Tiny Handprints in the Cake

"as soon as two tiny hand prints appeared in the cake (that was it for Howard)"

The quote regarding the handprints in the cake are in the first page of Toni Morrison's Beloved. The first glimpse we get into this book is the "spiteful" nature of the environment in which Sethe and Denver live. Beloved has already driven away her brothers, trying to get Sethe to be only hers.  I makes perfect sense that the boys would leave such a hostile environment. The first chapter makes it seem as though the ghost is the only motivation that the boys have to leave. However, as the book progress, it seems very possible that Beloved didn't have much to do with the departure of her brothers. Howard and Buglar have apparently lived with the ghost for a couple of years, until they were thirteen, so it is seems unlikely that they were not able to cope with these minor events. The ghost of Beloved and her antics might have been the straw that broke the camels back but was most likely not the only factor. The two boys were old enough to comprehend their mothers actions when she killed their sister and they also suffered from the attack, emphasized by the fact that the school teacher thought they were close to death and too far gone that "there was nothing to claim.” (pg. 149). According to an article analyzing the motivation behind the departure of Howard and Buglar, they "left because they were afraid of their mother trying to kill them again, not the ghost of Beloved."  This is a viable theory. As soon as they boys considered themselves to be capable teenagers and no longer needed their mother's help they left for fear of her intense brand of love. All of Sethe's children were affected by her actions, even Denver, who was significantly younger than the boys, harbors fear from the events of that day. It make sense that Howard and Buglar are very afraid of their mother and Sethe simply used the tiny handprints in the cake and the shattered mirror to justify her children leaving her.  

The cake that Sterling and I made is much more modern interpretation of the cake that supposedly drove Howard away. Due to the time period and the circumstances in which they lived, their cake was probably not quite as sophisticated. The flavor of the cake is not really and important detail but we still tried to keep the cake firmly in the south, with the famously southern red velvet. The most important part of the cake is the handprints. They were probably much more subtle than the obvious red that we choose to use but the emphasis of the hands was important. The handprints might have been an excuse to leave home but there is no doubt that the existed and were probably quite unnerving. Beloved did still want her mother to herself and caused disturbances to make that happen. No matter the real reason of fear, the handprints and the shattered mirror are a catalyst that causes the boys to leave. 

Secondary source: http://maggieronnieadambeloved.blogspot.com/2010/06/howard-and-buglar.html