Diction And Literary Techniques In Toni Morrison's Beloved '
394 Words2 Pages
Suchitra Narayanan
Mrs. Gialdini
English 11AP
March 10, 2015 Beloved’s Beloved In Beloved by Toni Morrison, Sethe and Beloved’s rather newly formed relationship is illustrated and developed in the passage, “Rainwater held on to pine needles . . . the older woman’s return” (68). In these few lines Morrison efficaciously produces a sinister tone through her imagery as she construes multiple similes and metaphors to represent Beloved’s questionable and increasing dependency on Sethe in a relatively short amount of time. With diction and literary techniques of the imagery, Morrison creates ominousness through Beloved’s interactions with Sethe, each time foreshadowing a more dismal future. By doing so, Morrison invokes mysteriousness as Beloved’s motives increasingly become blurred. Throughout this particular…show more content… Morrison starts by comparing Beloved to “rainwater [that holds] on to pine needles for dear life” (68). Beloved’s attachment is immediately displayed as extreme which is quite dubious considering Beloved just met Sethe. Beginning with this suspicious bond Beloved feels with Sethe contributes to sinister tone and brings to question as to why Beloved feels so strongly towards Sethe. In addition, Beloved, “like a familiar . . . hovered . . . [and] rose early in the dark” (68). By describing Beloved as a “familiar,” Morrison tactfully presents vagueness regarding Beloved yet again as “familiar” can either represent a haunting spirit or a close companion. However the words “hover” and “rose” suggest that “familiar” refers to the former. Nevertheless, this ambiguousness furthers the potential for more forbidding events to