Trees and Symbolism - Beloved

I decided to go into a more in-depth analysis on trees in Beloved and a bit of an exploration that we didn’t exactly do in our presentation of beloved. I was originally going to focus trees and symbolism, but  We see a whole number times that trees are talked about and it becomes a place of healing for people in the book or a way to look into their souls. The first example of trees and Beloved I wanted to look at are when Denver retreats into her own ‘Emerald Closet’. The boxwood bushes in the story serve as a barrier for Denver from the rest of the world, allowing her to gather her thoughts and try to heal from whatever she’s just faced. Here we see the use of trees being a safe place. But a more interesting use of trees are the trees of Sweet Home Plantation. The plantation has a number of beautiful trees around the property, one of which that Paul D claims as his own. The trees almost act as a buffer and a way to hide the number of atrocities that are happening on the plantation. But the one that Paul D claims and names is one that he seeks refuge under after a long day. Again, we see trees being a place of healing and helping someone the book. Paul D even uses the trees as a way to escape up north, following them as a sign that he was reaching his destination. But perhaps the strongest instance of trees in the book is the ‘tree’ on Sethe’s back. The scars there seem to serve as a constant reminder and something of an ugly presence, but Sethe’s rescuer Amy Denver somehow turns it into something that could be considered a thing of beauty: a chokecherry tree. The chokecherry tree can have green leaves in the spring, but as the seasons change and the leaves themselves become purple it becomes quite the sight to behold. It seems slightly hollow and a slight backhanded comment on Amy’s point about her scar being a chokecherry tree because besides the purple leaves, the defining feature of chokecherry tree is its horribly bitter berries. They’re almost impossible to eat without a heaping amount of sugar and to animals with segmented stomachs, they are poisonous and can become lethal in large enough doses. It’s almost as if she’s saying that the scar, while a thing that can become something that is indeed beautiful, anything that comes from it will truly be a bitter experience. And to farmers, or perhaps someone’s worked on a plantation, the chokecherry tree would be something that would want to get rid of as soon as possible. It almost explains Paul D’s reaction when seeing the scar on Sethe’s back. He remembers his tree back at Sweet Home and the tree on Sethe’s back is not only nothing like that tree, but its berries are hard to swallow and can be dangerous to his livelihood. It’s an interesting symbolism and I thought I’d share.