Beloved-Water Motif
Beloved In her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison writes about the life of former slaves of Sweet Home. Sethe, one of the main characters, was once a slave to a man and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Garner. After Garner’s sudden death, schoolteacher comes to Sweet Home and takes control of the slaves. His treatment of all the slaves forced them to run away. Fearing that her children would be sold, Sethe sent her two boys and her baby girl ahead to her mother-in-law. On the way to freedom, a white girl named Amy Denver helped Sethe deliver her daughter, who she later names Denver. About a month after Sethe escapes slavery, schoolteacher found her and tried to bring her back. In fear that her children ...
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They took her in and she lived with them. Throughout the novel, Morrison uses many symbols and imagery to express her thoughts and to help us better understand the characters. Morrison uses the motif of water throughout the novel to represent birth, re-birth, and escape to freedom. In Beloved, one of the things that water represents is birth. When Sethe was running away form Sweet Home, she was pregnant. In order to get to freedom, she had to cross the Ohio River. On the way to the river, Sethe met a young white girl named Amy Denver. Amy helped Sethe to keep going because her feet were swollen up. When Sethe and Amy got to the river, Sethe thought the baby had died during the previous night. However, she soon felt the signs of labor. "It looked like home to her, and the baby (not dead in the least) must have thought so too. As soon as Sethe got close to the river her own water broke loose to join it. The break, followed by the redundant announcement of labor, arched her ...
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Beloved, Morrison writes, "A fully dressed woman walked out of the water" (p. 50). In this passage, Beloved, the daughter that Sethe murdered 18 years ago, comes back to the world of the living. She comes straight out of the water. Here, water signifies the re-birth of Beloved. When Beloved is taken into the house, the only thing she asks for is water. ‘"She said she thirsty,’ said Paul D. He took off his cap. ‘Mighty thirsty look like’" (p. 51). "The woman gulped water from a speckled tin cup and held it out for more. Four times Denver filled it, and four times the woman drank as though she had crossed a desert" (p. 51). Water is an essential part of ...
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Beloved-Water Motif. (2006, January 11). Retrieved April 17, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beloved-Water-Motif/39429
"Beloved-Water Motif." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 11 Jan. 2006. Web. 17 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beloved-Water-Motif/39429>
"Beloved-Water Motif." Essayworld.com. January 11, 2006. Accessed April 17, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beloved-Water-Motif/39429.
"Beloved-Water Motif." Essayworld.com. January 11, 2006. Accessed April 17, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beloved-Water-Motif/39429.
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