Imagery is a valuable tool used by authors to paint pictures in the heads of the readers with their words. Toni Morrison goes into great lengths in Beloved portraying nature in a manner such that readers perceive themselves as part of the scenery. As her nature imagery develops the mood of the novel, her animal imagery captures the key themes: the wretchedness of the slave system, the ethical dilemma of Sethe’s killing of Beloved, and the innocence and tractability of Beloved. For the Sweet Home men, life as a slave was not terrible. Unlike most of the slave owners at the time, Mr. Gardner gave his slaves some liberty. The Sweet Home men were able to own guns, suggest their opinions to Mr. Gardner, and were even able to express themselves.
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“One step off that ground and they were trespassers among the human race.” (131) Therefore, the Sweet Home men were oblivious to the true degradation of slavery. When Mr. Gardner passed away and the schoolteacher moved in, the raft slowly sank, exposing the Sweet Home men to the reality of life as a slave. Morrison uses a rooster imagery to emphasize the point at which Paul D, one of the Sweet Home men, finally realizes what it means to be a slave. When Mr. Gardner was still alive, Paul D helped a baby rooster later named Mister break through its eggshell. Paul D saved his life. However, later, when Paul D. was forced to wear a bit, restricting movement of his jaws, Paul D. understood that even Mister was king over him, the same Mister who would have lost his life if Paul D was not there. “Mister was allowed to be and stay what he was. But I wasn’t allowed to be and stay what I was. Even if you cooked him you’d be cooking a rooster named Mister. But wasn’t no way I’d ever be Paul D again, living or dead.” (86) Morrison’s rooster imagery highlighted the harsh reality of the status of slaves, but Morrison’s choice of the rooster as the agent of comparison is interesting in its own right. Roosters are birds with very limited …show more content…
Her action is quite controversial because her decision to kill Beloved could easily be justified. Experiencing the horrors of slavery firsthand, Sethe knew that going back with the schoolteacher would mean certain suffering for her children for their entire lives. Moreover, Sethe understood the pain of growing up motherless, as she herself lost her mother at a very young age. The schoolteacher would have most likely sell her children to different slave owners. Therefore, Sethe believed that it was her duty to save her children from experiencing this horror, even if it meant killing them. Morrison describes Sethe’s motherly protection with hawk imagery. “So Stamp Paid did not tell him how she flew, snatching up her children like a hawk on the wing; how her face beaked, how her hands worked like claws, how she collected them every which way: one on her shoulder, one under her arm, one by the hand…” (185) Morrison’s use of the hawk is the perfect animal to compare Sethe to. Hawks soar through the sky with almost nothing to disturb them; they represent freedom. At this point in the novel, Sethe’s children could be viewed as baby hawks who have yet to fly. A great danger has come upon their nest. The mother hawk, desiring to save her children, snatches up her children with her beak and her claws onto her wings. Her beaks and claws were sharp and likely hurt the children
“One step off that ground and they were trespassers among the human race.” (131) Therefore, the Sweet Home men were oblivious to the true degradation of slavery. When Mr. Gardner passed away and the schoolteacher moved in, the raft slowly sank, exposing the Sweet Home men to the reality of life as a slave. Morrison uses a rooster imagery to emphasize the point at which Paul D, one of the Sweet Home men, finally realizes what it means to be a slave. When Mr. Gardner was still alive, Paul D helped a baby rooster later named Mister break through its eggshell. Paul D saved his life. However, later, when Paul D. was forced to wear a bit, restricting movement of his jaws, Paul D. understood that even Mister was king over him, the same Mister who would have lost his life if Paul D was not there. “Mister was allowed to be and stay what he was. But I wasn’t allowed to be and stay what I was. Even if you cooked him you’d be cooking a rooster named Mister. But wasn’t no way I’d ever be Paul D again, living or dead.” (86) Morrison’s rooster imagery highlighted the harsh reality of the status of slaves, but Morrison’s choice of the rooster as the agent of comparison is interesting in its own right. Roosters are birds with very limited …show more content…
Her action is quite controversial because her decision to kill Beloved could easily be justified. Experiencing the horrors of slavery firsthand, Sethe knew that going back with the schoolteacher would mean certain suffering for her children for their entire lives. Moreover, Sethe understood the pain of growing up motherless, as she herself lost her mother at a very young age. The schoolteacher would have most likely sell her children to different slave owners. Therefore, Sethe believed that it was her duty to save her children from experiencing this horror, even if it meant killing them. Morrison describes Sethe’s motherly protection with hawk imagery. “So Stamp Paid did not tell him how she flew, snatching up her children like a hawk on the wing; how her face beaked, how her hands worked like claws, how she collected them every which way: one on her shoulder, one under her arm, one by the hand…” (185) Morrison’s use of the hawk is the perfect animal to compare Sethe to. Hawks soar through the sky with almost nothing to disturb them; they represent freedom. At this point in the novel, Sethe’s children could be viewed as baby hawks who have yet to fly. A great danger has come upon their nest. The mother hawk, desiring to save her children, snatches up her children with her beak and her claws onto her wings. Her beaks and claws were sharp and likely hurt the children