SYMBOLISM
Beloved is notable for its use of symbolism in the story. One of the most obvious symbols in the story is Sethe’s scar on her back. The scar on Sethe’s back serves as a permanent, physical reminder of her past. However oddly enough, the scar on her back is in the shape of a tree. The story states, “...when the boys found out that she had told on them, they whipped her, leaving a tree-shaped scar on her back” (part 1 chpt 1). The shape of Sethe’s scar is not coincidental and it holds its own significance. The tree-shape scar can symbolize how sometimes beauty can result from a terrible experience. What Sethe went through as slave was indeed terrible in every way, but the fact that she was able …show more content…
Sethe’s house, 124, is where Beloved comes back to manifest herself, but even before then the house was rather lively. The story states, “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children. For years each put up with the spite in his own way, but by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims” (Morrison, 3). In the quote, the house is claimed to be quite cruel to those who inhabit it. Of course, an inanimate object such as a house cannot possess this human-like quality, so there’s a bigger meaning as to why the house would be described to be spiteful. 124 is meant to be a house haunted by the spirits of the slaves who lived there before Sethe, Denver, and Baby Suggs did. Considering the slaves before them were unable to experience the life of a free individual, all the restless energy still lingered in that home. Once Beloved’s malevolent spirit came, the house only became more lively than it was before and Sethe and Denver were there to experience all the paranormal activity. 124 marked the memory of all the slaves before them and the horrible experiences they went through in that house. Their spirits remained to remind those who inhabit it of the horrors of
Beloved is notable for its use of symbolism in the story. One of the most obvious symbols in the story is Sethe’s scar on her back. The scar on Sethe’s back serves as a permanent, physical reminder of her past. However oddly enough, the scar on her back is in the shape of a tree. The story states, “...when the boys found out that she had told on them, they whipped her, leaving a tree-shaped scar on her back” (part 1 chpt 1). The shape of Sethe’s scar is not coincidental and it holds its own significance. The tree-shape scar can symbolize how sometimes beauty can result from a terrible experience. What Sethe went through as slave was indeed terrible in every way, but the fact that she was able …show more content…
Sethe’s house, 124, is where Beloved comes back to manifest herself, but even before then the house was rather lively. The story states, “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children. For years each put up with the spite in his own way, but by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims” (Morrison, 3). In the quote, the house is claimed to be quite cruel to those who inhabit it. Of course, an inanimate object such as a house cannot possess this human-like quality, so there’s a bigger meaning as to why the house would be described to be spiteful. 124 is meant to be a house haunted by the spirits of the slaves who lived there before Sethe, Denver, and Baby Suggs did. Considering the slaves before them were unable to experience the life of a free individual, all the restless energy still lingered in that home. Once Beloved’s malevolent spirit came, the house only became more lively than it was before and Sethe and Denver were there to experience all the paranormal activity. 124 marked the memory of all the slaves before them and the horrible experiences they went through in that house. Their spirits remained to remind those who inhabit it of the horrors of