Tree Motif in Beloved · SlidesCarnival

Tree Motif Lauren Bower

Theme In Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, the author uses the repetitive symbol of trees throughout the novel to convey that your future is shaped by how you deal with the past. 2

Quote #1: \"That’s what she called it. I’ve never seen it and never will. But that’s what she said it looked like. A chokecherry tree. Trunk, branches, and even leaves. Tiny little chokecherry leaves. But that was eighteen years ago. Could have cherries too now for all I know” (Morrison 7). 3

Commentary: This one of the most memorable quotes of the book that involves trees. This is said by Amy when she first meets Sethe and looks at her back. This tree has not healed for eighteen years since she was whipped by schoolteacher. The fact that this would has not healed is metaphorically significant in that it represents Sethe’s lack of acceptance and her tendency to latch onto the past. 4

Quote #2: “Dead ivy twines around bean poles and door handles. Faded newspaper pictures are nailed to the outhouse and on trees” (Morrison 134). 5

Commentary Whereas the last quote showed the cause of Sethe’s fall from Grace, this quote is direct evidence of the result of what the tree represents. Although most of the imagery in this picture shows the decay of vines and note trees, the overall wildlife of this environment parallels the decay of Sethe’s mental state. 6

Quote #3: “In the heat of every Saturday afternoon, she sat in the clearing while the people waited among the trees. Suggs bowed her head and prayed silently. The company watched her from the trees...she shouted, “Let the children come!” and they ran from the trees toward her” (Morrison 43). 7

Commentary The use of trees in this passage centralizes on how the slaves interpret and interact with the trees differently than Sethe. While she sees and interprets the trees as something to cling on to and remember, the slaves use the trees to protect themselves. They chose to hide behind the trees, symbolizing the fear that they have toward unfamiliar parts of their environment an their inability to stand up to others to shape a better future for themselves. 8

Quote #4 “Oh they knew all about it. How to make that thing you use to hang the babies in the trees—so you could see them out of harm’s way while you worked the fields” (Morrison 80). 9

Commentary In addition to seeing the trees as a place of refuge, the slaves also see the trees as a guardian of protection. They place the safety of their children into the branches of the trees. The fact that they trust the trees more than the owners work them displays the slaves’ decisions that will lead them to work until they die. 10

Quote #5:: “Not a creak or a stiff joint anywhere. In fact he felt refreshed. Some things are like that, he thought, good-sleep places” (Morrison 57). 11

Commentary This sheds light onto Paul’s view of the trees. He sees it as an escape from the real world, a relaxing change in pace. The represents the behavior that Paul D has towards the past. He likes to remember the god times that the past brought to them, especially any memories involving Sethe, rather than focusing on the more traumatic memories of the past, like Sethe does. 12

Quote #5 “Two days later Denver stood on the porch and noticed something lying on the tree stump at the edge of the yard. She went to look and found a sack of white beans” (Morrison 123). 13

Commentary This last quote emphasizes Denver’s relationship between her and her past. Unlike any of the other characters, Denver uses her faulty past in a positive way. In this scene, the food that was given to her was beside a stump. The positive association between the two objects serves as an abstract meaning of Denver’s motivation and determination. Rather than letting the cruel events of the past consume her like it did her mother, she used these events in a more constructive way. She asks for help from other and uses the connections that were made from the events of slavery and torture to help her and her family. 14