Question

What does Sethe tell Paul D she does to make money?

a) She takes in laundry from the white people in town.
b) She works as a midwife for the local families.
c) She sews and sells quilts to the slaves.
d) She performs singing and dancing routines in the saloon.

Answer 1

Sethe tells Paul D that she makes money by taking in laundry from the white people in town, a reflection of the historical efforts by Southern black women to maintain economic autonomy and avoid the risks associated with working in white households.

Step-by-step explanation:

Sethe, a character in Toni Morrison's novel 'Beloved,' tells Paul D that she makes money by taking in laundry from the white people in town. This is a common means of earning an income depicted in historical contexts, where Southern black women sought to exert control over their own labor, setting wages and hours in a way that allowed them to work within the confines and relative safety of their own homes. This also helped them avoid the surveillance of white women and the threat posed by white men. In her struggle to maintain her autonomy, Sethe's act of doing laundry for pay reflects the larger efforts of many African American women of the time to carve out a space for economic independence.