MovieChat Forums > Beloved (1998) Discussion > Stolen milk and pregnancy (DEFINITE SPOI...

Stolen milk and pregnancy (DEFINITE SPOILERS)

posted 10 years ago by unknown_soul278
4 replies | jump to latest

First, do not think I am downplaying the boys taking Sethe's milk. That was horrifying and I can't even imagine how humiliated and violated she felt. Even with no actual intercourse it was still a form of rape. What I couldn't figure out is why she fixated specifically on losing her milk. At first I thought it could have been related to the baby's death, but besides the nursing baby being sent ahead already the milk would be replenished in a few hours. Before she got to her she would have had to do whatever the equivalent of expressing was in those days and probably more than once. Did her fixation develop over time to ease her guilt by convincing herself that by taking her milk those men contributed to the baby's death?

When the women came to expel Beloved they already considered her evil, but they seemed truly horrified by her pregnancy. In the movie it doesn't say how long she was there, so I wonder if it had not been long at all and some of the shock and fear was an abnormally advanced pregnancy? That would have added to their belief she was unnatural.

[–] Missea 10 years ago

I have not read the book so this is only my interpretation from watching the movie last night. . . When you said that when they took her milk that was a form of rape - you were so correct. I cannot even imagine. Feeding your child is the most primal yet the most intimate and precious act with your child. For those disgusting men to take it, humiliate and mock her. . to violate her like that. . . would be something you would never never ever get over. It's not that she couldn't make more. It's WHAT they did. I would never be able to speak of it and not break down. Horrible. I think that upset me more than anything in the movie.

-Missea
"Ohhhh, I can't not look at it . . . ."

[–] v_babe10 9 years ago

While they did actually rape her in that scene, I think stealing her milk was more of a violation to Sethe because it was further proof that nothing she had was truly hers. Even the milk she produced for her child was schoolteacher's property and could be taken away. The one thing Sethe held onto during her time at Sweet Home was her love for her children and her desire to be there for them. She didn't have the love of her own mother and witnessed her murder. These fueled her desire to be there for her children.

The book goes into much darker detail on the terrible things she lived through under schoolteacher's ownership. He continuously compares the slaves to animals and the stealing of her breast milk could be further proof of how little he thought of them. They were nothing in his mind but livestock.

There are probably more parallels and symbols in it. More than we could get into here. But I hope I helped at all.

[–] Suriname86 9 years ago

Are you a man? I ask because it may be difficult for a man to wrap his head around it but, forcibly taking milk from a woman that was meant for her baby is a massive violation on the physical and spiritual level. It's also the ultimate form of dehumanization as animals are milked against their will and the man repeatedly referred to her as a cow. It was a horrifying experience on a physical and psychic level and it violated her connection to her daughter; that's why she keeps bringing it up.

[–] heathie888 9 years ago

Oh, thank you for clearing that up about her being "Milked" like she was an animal... I get the references now about her being Two-legged, not four!!

I am sickened yet cannot stop researching it ... especially about the mother and daughter parts... About Sethe's maam..was never known to her... This freaks me out since I am so close to mine and couldn't even imagine the thought!!! And even though she tried to kill her children, it was out of love and that was what she did best... be a mother.....