Mr. and Mrs. Garner Character Analysis in Beloved

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.

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.

...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)

...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)

...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)

...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)

...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)

...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)

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)

...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)

...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)

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)

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)

...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)