Indeed, even in the modern day, there is a lack of literature regarding the psychological and emotional perspectives of American slaves and freed slaves. She suggests that no matter how civilized, polite, or devoted a slave seemed to be, white people still believed that a wild, untamed, and barbaric jungle lurked underneath a slave’s skin. Here, Morrison uses a metaphor to explain how white people in the antebellum South viewed the psychological, mental, and emotional sides of slaves. “Whitepeople believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle” (pg. This leads the reader to believe that Sethe’s back is bumpy, lumpy, and filled with unhealed wounds from past beatings. When Amy sees the scars on Sethe’s back, she compares them to a chokecherry tree: a slim tree that flowers and produces round, hard berries called bitter berries. Sethe was no stranger to this treatment and received a severe beating from the schoolteacher's nephew before she fled Sweet Home. The severe corporal punishment that slave masters meted out to their slaves is one of slavery’s defining characteristics. “I don't see nothing growing on your back."
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