Rebirth In Toni Morrison's Beloved

Rebirth and Revival

In Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, many of the characters aspire to create a new and better life for themselves. They wish to escape their life of slavery and repress the past in the hopes of creating a more comforting and rewarding life. Often in the novel, a character's journey for renewal is accompanied by water. Water is a symbol of cleansing and represents what the characters are experiencing throughout their revival rebirth, or even serves as a sign of their fertility. Many of the characters throughout the novel wish to extinguish their past as being a slave, and start with a new slate in their improved lifestyle out of the horrors of slavery. Throughout Beloved, the symbol of water signifies the rebirth and
When Sethe tried to flee from Sweet Home, it was increasing difficult because she had gashes on her back from being whipped, and was in pain due to being pregnant with Denver. While attempting to escape, a white traveller, Amy Denver, helps to try and mend her wounds and also aids her in crossing the river.The narrator points out that, “As soon as Sethe got close to the river, her own water broke loose to join it”, showing how not only how her going into labor immersed in the water is symbolic of beginning of her new life and new journey, but also displays her fertility (Morrison 89). Sethe’s rebirth begins when she decides that she wants to cross the river because she knows that it is going to improve not only her life, but the life of her child. Giving birth in the water also embodies the doctrine of baptism. Denver was born submerged in the water and cleansed of a life of slavery, considering that she was only moments away from being born at Sweet Home if Sethe had not escaped. Sethe giving birth to Denver in the water on her journey to freedom suggests that Sethe’s risk was pertinent in giving Denver a superior lifestyle to the latter. The narrator also points out how “Denver hated the stories her mother told that did not concern herself, which is why Amy was all she ever asked about”, showing Denver’s obsession with her story of her birth, and also yields her fascination of how she was born in the water
The narrator introduces Beloved by setting the scene when she first arrives saying, “All three were inside- Paul D and Denver standing before the stranger, watching her drink cup after cup of water. “She said she was thirsty, Mighty thirsty it look like” (Morrison 61). When Beloved first arrives at 124 she is unable to quench her thirst. Her constant demand of water exposes her lust for rebirth. Her inquiring about more water is a way for her to also inquire about occupying a place in Sethe’s family. Throughout most of the first part of the novel, Beloved only craves water. However, once Sethe has begun to tend to Beloved’s needs and make her feel welcome, Beloved begins to crave sugar. Her transition from longing for water to sugar shows how once she claims a place in the family, she has experienced her rebirth from the dead and regained her spot and therefore can focus her needs on other commodities and lust after more exclusive items such as sugar. Beloved’s constant association with water shows how she experiences multiple transitions throughout her life in order to try and establish her place in the