Essay on Toni Morrison's Beloved - Symbol and Symbolism in Beloved

1559 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of beloved by toni morrison

Symbolism in Beloved

In the novel Beloved, the author, Toni Morrison, attempts to promote a variety of different themes and ideas by symbolizing them in minor events and situations. This symbolism is evident throughout the entire novel and is very crucial to the understanding and analyzing of the text. A good example of this is the ice skating scene. Morrison uses this scene to represent the slow, but consistent, deterioration of the family living in 124 and to foreshadow the ultimate demise of the family unit. Morrison writes repeatedly, “Nobody saw them falling,” yet in all reality they were falling, and falling fast (Morrison 174). There are a number of details, including the setting, Sethe’s emotions, the choice of shoes/ice skates worn by each of the three female characters, and the ultimate goal of reaching heaven, which demonstrate this idea.

The ice skating scene takes place on a frozen stream, not too far from 124. The ice is apparently solid, therefore providing a somewhat firm surface on which to skate. Unfortunately, the ice is slippery. This is symbolic of the three females in the story. They all have a strong base, a sincere love for each other, yet no matter how hard they attempt to stay upright and proud, they always end up slipping and falling on the ice. The frozen stream represents the future of the family. The ice will slowly, but consistently, melt as the weather gets warmer, as time passes by. As the ice melts, so does the firm base that supports the skaters and the family members will have no where to stand.

As the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly evident that Sethe is emotionally unstable. Beginning with her life at Sweet Home, dealing with the everyday trials of sla...

... middle of paper ...

... of loneliness and solitude. By isolating Beloved and herself from the rest of the world, Sethe attempted to hide from the ugliness that existed outside of 124. “They were lulled into a false confidence because they had each other,” neglecting even the bare necessities of life (Finkbeiner 1999). Sethe and Beloved each had a pair of footwear, with Beloved having two skates and Sethe having two shoes. Denver’s condition was a more difficult one. She was forced to skate on a single skate, which was very unstable. In order to stay upright she was forced to seek help from the community, reach out to the people outside of 124. Through this act she was able to bring healing to the family. By reaching out to the community, she was able to combat the horrors of loneliness and racism.

Works Cited:

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York, Penguin Books USA Inc, 1988.

Show More
Related

  • Sequence Analysis Of Pulp Fiction

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pulp Fiction is a film that is structured around three story-lines. Vincent Vega is the lead in the first story. In the second storyline, Butch Coolidge is the lead, and Jules Winnfield, is the lead of the third. Each storyline targets a different series of incidents but they connect and intersect in numerous ways. “The film starts out with a diner hold-up staged by "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny," then picks up the stories of Vincent, Jules, Butch, and several other important characters. It finally returns to where it began, in the diner: Vincent and Jules, who have stopped in for a bite, find themselves embroiled in the hold-up”(Tarantino). There are seven narrative sequences:

    Read More

  • Review: Pulp Fiction

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pulp Fiction is rebellious in the way that it manipulates all usual plot structures by twisting time to satisfy its own system. The film tells a series of interlocking stories involving; two hit-men, a boxer and his French girlfriend, a crime boss and his mischievous wife, a small time drug dealer, two lovebird robbers, and two hillbilly rapists. However, all these stories revolve around three main plots; Vincent (John Travolta) taking the crime boss’s wife out (Umma Thurman), the crime boss asks the boxer (Bruce Willis) to throw out the boxing match, and the two lovebirds de...

    Read More

  • Newton's Principle in Toni Morrison's Beloved

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    Likewise, Denver indicates that she cannot grasp why her mother would pour the blood out of someone, especially her own daughter. The young girl contends that “All the time, I’m afraid the thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could happen again. I don’t know what it is, I don’t know who it is, but maybe there is something else terrible enough to make her do it again.” (242-243) Though Denver tells of her fears of the memories, she also speaks of her desire to know what the memories truly do hold. Morrison’s use of the nebulous word “thing” points to the reason behind Sethe’s motive of committing infanticide, which Denver can’t name. Chiefly, the “thing” is what causes Denver to be in a state of distraught. Denver believes this “thing” may motivate her mother to act the same way once again. Furthermore, Morrison’s use of repetition “I don’t know” twice—emphasizes Denver’s need to know what that “thing” might be and wants to know not only the objective facts of the past, but to understand the underlying motives that can cause her mother to perform such an act again without a clear understanding of why. Denver does not wish to be confined within boundaries where her “freedom” to live is taken away. One can see the internal struggle in Denver, which raises questions about Sethe’s inexplicable

    Read More

  • Love in Toni Morrison's "Beloved"

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    Love is said to be one of the most desired things in life. People long for it, search for it, and crave it. It can come in the form of partners, friends, or just simply family. To some, love is something of a necessity in life, where some would rather turn a cold shoulder to it. Love can be the mixture of passion, need, lust, loyalty, and blood. Love can be extraordinary and breathtaking. Love being held so high can also be dangerous. Love can drive people to numerous mad things with it dangerously so full of craze and passion.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Toni Morrison's Beloved

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Toni Morrisons novel 'Beloved' demonstrates how the African American people, oppressed by marginalization and racism, endure the strain of slavery even after they are liberated from it. The establishment of slavery’s horrific dehumanizing, through the estrangement of families and destitution of fundamental human rights is distinctly existent in the novel. Opposite from this setting, Morrison moves us from one location to another; with movements in time through the memories of the central characters. These characters yearn to repress the painful memories of their pasts and are often driven out from a character’s mind or contained securely within; Paul D functions by locking his memories and emotions away in his imagined “tobacco tin”. The case

    Read More

  • draft

    2290 Words  | 5 Pages

    Body A: Blood to blood relations often hold a considerable amount of care and love for each other. First of all, the development of the relationship between Sethe and Denver shows how blood to blood relations carry the care and love that no other person would carry. In the novel Beloved, Denver was the daughter and one and only person in Sethe’s family. The house 124 in Bluestone Road had only two residents, Sethe and Denver. Both Sethe and Denver created an amazingly strong bond between each other. In Sethe’s whole life, she only saw people getting away from her, her husband Halle, her mother-in-law Baby Suggs, and her two sons Howard and Buglar. However, Denver was the only person who was staying with her all the time. The care shown by Denver for her mother is incredible. She is one of those daughters who would sacrifice anything for her mother. Denver gets emotional when she remembers that she has no friends and she does not know any another residents around their house. However, she buries all her emotions and sorrows when she reminisces that she has her mother with her who brought her to this world. Her mother fills her heart with everything. She knows that her mother Sethe sacrificed a lot when she was an infant. Sethe also informed Denver how she fought against many obstructions when Denver was in her mother’s womb. All these situations made them valuable to each other. As a mother, Sethe has done astonishing activities which made Sethe a star in Denver’s eyes. The love and sacrifices from Sethe for her daughter Denver is illustrated in the following quote,

    Read More

  • Pulp Fiction Thesis

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    The camera is more still and focused on Jules as he intimidates the men inside whereas before when it was casual, the camera is loosely following the two down the hallway. This brings a whole new level of tension to the scene and Jules draws out what the men in the apartment know and what we as the audience know to be inevitable; that the men were going to be killed. For a lack of a better term, Jules was shooting the shit, taking bites out of the man’s burger and it really makes him seem like a confident and cool gangster, that this wasn’t his first time nor will it be his last. But he mentions something in passing as he eats the burger, that his girlfriend is a vegetarian and that by extension, he is as well. This humanizes Jules by hinting that within his relationship, outside of his work as a gangster, he has a normal life with a partner. More so, he isn’t in control of his relationship like he is of the situation at hand. We feel the tension rise as Jules delivers his speech, a verse he has taken from the bible that he recites every time before he executes someone. The verse ends with, “And I will strike down with great vengeance and furious anger, those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee” and they shoot two of the men in the apartment. The scene begins to pulse with a red glow, adding to the chaos of the scene, symbolizing almost a heartbeat stopping and eyelids closing in death. However, by chance, a man that was hiding in the bathroom pops out and unloads a clip at both Jules and Vincent but misses every single shot. Jules is convinced it was divine intervention and that his existence was deemed important enough by God to have

    Read More

  • Incarceration In The Criminal Justice System

    1615 Words  | 4 Pages

    Correctional facilities are increasingly adopting behavior modification techniques, such as operant conditioning, social learning techniques, classical conditioning and system desensitization in order to promote pro-social behavior in offenders. With the use of these techniques, antisocial and criminal behavior will become extinction. Instead, offenders will manifest pro-social behaviors that are in the proximity of society’s social norms. This will not only decrease there ate of recidivism, but make society a safer

    Read More

  • The Roman Wars

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rome was known for many things, one of the biggest things that they are very skilled in, is warfare. Romans were very skilled in this area, they were known to have great fighting techniques. They would hardly ever lose a war. They were very smart during battle. One of the techniques that they used was that they would fight on higher grounds against their enemies in order to have a height advantage. Of course, they would only do this when the battle was in their territory. Another great technique that they had was making sure that the sun was behind them and that the wind was also behind them. How smart is that? They used many other ways to confuse the enemy. Rome was in a lot of wars.

    Read More

  • Literary Devices Utilized in Thomas Foster's Book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" Put to Use in "Pulp Fiction"

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.

    Read More

  • Toni Morrison's Beloved

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    If ignorance is bliss, then why is it human nature to uncover the truth? In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, the character Denver uses knowledge to feed her craving in hopes that it will fill the void her mother unsuccessfully tried to satisfy with the blood of the past and too little milk. To understand these truths one must accept that Beloved is a physical representation of the past, Sethe embodies the present, and Denver exemplifies the future. Throughout the novel these three characters interact on a superficial level, but each action has a deeper underlying influence on the other. This is why Denver’s assumed motive of using the attachment she forged with Beloved to develop a closer relationship with Sethe is cursory. When in fact it was for fear of her own life, that Denver’s intended to extract the information from Beloved, of what triggered Sethe to kill killed her.

    Read More

  • Summer Symbolism In Toni Morrison's Beloved

    511 Words  | 2 Pages

    Toni Morrison's Beloved makes one ponder the essence of life and death. It is a novel that can challenge the brain, and change an opinion about the supernatural. One of the biggest symbols throughout the novel would be colors. Colors such as pink, red, and orange are mentioned on numerous occasions throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • Symbol and Symbolism of Water in Toni Morrison's Beloved

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Powerful Symbol of Water in Beloved   Water.  It expresses its’ power in the form of hurricanes and flash floods.  It displays its gentleness, washing dirt off a child's scabbed knee.  Water has been used to quench the thirst of many longing throats; and it has been the cause of death to those who unfavorably crossed its path.  It possesses the power of total destruction, yet it holds the bases of all life.  Generally, is a natural purifier, washing the dirt from our bodies. Water is a symbol of transition from dirty to clean.  In Beloved, Morrison uses water to introduce a transition between stages in a character's life.  Water separates one stage of a character's life from another.  Paul D.'s escape from Alfred, Georgia was directly helped and represented by the rain that had fallen in the past weeks.  Paul D. was sent to Alfred, George because he tried to kill Brandywine, his master after the schoolteacher.  In Alfred, he worked on a chain gang with forty-five other captured slaves.  They worked all day long with "the best hand-forged chain in Georgia" threading them together.  They A man's breaking point was challenged everyday. It was hell for Paul D.  Then it rained.  Water gave Paul D. his freedom.  The rain raised the water level in the in-ground cell so they could dive, "down through the mud under the bars, blind groping," in search of the other side (p. 110).  One by one each of the forty-six men dug through for the ground.  They dug for breath, they dug for each other, and they three separate times to make the reader aware that water is the main cause of the transition in Paul D.'s life (p.109-10).  Paul D.'s is now a free black man.  A free black man traveling to 124. Water represents Sethe's transition from slavery to freedom.

    Read More

  • The Sacrifice a Mother Would Make for Her Child in Beloved by Toni Morrison

    1597 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sethe is the main character in Toni Morrison’s award winning novel Beloved. She was a former slave whom ran away from her plantation, Sweet Home, in Kentucky eighteen years ago. She and her daughter moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to live with her mother-in-law Baby Suggs. Baby Suggs passed away from depression no sooner than Sethe’s sons, Howard and Buglar ran away by the age of thirteen. Sethe tries...

    Read More

  • Universal Themes in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, Morrison uses universal themes and characters that anyone can relate to today. Set in the 1800s, Beloved is about the destructive effects of American slavery. Most destructive in the novel, however, is the impact of slavery on the human soul. Morrison’s Beloved highlights how slavery contributes to the destruction of one’s identity by examining the importance of community solidarity, as well as the powers and limits of language during the 1860s.

    Read More

More about Essay on Toni Morrison's Beloved - Symbol and Symbolism in Beloved

Open Document