Motive Behind Progeny Homicide in Morrison’sBelovedandSula

Abstract

This thesis explores prolific African American female novelistToni Morrison’snovelsBelovedandSulafrom new historicist perspectives. Both texts present progeny homicide and justify it. InBeloved, fugitive slave Sethe, the mother slits her own daughter’s throat and similarly inSula, Eva Peace, the mother of Plum (Ralph), sets her only son on fire. The motive behind the mothers’ killings is to free and protect their children from brutish slavery, racism and pernicious interminable wars acted out of purely instinctual maternal love.