Beloved 7

"She had good hands, she said. The whitegirl, she said, had thin little arms but good hands. She saw that right away, she said. Hair enough for five heads and good hands, she said."

In this quote both "good hands" and "she said" are repeated over and over again. The repetition of "she said" kind of shows how into the story Denver is. As if she hangs on every word of the story that her mother had told her. The repetition of the "good hands" emphasizes to you that the girl's hands will be of major importance later in the story and that you should remember the fact that the author is stressing the fact that she has those "good hands."

Beloved 6

"What did you come back for?" Beloved smiled. "To see her face." "Ma'am's? Sethe's?" "Yes, Sethe."

The character Beloved is used as a symbol of the baby Sethe had that died. Both Denver and Sethe feel a strange connection to Beloved despite only just getting to know her and she is characterized as very nieve and helpless, like a newborn.

Beloved 5

"-all the time the three shadows that shot out of their feet to the left held hands. Nobody noticed except Sethe and she stopped looking after she decided it was a good sign. A life. Could be."

This is an example of a symbol. The three shadows seeming to walk together hand in hand represent the family that Sethe has always wanted and thinks she may still be able to have. Although her, Paul D, and Denver tend to disagree sometimes and don't always have the best relations they are still there for each other and share a connection.

Beloved 4

Alexandra Villano

"Paul D frowned but said nothing. If there had been an open latch between them, it would have closed."

I feel that this is a great use of imagery. Obviously there is not really a latch between Paul D and Denver but since they cannot seem to get along or agree on much of anything this scene is kind of the "last straw" in a sense. After Denver denies seeing something that Paul D knows she saw, he feels like their relationship is pretty much unsaveable.

Beloved 3

"Down in the grass, like the snake she believed she was, Sethe opened her mouth, and instead of fangs and a split tongue, out shot the truth."

In this quote the author uses both imagery and a form of metaphor/simile description. By using the metaphor/simile that Sethe is like a snake in the grass opening her mouth, you are easily able to picture this scene in your mind. Although we don't know exactly at this moment why being pregnant with this particular baby makes Sethe feel "snake-like," it kind of forshadows that we're going to find out more about how she got into that situation and why she sees it in a negative way.

Beloved 2

"What she called the nastiness of life was teh shock she recieved upon learning that nobody stopped playing checkers just because the pieces included her children."

I feel that this metaphor helps to show you the meaning of the book because you can tell that the characters play life like its a game that they are always losing. Because they are african americans living during slavery and not being able to catch a break they have almost desensitized their views of life so much that they feel their own lives simply represent pieces in a game of checkers.

Beloved

Quote: "Was it hard? I hope she didn't die hard." Sethe shook her head. "Soft as cream. Being alive was the hard part. Sorry you missed her though."

I felt that this was a very meaningful passage for numerous reasons. One being that you can immediately get the tone of the book to be somewhat depressing because of the way they address death. You get the feeling that the characters have experienced so much hardship in their lives that death is almost a "relief" or the "easy way out" over living through all the pain. Although I am only in the beginning of the book, this tone leads me to believe that the book is going to have a very deep meaning associated it dealing with life's cruelties.