The hypocrisy of Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin in Beloved by Toni MorrisonIn Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin are initially presented as decent men, with views on the black race that differ from those of every other white man in the book. The reader's first impression of each of these men is favorable. However, as the reader continues to read and reflect, he notices more and more details which tend to modify his initial impression. By the end of the book, both men seem to have lost their appeal. Although there is very little said against Mr. Garner, and even less against Mr. Bodwin, it seems that Morrison was trying to generate very mixed opinions about each of these characters. Ultimately, Mr. Garner seems no less racist than his fellow slave owners, and Mr. Bodwin, while opposed to slavery, also seems much more racist than he lets on. Garner is the owner of Sweet Home, the plantation where Sethe, her family and others were slaves before their escape. He is immediately distinguished from the rest of the white men. When his character is first introduced, the narrator talks about him fighting with other farmers because his slaves were men. "Now at Sweet Home, my niggers are men, every one of them. I bought them like that, I raised them like that. Men all," he told other farmers (Morrison 10). . With this comment, Mr. Garner was looking for the reaction he loved to hear, "I wouldn't want to have nigger men around my wife," to which he would retort "neither would I, nor would I" (11). On the surface, Mr. Garner is presented as a very admirable man. He was “practicing a special kind of slavery,” Baby Suggs had thought, “treating them like paid labor” (140). The path...... middle of paper...... is more than noble. Both men seem to look mightier than thou when out in public and try to appear as non-racist as possible. Yet Mr. Garner owns slaves, a blatantly racist act, even though he allows them more than other slave owners would. And Mr. Bodwin, who declared himself against slavery and fought to end it, displays in his own home a figure who embodies slavery. It seems that the only difference between the other slave owners and Mr. Garner is that they do not try to hide their racism or pretend that they are better than others. Mr. Bodwin does not own slaves and does not believe in the practice, but he is still racist, as shown by the figure in his house. Which of these is best? Who can say it? But most people don't like hipocrites. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Markham, Ontario: Penguin Books Canada Limited, 1987