Beloved Analysis

Sarah Birkett

P.3

AP Lang & Comp

3-26-13

            In Beloved, Morrison uses the images of shadows and similes to show the changing tensions between Sethe, Paul D, Denver, and the new girl: Beloved.  When the three return from their day at the carnival, they discover a woman who is clearly sick and embodies every characteristic of an infant from her skin to her hair. Although this girl is a stranger, very soon into her stay, “Sethe was licked, tasted, and eaten by Beloved’s eyes” (68). The curiosity that Beloved has for Sethe is described as an appetite for her stories. Beloved feeds of off what Sethe has to offer her in her stories about her past, regardless of how dark they may have been. Morrison goes on to say that “[Beloved] hovered,” (68) which gives her more of childlike connotation because children are often noted to be hovering around their interests. As Beloved hovered around Sethe, “their two shadows clashed and crossed on the ceiling like black swords” (68). The images of shadows exemplify the idea that both Sethe and Beloved have their own inner demons that are starting to fight back against one another. The fact that the shadows “clashed and crossed” implies that the two shadows are not meeting peacefully but instead are combating. The idea of combating is further by the simile “like black swords.” The color black has a negative connotation by itself but the fact that the shadows are described as swords makes their connotation seem even darker and sharper. Morrison’s use of these images and similes makes the tensions between the three family members and the new member Beloved clearer and also displays the idea the Sethe and Beloved may contain their own clashing inner demons.