Schoolteacher comes with his nephews to manage Sweet Home after the death of Mr. Garner. He is extremely cruel. Not only does he beat and abuse his slaves, but he also takes notes on them and measures and studies them like animals. He seems, literally, to see them as animals.
Schoolteacher Quotes in Beloved
The Beloved quotes below are all either spoken by Schoolteacher or refer to Schoolteacher. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 2, Chapter 19
Quotes
I was about to turn around and keep on my way to where the muslin was, when I heard [Schoolteacher] say, “No, no. That’s not the way. I told you to put her human characteristics on the left; her animal ones on the right. And don’t forget to line them up.”
Related Characters:
Sethe (speaker), Sethe, Schoolteacher
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 24
Quotes
For years Paul D believed schoolteacher broke into children what Garner had raised into men. And it was that that made them run off. Now, plagued by the contents of his tobacco tin, he wondered how much difference there really was between before schoolteacher and after.
Related Characters:
Paul D, Schoolteacher
Related Symbols:
Paul D’s Tobacco Tin
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Beloved LitChart as a printable PDF.
Schoolteacher Character Timeline in Beloved
The timeline below shows where the character Schoolteacher appears in Beloved. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 1
...meet up with them. Paul D remembers how the owner of Sweet Home died and Schoolteacher came to manage the plantation.
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 3
Denver asks Sethe about Sweet Home. Sethe tells her about Schoolteacher, who came to the plantation after Mr. Garner died. Schoolteacher would ask the slaves questions...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 13
...guns, choose a wife, learn to read, and was otherwise relatively lenient toward them. When Schoolteacher came and took control of the farm, though, things were radically different and much harsher....
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 16
Soon after the celebration, four horsemen come to 124—Schoolteacher, his nephew, a slave catcher, and a sheriff. They have come to take Sethe and...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 17
...about the day Sethe killed her child, how the four horseman arrived and she recognized Schoolteacher and gathered her children and ran to the shed. But he doesn’t tell him, as...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 18
Finally, Sethe tells Paul D that she stopped Schoolteacher from taking her children, saying, “I took and put my babies where they’d be safe.”...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 19
...home from the restaurant, which reminds her of Sixo stealing a pig on Sweet Home. Schoolteacher questioned him about it and he said he was only feeding himself so that he...
(full context)
Sethe remembers more about Sweet Home. Schoolteacher measured the slaves and counted their teeth, as if they were animals. She remembers something...
(full context)
Sethe remembers talking to Halle about Schoolteacher, asking if he thought Schoolteacher was different from Mr. Garner. Halle said it didn’t matter:...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 24
...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)
Paul D remembers fleeing Sweet Home with the other slaves. They wait and observe Schoolteacher, plotting the best way to escape. But Sethe becomes pregnant, and the changes Schoolteacher makes...
(full context)
...Sixo’s Thirty-Mile Woman try to escape Sweet Home, but are caught. The Thirty-Mile Woman escapes. Schoolteacher is convinced that Sixo has gone crazy and is no longer suitable for work, so...
(full context)
...Paul realizes that it must have been right after this conversation, after he left, that Schoolteacher’s boys took her to the barn and took advantage of her. Paul D thinks of...
(full context)
Part 3, Chapter 26
Sethe mistakes Mr. Bodwin for Schoolteacher and runs after him with an ice pick, but she is restrained by the women....
(full context)
