Rememories and Relationships

The trees throughout Beloved evoke both pain and comfort to the characters involved in the scenes with them. The "tree" on Sethe's back was named so by the nurturing Amy Denver, who saved Sethe as a runaway and helped her deliver Denver. But it is also a constant reminder of her past humiliations at Sweet Home though the scars on her back have been long dead to any feeling. This tree reflects Sethe's present mental and emotional state; though she is dead to any feelings in the present, she cannot rid herself of the scars of the past. When Paul D. arrives, he attempts to ease the pain of this memory, gently touching the scars that make up the tree. But Sethe cannot feel this touch; in fact, Paul D. adds to the burden of memory of Sweet Home with his comments on Halle's witnessing Sethe's rape and violation by the nephews. Early in the novel, Sethe recalls the beautiful trees of Sweet Home and the image of her boys playing in them. But the memory of these trees is also tainted by her recollection later in the novel of the horrific consequences of the Sweet Home slaves' abortive attempt at escape. Sethe finds when she reaches for these images for the comfort of their beauty, they turn in her mind to reminders of pain and death. Thus, Sethe finds her only recourse is to turn away from all of it, beauty and pain alike, and become as deadened to life as the tree-like scars on her back. To Paul D., to Denver, to the community on Bluestone Rd., Sethe appears hardened and proud, incapable of shame, but is she really incapable of life and living? Until Beloved arrives....
Comment on one of the other imagery patterns and how it helps to clarify the feelings, mental state, or relationships of one or more of the characters in Beloved.