Attachment disorders and PTSD

The book Beloved by Toni Morrison explores many psychological disorders. The main character, Sethe, experiences extreme PTSD from her past life as a slave. Other characters as well have PTSD, but not to the degree of Sethe’s due to how she acts on it. In this book the main shocking thing the reader finds out is that Sethe had killed her baby and tried to kill her other children to keep them from a life of slavery. Although this is meant to shock the reader, I personally am not surprised. The signs of PTSD are seen early on in the book with Sethe. She gets flashbacks consistently and is triggered by certain things and events. An example of this is at the beginning of the book when Sethe has a flashback of Sweet Home before Paul D shows up.  She shows intense feelings and reactions to things as well as a lack of maturity at times when she shuts down. This is seen when she is giving birth to Denver and she is being taken care of by the white girl. She rubs her feet and takes care of her. 

Beloved also shows signs of having an attachment disorder. She feels the need to be with Sethe and feels as if she cannot live without her. She says that Sethe “is the one. [Sethe] is the one [she] need[s]. [Denver] can go but [Sethe] is the one [she has] to have” (pg 89). This shows her lack of ability to form normal relationships. She obsesses over people which is not healthy. Towards the end of the book the reader sees the unhealthy relationship between Sethe and Beloved as Beloved begins to assert control over Sethe. She starves and whips Sethe, and Sethe submits to this treatment out of guilt. This is sadistic behavior on Beloved’s part and displays an intense example of an abusive relationship. Denver also has issues due to her isolation throughout the years. She obsesses over Beloved. She expresses her fear of Beloved leaving them in the beginning of the book. This is logical because she has no one aside from Sethe to spend time with. All of the disorders in the book Beloved I am familiar with. I also see the less intense thinking errors within the book in my day to day interactions with people. I personally struggle with a few of the issues in the book however they are obviously much less intense than the characters in the book. The books character interactions closely follow psychological realities.