Beloved-water Motif

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name is Beloved. 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 ...

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also uses the motif of water to signify re-birth. When we first meet 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 ...

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