Symbolism throughout the novel Beloved essays

Symbolism throughout the novel Beloved essays Beloved, a novel written by Toni Morrison is more than a fiction. When composing her book, Morrison used many different writing techniques to make it the best possible. One particular technique used throughout Beloved is symbolism. Symbolism is found in the number references used, nature and the characters portrayed. Many numbers used in Beloved are actually more than what they are written out to be. A common number used, is the address of Sethes home, 124 Bluestone Road. Their house, which use to be a railway station is located in the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio. The main character, Sethe had four children in her lifetime. Her house number indicates those four children, but leaves out the third born (being Beloved). Her remaining three children: Denver, Howard and Burglar are the ones resembled in the numeric address. Also in Beloved, single numbers like two, three and five show up in many different parts. The number two implies a unity (Livraghi). In this novel, two and four come up when Morrison relates to children and sex. Sex is usually viewed as in a couple, a pair of two (Elwell). When two people come together, they make a whole. With children, Baby Suggs had eight children; four girls and four boys (Morrison, 209). Seth had four children: two girls and two boys. Also, the number five appears in Beloved many times. There are five fingers on a hand. An outstretched, open hand is usually an offering or blessing (Adams), and when Morrison writes about the characters receiving aid or giving help, the number five usually shows up. Amy Denver, who met Sethe on her flee from Sweet Home was said to have hair enough for five heads (Morrison 32, 77). Amys hands were often referred to strong and good hands, helped with the birth of Sethes baby Denver. In Beloved, numbers play an important role. They convey thoughts in a form of shorthand (Elwell), giving this novel a deeper sense of ...