Water cleanses and water refreshes, thirst is quenched and sparkling diamonds dance brilliantly in its reflection, but particularly obvious is Morrison’s use of water – in many ways – as being representative of freedom.
Birth of Freedom
From an overall, general perspective, crossing the Ohio River signifies freedom for slaves. Although the Fugitive Slave Act is enforceable, it does not dry and wither a runaway slave’s respective feelings of hope and success at having first reached, then forded, the river. Through a more limited and well-focused lens much farther south, flooding water is Paul D’s liberator from imprisonment in Alfred, Georgia.
But Nature’s best liberator, water, is not beneficial only in its most liquid, animated form; ice also plays a significant role. Runaway slaves (reminiscient of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Eliza in Uncle Tom’s Cabin) can use the hardened surface as a slick road to freedom—but in Beloved, ice liberates in a much different way.
Ice Softens the Fall
Tucked midway through the pages of this novel, nearly lost amidst all the sorrow and tragedy, is a scene so enchanting and rewarding that it leaves the reader feeling as breathless as the characters who live it. When Sethe spontaneously decides to take Beloved and Denver ice-skating, it is a liberating, exhilarating afternoon. Holding hands, stumbling and tumbling, the three support one another, fall together and – for once – are totally free to just be who they are.
Morrison’s repetition of the words “nobody saw them falling” encapsulates the total freedom of that wintry afternoon. While it’s certainly true that their lack of coordination and total helplessness on the slippery surface might evoke embarrassing laughter and possible rebuke, “falling” is not the only activity that goes unobserved. In fact, falling would be the least of their worries; should anyone have observed them, there would no doubt be much harsher criticism directed their way.
Interlude of True Freedom
Because no one is there to witness, Beloved and Denver are free to be playful young sisters; there is nobody to question Beloved’s origins and/or identity, or to cast suspicious glances at Denver because she has grown up in the haunted 124. The girls are not subjected to any snide remarks, behind-the-hand whispers or other such human expressions of disapproval. Rather, they are free to interact with their mother, to put aside any petty sibling jealousies or grievous accusations, and to simply enjoy the liberation of the ice.
While Beloved and Denver frolic in the freedom, Sethe’s total liberation runs even more deeply. For several fleeting hours, she can just be a mother, completely immersing herself in the spirit, love and camaraderie of her daughters. No one is there to witness and thus maybe disapprove of her behavior; nobody hears her laughter or witnesses the tears that intermingle with and eventually override it. Sethe’s one panic-stricken act, committed some 18 years ago, has left her an outcast, a pariah; but for this one afternoon, she is not under any scrutiny or censure. She can express her emotions, be free of guilt, and simply enjoy living in a way most people take for granted.
Only Nature shares the family’s triumph; the ice supports them, encouraging their fun, oaks and sloughing pines protect them, absorbing their gaiety, and late-afternoon winter stars twinkle their approval as the miraculous day comes to an all-too-soon end. While one brief interlude cannot possibly atone for all the misery and turmoil in Sethe’s life, it does offer the glimmer of hope that peace can be found, if one only seeks it.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved, Penguin Books, NY, 1988. 290 pages.
ISBN: 0-452-26446-4
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