Beloved, Water Imagery Essay

We visually see water as a clear, constantly flowing object integrated in many areas such as an ocean, a pool, or even a simple cup. But sometimes we do not see the meaning water can have and its relation to society. In the novel Beloved, water is related to and involved in many instances that lead to a positive change. Characters like Sethe have experienced a situation in which she had to once escape sweet business firm, a former knuckle down home, to go on to live a free life. Instances of rebirth or birth occur with Denver and Beloved being brought into the world.At the time, being a slave was hard and even harder when one was pregnant one would stillness receive constant abuse, and for Sethe, it was a difficult life. Beginning a new life with a family could have been the start for so, but they would have to escape their slave homes. Therefore, it is seen that the musical theme of water serves as a positive fantasy for the characters and their future. At first, it is seen tha t Sethe, a black, female, pregnant slave who resides in sweet home, is under the care of a cruel man, schoolteacher, who enforced slave-like behavior.The brutality Sethe suffers gets to the point where she has to run away from sweet home in secure of a peaceful life. Captured, beaten, and under the control of schoolteacher after her attempt to run away, she does so again, despite being caught previously. Upon her arrival at the Ohio River, she sees a white girl by the name of Amy Denver, who aids in the birth of Sethes daughter as the canoe is being filled with water her child is named Denver, after Amy Denver helped her.Later another character named imprint Paid helps Sethe go across the Ohio River without any problems. The water in these icons is significant because a new child is born, and without the water, it would be a harder process to deliver. With the help of bid Paid, Sethe goes over the Ohio River on the way to Baby Suggs house. The water also signifies the first steps to Sethes freedom by leaving sweet home and the cruel memories it has to her. Before heading to 124 with Denver and eventually meeting up with Paul D, Sethe makes a stop at Baby Suggs home in Cincinnati, OH.Baby Suggs could be viewed as an inspiration to the black community as she is aware of what slaves are going through. She led Sethe to the keeping room and, by the lower of a spirit lamp, bathed her in sections, starting with her face. Then, while waiting for another pan of heated water, she sat next to her and stitched cotton. Sethe dozed and woke to the washing of her hands and arms. (Morrison, 109) The tax write-off of Sethes face being bathed is that she is starting her life all over.The memories she has of being raped by schoolteachers nephews and constant abuse from schoolteacher are cleansed away by the water she is bathed with. The water in this context serves as a make-over for Sethes life, allowing her to move on from the former(prenominal) and to the future. In ad dition to sightedness Sethe find her freedom through her escape, Paul D too had to find a way to get to 124 to be with her and Denver. Stuck in the abusive prison refugee camp in Alfred, GA, the prisoners are kept in their cells all day by rain It rained.In the boxes the men heard the water rise in the trench and looked out for cottonmouths. They squatted in muddy water, slept above it, peed in it it happened so quick he had no time to ponder one by one, from Hi spell back on down the like, thy dove. Down through the mud under the bars, blind, groping. (Morrison, 109) The excessive rain that poured down to the ground created a muddy footing which gave the prisoners the prospect to escape. Paul D took advantage of this situation to escape the prison camp to get to 124 to be with Denver and Sethe.Once again, it is seen that water is an essential positive concept for the characters in Beloved. Without the waters presence, the muddy ground would not have allowed or helped Paul D a nd the rest to escape. The impact the water has on this scene is helping to facilitate Paul D after he has been enslaved for a long time. He and Sethe both start new paths because of the concept of water. Within the text, the motif of water is shown to be has an essential object which helps the slaves in different ways. The flatbed filled with water aids in the delivery of Denver.The water that Baby Suggs bathes Sethe with cleanses her past and rejuvenates her life to a brand new future. The torrential downpour Paul D experiences in his prison camp allows the ground to become an easy near to escape from opening the way to a new future. And finally, the long Ohio River is used by Sethe uses to escape her prison with schoolteacher in Kentucky. All of these examples of waters are positive leading out causes for these characters. Without water, the characters goes would have ended up much differently.