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Symbolism in Beloved by Toni Morrison Beloved, a novel written by Toni Morrison is more than a fiction. When composing her book, Morrison used many different writing techniques to make it the best possible. One particular technique used throughout Beloved is symbolism. Symbolism is found in the number references used, nature and the characters portrayed. Many numbers used in Beloved are actually more than what they are written out to be. The first number the reader sees in the book, is Sethe's home address: 124 Bluestone Road.
Located in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, the house is a railway station in the past. The main character, Sethe had four children in her lifetime. Her house number indicates those four children, but leaves out the third born (being Beloved). Her remaining three children: Denver, Howard and Burglar are the ones resembled in the numeric address. According to astrology, the numbers 1, 3, 7, and 22 are ascribed with magical powers.
These magical powers are said to be symbols of completion and creation. 124 fits this astrological delineation because the sum of the three digits in the number add up to the aforementioned 7. In Beloved, single numbers like two, three and five show up in many different parts. The number two implies a unity. In this novel, two and four come up when Morrison relates to children and sex.
Sex is usually viewed as in a couple, a pair of two. When two people come together, they make a whole. With children, Baby Suggs had eight children; four girls and four boys (Morrison, 209). Sethe had four children: two girls and two boys. Also, the number five appears in Beloved many times.
There are five fingers on a hand. An outstretched, open hand is usually an offering or blessing, and when Morrison writes about the characters receiving aid or giving help, the number five usually shows up. Amy Denver, who met Sethe on her flee from Sweet Home was said to have hair enough for five heads (Morrison 32, 77). Amy's hands were often referred to strong and good hands, helped with the birth of Sethe's baby Denver. In Beloved, numbers play an important role. They convey thoughts in a form of shorthand, giving this novel a deeper sense of meaning.
The name of the protagonist of the novel, Sethe, is associated with one of the major gods of ancient Egypt and the Biblical Seth, who was the child of Adam and Eve. This Egyptian god was part man and part animal or bird, which explains the animal imagery surrounding Sethe in the novel. Symbolism is also found in nature throughout Beloved. Unlike the symbolism with numbers, nature is a more common topic to write about, which makes it harder to pick out the symbolism.
On a few accounts though, the symbolism in nature does stand out. First, Seth's scars on her back are referred many times in the novel to a chokecherry tree. Also, Denver has a secret wooden box, implying it was made from a tree. She keeps things in there that are personal to her.
One of them that is brought up is a bottle of perfume she stole from her mother. This symbolism of the wooden box and perfume implies that nature throughout the novel covers up the past and helps forget. The last major topic of symbolism in this novel is in the characters. Many characters, even minor ones have a bit of symbolism in them. One of them, Six, who was known as the wild man (Morrison 11) began to plan his escape from slavery.
Unfortunately he was caught and burned alive. In Beloved, Six represents all the slaves and their struggles. His name is African and is from Sixty Million and more, which is the first epigraph in the novel and refers to the number of slaves brought to the United States. The character that best shows symbolism throughout Beloved, is Beloved herself.
She becomes the symbol for the overall suffering of all the black community that has endured the terrors of slavery and racism. In the book, she represents different things for different people. For Sethe, Beloved is a pathway to her past. She represents a chance for her to redeem her actions in the past and in a way, remember. She provides a friend for Denver and an outlet for her as well. For Paul D. , Beloved opens him up and breaks though his tin heart, turning it red.
Overall, Toni Morrisons novel Beloved is more than the story of a struggling family's life. Morrison wrote her book adding a lot of symbolism to it, increasing the meaning and depth of the story. Without symbolism, this novel would not spark so much interest in the reader and mean so much. The symbolism in the analyzed numbers, nature, and characters bring out so much more in Beloved than just a story. Bibliography: Morrison, Toni.
Beloved. New York: New American Library, 1987.
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