Beloved

by

Toni Morrison

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Beloved makes teaching easy.

Mr. and Mrs. Garner Character Analysis

The original owners of Sweet Home, the Garners are relatively kind slave owners compared to Schoolteacher (and indeed most slave owners). They allow Halle to buy Baby Suggs’ freedom, for example, and boast of their male slaves as Sweet Home men. Nonetheless, they are still slave owners and treat their slaves as inferiors.
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Mr. and Mrs. Garner Character Timeline in Beloved

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. and Mrs. Garner appears in Beloved. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 1
Slavery Theme Icon
Storytelling, Memory, and the Past Theme Icon
Community Theme Icon
...choose her own man, since they were “Sweet Home men.” The owner of Sweet Home, Mr. Garner , took pride in his slaves being real men, though other slave-owners told him that... (full context)
Slavery Theme Icon
Motherhood Theme Icon
Storytelling, Memory, and the Past Theme Icon
...two white boys held her down in a barn and took her breastmilk. She told Mrs. Garner and when the boys found out that she had told on them, they whipped her,... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 2
Slavery Theme Icon
Storytelling, Memory, and the Past Theme Icon
...failed to live up to his fantasy. Sethe remembers deciding to marry Halle and asking Mrs. Garner if there would be a wedding for them. Mrs. Garner simply laughed in reply. (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 3
Slavery Theme Icon
Storytelling, Memory, and the Past Theme Icon
...Sethe about Sweet Home. Sethe tells her about Schoolteacher, who came to the plantation after Mr. Garner died. Schoolteacher would ask the slaves questions and write in his notebook, preparing for a... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 6
Storytelling, Memory, and the Past Theme Icon
...realizes that Beloved is asking about a pair of crystal earrings she once got from Mrs. Garner . Sethe tells Beloved about the earrings. Beloved derives a “profound satisfaction” from storytelling and... (full context)
Slavery Theme Icon
...and wanted some kind of celebration or meal to acknowledge her marrying Halle. But the Garners didn’t allow Sethe to have any kind of wedding. Sethe at least wanted a dress,... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 13
Slavery Theme Icon
Paul D thinks about his time at Sweet Home. Mr. Garner let his slaves correct him, handle guns, choose a wife, learn to read, and was... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 15
Slavery Theme Icon
...for Sweet Home. She had injured her hip and could not work very well, but Mrs. Garner was not cruel to her as other slave owners were. Her hip was in pain... (full context)
Slavery Theme Icon
...that she and Halle had arrived at a better place, but were still slaves. The Garners ran “a special kind of slavery.” Upon becoming free, Baby Suggs immediately felt different, and... (full context)
Slavery Theme Icon
Once Halle buys Baby Suggs’ freedom, Mr. Garner delivers Baby Suggs to the Bodwins, who will help her get set up in her... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 19
Slavery Theme Icon
Sethe remembers talking to Halle about Schoolteacher, asking if he thought Schoolteacher was different from Mr. Garner . Halle said it didn’t matter: he was white and a slave-owner. After enduring some... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 24
Slavery Theme Icon
Storytelling, Memory, and the Past Theme Icon
...Paul D, the narrative resumes by following Paul D’s thoughts. He remembers the differences between Mr. Garner and Schoolteacher but now questions how different the two really were. (full context)