Symbol and Symbolism of Water in Toni Morrison's Beloved Essay

The river represents the period between life and death. Another part of this symbol is the air representing life and under the rocks and waterfall representing death. Just as the transition from life to death is in motion, so is the rushing of the water. Both have a beginning and an ending point, but the part in the middle is constantly moving, swirling and churning. As the girl loses hope for survival and the waterfall is approaching, the narrator states, “[S]he becomes part of the river” (45). The girl now crosses over the borderline of life and death, and she is about to be swallowed up by the falls of death and can never return to life. However, when the diver goes into the river to save her, he comes out saying that “he’d never enter that river again” (47). He encounters the spiritual eccentricity of the edge of death when he looks into lifeless girl’s animated eyes, and he can not fathom that experience. Another symbol that is introduced twice is the gurgle of the aquarium, which symbolizes the attempt to understand nature’s cycle of life. As she floats downstream, the girl remembers “her sixth-grade science class, the gurgle of the aquarium at the back of the room”(45). During this moment, all of her thoughts are puzzled, and she cannot understand the death awaiting her. Later on, after sleepless nights, the diver is in the empty school where “the only sound the gurgle of the aquarium” (48). This moment is the point at which he decides

Water washes and carries. It separates and divides. Water represents so many more things than could have ever been thought. Water is a clear reflective

In the novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison uses color to show the reactions of some of the main characters. Color represents many things in the book. Freedom is an example because once the slaves were free, they noticed the beautiful colors all over. They see that the world is not just black and white and two different races, there are many beautiful things that were unnoticed. When Baby Suggs was free, she was able to spread happiness and joy to the community. When the community did not accept that, she fell into depression, but still enjoys freedom, in a different way, more by herself than with others. It was when she wanted to see bright colors. She loved color. In his journey to the

In “Big Fish”, Daniel Wallace utilizes water as a recurring theme to reveal that Edward Bloom truly represents the book's title. The story of Big Fish has had a great deal of meaning in my life because I was just in the First Stage production last spring which was a retelling of the 1998 tale. The novel Big Fish revolves around Edward Bloom, a well known teller of tales, and his middle-aged son William, a pessimistic businessman who is out on a quest to find the true meaning of his father's massive stories. Edward Bloom was to a sense a golden child, he remembers every man's name, he could run fast, speak in front of crowds, and was a mighty charmer with the ladies. But the thing that William cannot wrap his head around is why his father must always be

The sky opened like windows, and rain poured down for forty days and nights. All this began on the seventeenth day of the second month of the year. Before the great flood vegetation was watered by mist. Water was not symbolized with diverse connotations: from the source of life, to a place of danger, to a means of cleansing and renewal until the first rain was introduced. The ancient Israelites however used water as symbolic meaning to this.

Since Biblical times, water has been used as both punishment and reward. It was used by God in the world Old Testament when the Israelites were disobedient. He dehydrated the land, "turned the rivers into islands and [dried] up the pools," (Cassuto). God also rewarded the loyalty of His people with water. In the Garden of Eden, the original Promised Land and synthesis of all good, water flowed freely to irrigate it's bounty.

The river represents Huck and Jim's journey to freedom. It's filled with many twists and turns with hardships along the way. However, the destination justifies their journey for them. The fog could represent racial prejudices and Huck’s growing doubts about freeing Jim that threatened to come in between their friendship. In chapter 16, when Huck is rowing to shore to turn in Jim, two men come looking for runaway slaves, the fog and Huck’s mind clears and he gets rid of the men with a story about smallpox.

Every living thing on Earth requires water to survive. Not only is water ubiquitous on a biological level, it also is one of the oldest and most used symbols within literature. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is no exception to this common trope and displays countless examples of water as a symbol throughout the novel. Water can symbolize many things, but the main theme that water is symbolizing in Never Let Me Go is change. We see this symbolic portrayal through 3 different forms of water: rain, floods, and the ocean, all emerging during scenes of shifting perspectives or new circumstances all through the book.

First, river is playing a very important role of public space in this story. Geographically, the river in the story is linking both Oxford and London. The River Cherwell is a major tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises from Northampton, England to Oxford, England. Then, The River Cherwell merge with The Isis which is from Oxford, England to London, England. When The Isis arrive London’s territory, it is called River Thames. River first appears as a metaphor while Harriet is shrugging weather she should go back to Oxford despite the heated discussion of her rumor with Peter Wimsey. “But she doubted whether she were now capable of any such withdrawal. She had long ago taken the step that put the grey-walled paradise of Oxford behind her. No one can bathe in the same river twice, not even in the Isis.” (Sayers 19) This is a reference to Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher meaning that you cannot step into the same river twice because you are changing and the river is changing. This is also an indication of the transformation of both characters and place. The transformation of river as Heraclitus suggests is also a symbol of changes in ideology. Her struggle on going back to Oxford or not confirms its ideology on Feminism. She is returning to “this quite place, where only intellectual achievement counted” (Sayers 18) place, rather than staying in London, a place focused more socially rather than

In this poem Langston Hughes uses the rivers to show the journey of of African Americans from the dawn of time to the Emancipation Proclamation. In the beginning of the poem he mentions the Euphrates, where mankind began. Then he mentions the Mississippi and Abe Lincoln, this is hinting toward the freeing of the slave. This shows change over time from the beginning of time to the time of freeing of slaves. The river represents the journey of African Americans through history and the changes they when through.

Everything I Never Told You Analysis In the bible Ezekiel 36:25 states “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you (King James Bible 1).” Hence, in biblical terms water is the purification of ones’ soul of all sins. Consequently, water is the ultimate redemption for one’s soul and body.

A widely known Jewish story, Noah’s Ark, shows water to appear holy. In the story, God uses water to wipe away the impurities of the Earth. The Jews also have a ritual of washing themselves with water to become pure.

Scripture says “… a wind from God swept over the face of the water”. Here we can see a wonderful link between the visible world and the spiritual world. It is the spirit of God that enables water to be the source of life. The Orthodox church celebrates the ceremony of the Great Blessings of water as it reminds them of the depth of life. As we have already noted “water is fundamental to the natural life”, it is also very important in our life as Christians, “where the sacrament of baptism marks the sacred source of the spiritual life”. The Great Blessings of water in the Orthodox Church are done in remembrance of the Baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan. Water, for then signifies life, rebirth, new life, life everlasting.

The River Jordan is fear and everything that stands in her way of getting to freedom. What stands in her way is literally water. To get out of New York and to freedom she needs a boat to travel to freedom. She also has to fight the Locktons because they own her and will not set her free. The Rebels promised to free her and did not do it. In the end she had to overcome her fear of getting caught and had to do what she needed to to escape.

One of the symbols that we are first introduced to in Spirited Away is water. When our hero starts to transition into the world of spirits, something happens off-screen. Water suddenly blocks the tunnel that connects the human world and the spirit world. Water also appears to magically surround the perimeter of the bathhouse at its base. Water is also used in the bathhouse to rejuvenate and cleanse spirits that enter. And finally, water comes up again when we see a flashback of what seems to be Chihiro drowning in a river. So what’s up with water? Well, throughout the film, water is used to symbolize freedom and captivity. It serves as a literal object that blocks Chihiro’s path back to the human world, and also limits movement around the spirit world (we see that Chihiro has to utilize a train system in order to move around the spirit world freely). However, water isn’t all that bad. In the scene where Chihiro is faced with the responsibility to clean the stink spirit, inordinate amounts of