Beloved

In the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, the author’s use of characters’ surroundings as a tool to invoke a deeper meaning in the situation and story as a whole adds to the readers absorption of what is going on and what is being felt by each individual. With the images elucidated through these surroundings, the reader understands the implications and meanings around normal everyday places better, because they see what the character in the novel sees, instead of just their filtered perception of the location. There are two instances in the novel where this idea can be seen very clearly. First, the opening of the novel when 124 Bluestone Road was described as spiteful shows that this inanimate object is given characteristics, and is almost being transformed into a living character. The people who dwell in these halls, as well as those that come and go, attribute a distinct quality to this structure, and it is this quality that helps certain notions seep into the reader’s mind. ...