Significance Of Water In Beloved

Maternal instincts overcome all “Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown. In my heart it don’t mean a thing” (Wanderlust). Words spoken by an American who pioneered a plethora of a new amerithe soft but eloquently spoken Toni Morrison. This universal perspective on motherhood by mothers, fueled Morrison to write a novel that places motifs of motherhood and birth all around the text. Specifically, with the use of liquids to convey meaning within the character development that occurs in the early chapters of the story. All characters in the story are bonded together by one particular liquid: water. These bonds are revealed through subtle hints of foreshadowing throughout the novel and clues on the characters own actions. In Beloved, water represents birth and the idea surrounding

When we first meet Beloved, Morrison writes, “A fully dressed woman walked out of the water” (Morrison). In this specific passage, Beloved, the reincarnated daughter that Sethe murdered 18 years ago, comes back to the world of the living. She literally comes straight out of the water which creates conflict amongst the characters to create an origin for her. When Beloved comes out of the water signifies , the re-birth of Beloved has been completed. When Beloved is taken into the house, the only thing she asks for is water. “ She said she thirsty,’ said Paul D. He took off his cap. Mighty thirsty look like” (Morrison). “The woman gulped water from a speckled tin cup and held it out for more. Four times Denver filled it, and four times the woman drank as though she had crossed a desert” (Morrison). Water is one of, if not the most, important things for living organisms. In these passages, Beloved has just come back to life. By drinking water, she is in a way being re-born and the water supplies her with a “life force” to help her