Tree Symbolism In Toni Morrison's Beloved

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Recommended: Symbolism of the beloved by Toni Morrison

Morrison frequently uses tree symbolism in Beloved. The tree that recurs the most is not an actual tree, but the scar on Sethe’s back. Amy Denver’s description of the tree shaped scar seems to me to be a big mass of symbolism. Amy says the scar looks like a chokecherry tree. Chokecherry is a astringent little fruit that isn’t very palatable until you cook it. This might represent Sethe’s inability to cope with, or swallow, the things that have happened to her. She then describes the trunk as “red and split wide open, full of sap,” which sounds to be like a tree that has been wounded. Red invokes a feeling of a fresh, agitated wound. The splitting of the tree helps corroborate this idea. Along with the fruit, this phrase helps show the pain

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