The character of Mr. Garner in BelovedIn the book Beloved, Toni Morrison uses the character of Mr. Garner to express the different forms of slave owners. Although some seem more considerate than others, they are all still slave owners and they are all cruel. Mr. Garner is a very insecure man with a lot of power. Due to his insecurity, he feels obliged to prove his intelligence by abusing his superiority. He proves his superiority by making the slaves feel that he is superior to them. Due to Mr. Garner's insecurity, he makes his slaves believe that he is the most powerful man and that they cannot survive without him. Mr. Garner compensates for his insecurities about his manhood by treating his slaves less than the men. Garner tries to convince everyone in town, including himself, that he has the most valued slaves because he raised them. When he was in town, talking to other slave owners, he bragged about how, "Y'all got boys... Now at Sweet Home, my niggers are all men." I bought them like that, I raised them like that. Men, everyone” (Morrison p.10). To compensate for his insecurities, he must prove to everyone that he is the best at what he does, and that is why his slaves are men. Other slave owners believe that because the slaves are black, they are not men. Garner believes that since he raised his slaves and they did only what he allowed them to do, they are men. He considers himself the smart guy in the group. But, by controlling his slaves, he makes them less like men. He believed that if you could call your own Negroes men that, it would make you more of a man: “But if you be a man yourself, you will want your Negroes to be men also” (Morrison p.10). He does everything to prove to himself that he is in fact the man in control of the whole situation. In fact, he tries to compensate for his insecurities by bragging to other slave owners. In Garner's mind, for his Negroes to be considered men, he believes he must orchestrate all their decisions. Concerning what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do in daily affairs.