We visually see water as a clear, constantly flowing object integrated in many areas such as an ocean, a pool, or even a simple cup. But sometimes we do not see the meaning water can have and it’s relation to society. In the novel Beloved, water is related to and involved in many instances that lead to a positive change. Characters like Sethe have experienced a situation in which she had to once escape sweet home, a former slave home, to go on to live a free life.
Instances of rebirth or birth occur with Denver and Beloved being brought into the world.
At the time, being a slave was hard and even harder when one was pregnant; one would still receive constant abuse, and for Sethe, it was a difficult life. Beginning a new life with a family could have been the start for so, but they would have to escape their slave homes. Therefore, it is seen that the motif of water serves as a positive concept for the characters and their future.
At first, it is seen that Sethe, a black, female, pregnant slave who resides in sweet home, is under the care of a cruel man, schoolteacher, who enforced slave-like behavior.
The brutality Sethe suffers gets to the point where she has to run away from sweet home in secure of a peaceful life. Captured, beaten, and under the control of schoolteacher after her attempt to run away, she does so again, despite being caught previously. Upon her arrival at the Ohio River, she sees a white girl by the name of Amy Denver, who aids in the birth of Sethe’s daughter as the canoe is being filled with water; her child is named Denver, after Amy Denver helped her.
Later another character named Stamp Paid helps Sethe go across the Ohio River without any problems. The water in these scenes is significant because a new child is born, and without the water, it would be a harder process to deliver. With the help of Stamp Paid, Sethe goes over the Ohio River on the way to Baby Sugg’s house. The water also signifies the first steps to Sethe’s freedom by leaving sweet home and the cruel memories it has to her. Before heading to 124 with Denver and eventually meeting up with Paul D, Sethe makes a stop at Baby Sugg’s home in Cincinnati, OH.
Baby Suggs could be viewed as an inspiration to the black community as she is aware of what slaves are going through. “She led Sethe to the keeping room and, by the light of a spirit lamp, bathed her in sections, starting with her face. Then, while waiting for another pan of heated water, she sat next to her and stitched cotton. Sethe dozed and woke to the washing of her hands and arms. ” (Morrison, 109) The implication of Sethe’s face being bathed is that she is starting her life all over.
The memories she has of being raped by schoolteacher’s nephews and constant abuse from schoolteacher are cleansed away by the water she is bathed with. The water in this context serves as a make-over for Sethe’s life, allowing her to move on from the past and to the future. In addition to seeing Sethe find her freedom through her escape, Paul D too had to find a way to get to 124 to be with her and Denver. Stuck in the abusive prison camp in Alfred, GA, the prisoners are kept in their cells all day by rain: “It rained.
In the boxes the men heard the water rise in the trench and looked out for cottonmouths. They squatted in muddy water, slept above it, peed in it… it happened so quick he had no time to ponder… one by one, from Hi Man back on down the like, thy dove. Down through the mud under the bars, blind, groping. ” (Morrison, 109) The excessive rain that poured down to the ground created a muddy footing which gave the prisoners the opportunity to escape. Paul D took advantage of this situation to escape the prison camp to get to 124 to be with Denver and Sethe.
Once again, it is seen that water is an essential positive concept for the characters in Beloved. Without the water’s presence, the muddy ground would not have allowed or helped Paul D and the rest to escape. The impact the water has on this scene is helping to facilitate Paul D after he has been enslaved for a long time. He and Sethe both start new paths because of the concept of water. Within the text, the motif of water is shown to be has an essential object which helps the slaves in different ways. The flatbed filled with water aids in the delivery of Denver.
The water that Baby Suggs bathes Sethe with cleanses her past and rejuvenates her life to a brand new future. The torrential downpour Paul D experiences in his prison camp allows the ground to become an easy surface to escape from opening the way to a new future. And finally, the long Ohio River is used by Sethe uses to escape her “prison” with schoolteacher in Kentucky. All of these examples of water’s are positive leading out causes for these characters. Without water, the characters goes would have ended up much differently.