggle to freedom when they realize that they were considered possessions. Sethe, working as a slave, had seen her mother hanged, has had her milk stolen from her breasts, and has had a list of her so-called animal characteristics made. She comes to realize that she is being treated as if she were a possession. She is simply a working tool to the plantation owners. They think of her as an animal. Just like any other object among someone's possessions, she has a value in dollars. Edna, being a mother and a wife, has also been treated as a possession. In comparison, Edna also has a "value". Her "'value' is a sign of Lèonces's wealth" (Stange 278). As his wife, she is to look pretty, look wealthy, have children, and make Lèonce look good. Both women know at some point that they cannot continue to live as another's possession; they must break free.
Break free is exactly what they do. Sethe runs from slavery through the woods, pregnant. She does what ever it takes to have control over her own life. She is willing to flee without anything except the clothes on her scarred back. She is willing to face the chances that she might be caught or killed.
"Pregnant and thinking she is going to die because of her swollen feet cannot take another step, she wants to stop walking; every time she does so, the movement of her unborn child causes her such pain that it feels she is being rammed by an antelope" (Horvitz 96).
Edna also runs. She leaves her husband and her children to live the life she dreams of. She does not care what society thinks...