Arise to Freedom: A Third Beloved Analysis

            In Beloved, Morrison adds further to the conception of freedom in the mind of an escaped slave by her presentation of Sethe’s new start as an escaped, self-liberated woman through the use of some symbolic imagery and word choices. After finally joining Baby Suggs and the rest of the black community of Cincinnati,  “all taught her how it felt to wake up at dawn and decide what to do with the day. That’s how she got through waiting for Halle. Bit by bit, and in 124 and the Clearing, along with the others, she had claimed herself” (111). One of the significant interactions Sethe remembered of her arrival is that of the other escaped slaves “taught her how it felt to wake up at dawn and decide” (111). The symbols of “wak[ing] up,” and “at dawn” represents Sethe’s awakening into the beginning of a life of more freedom and promise than she had previously lived. Also, in relating her memories, Sethe uses active verbs when describing her and the other escaped slaves’ actions. The use of these active verbs like “taught,” “claimed,” and most notably, “decide,” relates to Sethe’s expanded agency that came with her escape. These three verbs in particular represent actions a slave in bondage could rarely or never have performed. By means of these words and  the symbols of dawn and awakening, Morrison contributes to expressing Sethe’s total acceptance of her new freedom.