Sethe attacks Mr. Bodwin

Sethe attacks Mr. Bodwin with an ice pick when he arrives at 124 to pick up Denver for her first night of work at the Bodwins' house. The attack is a reenactment of her infanticide, triggered by the sight of a white man entering her yard, and it is thwarted by the community women who have gathered to exorcise Beloved. The event marks the climax of Sethe's psychological breakdown and the beginning of her recovery.

The Setting and the Gathering

The attack occurs on a sweltering Friday afternoon in late summer, when thirty neighborhood women, led by Ella, have assembled outside 124 to confront the supernatural presence that has taken hold of the house. They have come in response to Denver's plea for help, bringing with them a mixture of Christian faith and practical remedies—stuffed in apron pockets, strung around their necks, or lying between their breasts. As they pray and sing, their voices rise into a powerful wave of sound that breaks over Sethe, who is inside the house with Beloved. The women see Beloved standing on the porch, naked and pregnant, her smile dazzling, and they recognize her as the devil-child. At the same moment, Edward Bodwin, the elderly abolitionist who owns the house, drives his cart down Bluestone Road, intending to pick up Denver for her new job. He is unaware of the drama unfolding, his mind occupied with memories of the house where he was born and the buried treasures of his childhood.

The Attack

As the singing reaches its peak, Sethe, who has been inside with Beloved, looks up and sees Mr. Bodwin approaching. The sight of a white man entering her yard triggers an instantaneous, visceral reaction. She hears the wings of little hummingbirds sticking their needle beaks through her headcloth into her hair, and she thinks, "No. No no. Nonono." She flies. The ice pick is not in her hand; it is her hand. She runs at Mr. Bodwin, who is slowing down to look at the commotion, his wide-brimmed hat hiding his face but not his purpose. He is coming for her best thing. The women, who have been watching, see Sethe running toward him, and Denver, who is on the porch, runs after her. Ella, the practical woman who has seen too much to be fooled, intercepts Sethe and punches her in the jaw, knocking her to the ground. Denver and the other women wrestle the ice pick from Sethe's hands. Mr. Bodwin, who had been looking at the naked woman on the porch, does not realize that Sethe was attacking him; he thinks she was after one of the women. The attack is over in seconds, but its implications are profound.

The Aftermath

After the attack, Sethe is taken inside and put to bed in the keeping room, where she lies under a quilt of merry colors, her eyes fixed on the window, expressionless. She has lost her job at Sawyer's Restaurant, and her relationship with Beloved has deteriorated into a doomsday truce. The community women, having witnessed the attack, are shaken but also relieved that Mr. Bodwin is unharmed. They quickly forget the details of the incident, and the story of what happened becomes muddled. Some say Sethe tried to kill Mr. Bodwin; others say she was trying to kill herself. The truth is that Sethe, in her madness, saw Mr. Bodwin as a threat to her children, just as schoolteacher had been eighteen years earlier. The attack is a reenactment of the infanticide, a desperate attempt to protect her children from the horrors of slavery. It is also a turning point. After the attack, Beloved disappears, and Sethe, freed from her obsession, begins the slow process of recovery. Paul D returns to 124, finds Sethe in bed, and tells her, "You your best thing, Sethe. You are." These words, which echo the novel's central theme of self-worth, help Sethe begin to reclaim her identity.

The attack on Mr. Bodwin is the climax of Sethe's psychological breakdown, but it is also the moment of her salvation. The community women, who had shunned her for eighteen years, come together to save her, and their collective action breaks the spell of the past. The event underscores the novel's exploration of motherhood, trauma, and the possibility of healing. Sethe's attack is a tragic repetition of her past, but it also opens the door to a future in which she can finally believe that she is her own best thing.