The image of water brings the image of life. Water makes up all life and is essential to the survival and wellbeing of life. To many people, water symbolizes freedom, but also the unknown. In Toni Morrison’s Beloved The Ohio River is a place where characters such as Beloved, Denver, and Sethe are reborn and given a new life, ultimately suggesting that the Ohio River serves as the bridge between worlds and the line separating them is as fluid as the water itself.
The Ohio River symbolizes the River Styx. In Greek Mythology, the River Styx is a river in the underworld that separates the living world and the underworld. Just as crossing the Ohio River brings you to the “other side,” crossing the River Styx brings you into the next life as well. …show more content…
For example, Denver is born on the banks of the Ohio before being ferried across along with Sethe by Stamp Paid. However, before Denver is born, Sethe lays down almost completely defeated, believing that her unborn baby is “gonna die in wild onion on the bloody side of the Ohio River” (31). Wild onions symbolize protection and in a way, the onions “protected” Denver as Sethe refuses to allow herself to die as her baby would be doomed to die as well and also brings her a protector in the form of Amy, who guides her to the Ohio. Even with Amy’s assistance, Sethe believes that the “baby was dead. She had not died in the night, but the baby had” (83). However, as Sethe approaches the Ohio, it looks “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,” (83) but the birth has complications and is “stuck. Faceup and drowning in its mother’s blood,” (84) before it is born alive. Sethe realizes that the only chance of a life for her baby lies on the other side and refuses to die “on the wrong side”. This is shown once Sethe reunites with her family, Baby Suggs describes “how strong the baby girl was, how smart, already crawling” (94). The baby only becomes strong on the other side, suggesting that even if the baby had “died,” the River can bring a new life to a baby and her mother once thought that she …show more content…
Not only do people have the ability to be “reborn,” some characters do so multiple times. The river itself also presents itself as not only a place for people to recreate themselves through the “death” of their old lives, but a place of birth and life. Baby Suggs describes her heart as starting “to beat the minute she crossed the Ohio River” (147). To some, the river can seem dark and dangerous but to others, symbolizes the possibility of freedom, ultimately suggesting that there is no definite line separating life and death, only the possibility of “the other
The Ohio River symbolizes the River Styx. In Greek Mythology, the River Styx is a river in the underworld that separates the living world and the underworld. Just as crossing the Ohio River brings you to the “other side,” crossing the River Styx brings you into the next life as well. …show more content…
For example, Denver is born on the banks of the Ohio before being ferried across along with Sethe by Stamp Paid. However, before Denver is born, Sethe lays down almost completely defeated, believing that her unborn baby is “gonna die in wild onion on the bloody side of the Ohio River” (31). Wild onions symbolize protection and in a way, the onions “protected” Denver as Sethe refuses to allow herself to die as her baby would be doomed to die as well and also brings her a protector in the form of Amy, who guides her to the Ohio. Even with Amy’s assistance, Sethe believes that the “baby was dead. She had not died in the night, but the baby had” (83). However, as Sethe approaches the Ohio, it looks “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,” (83) but the birth has complications and is “stuck. Faceup and drowning in its mother’s blood,” (84) before it is born alive. Sethe realizes that the only chance of a life for her baby lies on the other side and refuses to die “on the wrong side”. This is shown once Sethe reunites with her family, Baby Suggs describes “how strong the baby girl was, how smart, already crawling” (94). The baby only becomes strong on the other side, suggesting that even if the baby had “died,” the River can bring a new life to a baby and her mother once thought that she …show more content…
Not only do people have the ability to be “reborn,” some characters do so multiple times. The river itself also presents itself as not only a place for people to recreate themselves through the “death” of their old lives, but a place of birth and life. Baby Suggs describes her heart as starting “to beat the minute she crossed the Ohio River” (147). To some, the river can seem dark and dangerous but to others, symbolizes the possibility of freedom, ultimately suggesting that there is no definite line separating life and death, only the possibility of “the other