Beloved By Toni Morrison Character Analysis schoolteacher

The only purely evil character in the novel, the schoolteacher is frightening for his detached and methodical cruelty. His pursuit of "knowledge" is especially disturbing, because it demonstrates a rationalization for racism that easily leads to a rationalization for murder. His belief that slaves are nothing more than animals brings to mind the dehumanization of Jews during World War II. Like Beloved, the schoolteacher is not a fully developed character. Instead, he is a representation of the evil in human beings that justifies the degradation of other people and supports murder as a solution to social problems.