Examples and Characteristics of Effective Analogies

An  analogy  is a type of  composition  (or, more commonly, a  part  of an  essay  or  speech) in which one idea, process, or thing is explained by  comparing  it to something else. Extended  analogies are commonly used to make a complex process or idea easier to understand. One good analogy, said  American attorney Dudley Field Malone, is worth three hours discussion. Analogies prove nothing, that is true, wrote Sigmund Freud, but they can make one feel more at home. In this article, we examine the characteristics of effective analogies and consider the value of using analogies in our writing. An analogy is reasoning or explaining from parallel cases. Put another way, an analogy is a comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity. As Freud suggested, an analogy wont settle an argument, but a good one may help to clarify the issues. In the following example of an effective analogy, science writer Claudia Kalb relies on the computer to explain how our brains process memories: Some basic facts about memory are clear. Your short-term memory is like the RAM on a computer: it records the information in front of you right now. Some of what you experience seems to evaporate--like words that go missing when you turn off your computer without hitting SAVE. But other short-term memories go through a molecular process called consolidation: theyre downloaded onto the hard drive. These long-term memories, filled with past loves and losses and fears, stay dormant until you call them up.(To Pluck a Rooted Sorrow, Newsweek, April 27, 2009) Does this mean that human memory functions exactly like a computer in all ways? Certainly not. By its nature, an analogy offers a simplified view of an idea or process—an illustration rather than a detailed examination. Analogy and Metaphor Despite certain similarities, an analogy is not the same as a metaphor. As Bradford Stull observes in The Elements of Figurative Language (Longman, 2002), the analogy is a figure of language that expresses a set of like relationships among two sets of terms. In essence, the analogy does not claim total identification, which is the property of the metaphor. It claims a similarity of relationships. Comparison Contrast An analogy is not quite the same as comparison and contrast either, although both are methods of explanation that set things side by side. Writing in The Bedford Reader (Bedford/St. Martins, 2008), X.J. and Dorothy Kennedy explain the difference: You might show, in writing a comparison and contrast, how San Francisco is quite unlike Boston in history, climate, and predominant lifestyles, but like it in being a seaport and a city proud of its own (and neighboring) colleges. That isnt the way an analogy works. In an analogy, you yoke together two unlike things (eye and camera, the task of navigating a spacecraft and the task of sinking a putt), and all you care about is their major similarities. The most effective analogies are usually brief and to the point—developed in just a few sentences. That said, in the hands of a talented writer, an extended analogy can be illuminating. See, for example, Robert Benchleys comic analogy involving writing and ice skating in Advice to Writers. Argument From Analogy Whether it takes a few sentences or an entire essay to develop an analogy, we should be careful not to push it too far. As weve seen, just because two subjects have one or two points in common doesnt mean that they are the same in other respects as well. When Homer Simpson says to Bart, Son, a woman is a lot like a refrigerator, we can be fairly certain that a breakdown in logic will follow. And sure enough: Theyre about six feet tall, 300 pounds. They make ice, and . . . um . . . Oh, wait a minute. Actually, a woman is more like a beer. This sort of logical fallacy is called the argument from analogy or false analogy. Examples of Analogies Judge for yourself the effectiveness of each of these three analogies. Pupils are more like oysters than sausages. The job of teaching is not to stuff them and then seal them up, but to help them open and reveal the riches within. There are pearls in each of us, if only we knew how to cultivate them with ardor and persistence.( Sydney J. Harris, What True Education Should Do, 1964) Think of Wikipedias community of volunteer editors as a family of bunnies left to roam freely over an abundant green prairie. In early, fat times, their numbers grow geometrically. More bunnies consume more resources, though, and at some point, the prairie becomes depleted, and the population crashes.Instead of prairie grasses, Wikipedias natural resource is an emotion. Theres the rush of joy that you get the first time you make an edit to Wikipedia, and you realize that 330 million people are seeing it live, says Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundations executive director. In Wikipedias early days, every new addition to the site had a roughly equal chance of surviving editors scrutiny. Over time, though, a class system emerged; now revisions made by infrequent contributors are much likelier to be undone by à ©lite Wikipedians. Chi also notes the rise of wiki-lawyering: for your edits to stick, youve got to learn to cite the complex laws of Wikipedia in arguments with other editors. Toget her, these changes have created a community not very hospitable to newcomers. Chi says, People begin to wonder, Why should I contribute anymore?--and suddenly, like rabbits out of food, Wikipedias population stops growing.(Farhad Manjoo, Where Wikipedia Ends. Time, Sep. 28, 2009) The great Argentine footballer, Diego Maradona, is not usually associated with the theory of monetary policy, Mervyn King explained to an audience in the City of London two years ago. But the players performance for Argentina against England in the 1986 World Cup perfectly summarized modern central banking, the Bank of Englands sport-loving governor added. Maradonas infamous hand of God goal, which should have been disallowed, reflected old-fashioned central banking, Mr. King said. It was full of mystique and he was lucky to get away with it. But the second goal, where Maradona beat five players before scoring, even though he ran in a straight line, was an example of the modern practice. How can you beat five players by running in a straight line? The answer is that the English defenders reacted to what they expected Maradona to do. . . . Monetary policy works in a similar way. Market interest rates react to what the central bank is expected to do.(Chris Giles, Alone Among Governors. Financial Times. Sep. 8-9, 2007) Finally, keep in mind Mark Nichters analogical observation: A good analogy is like a plow which can prepare a populations field of associations for the planting of a new idea (Anthropology and International Health, 1989).

Assess the view that the position of childhood in society...

Childhood is a social construction, as it is not natural, and is a result of society identifying and labelling a phase of life. No child experiences exactly the same childhood at exactly the same period of time in their life. In turn childhood should be distinguished from biological life stages. How we treat children, expect them to behave, look and develop all vary depending on the time and place in which the society lies, therefore childhood is a social construction. One view sociologists take on childhood, is the march of progress view. This view argues that over the past centuries, the position of children in society has steadily improved and that it is substantially better today, due to the introduction of various laws, children†¦show more content†¦The Child Protection Act (1889) provides protection for children from neglect abuse. March of progress sociologists believe that these laws and the change in people’s general attitude have led to a society which is child centred, giving children equal opportunities, allowing them to live a more stable life. Conflict view sociologists believe that the inequalities between children and adults are greater than ever, and that children today experience greater control, oppression and dependency, not greater care and protection. This view suggests that children’s wellbeing, personal freedom and resources are all controlled more so than they were before the supposed ‘March of progress’ and there is a vast amount of inequality between children still. For example, class inequalities are very present, as children of unskilled manual workers are over three times more likely to experience conduct disorders than the children of professionals (Caroline Woodroffe 1993). In addition to this, children born into poor families are also more likely to die in infancy or childhood (Marilyn Howard 2001). March of progress sociologists argue that the family has become child centred. Children are now the focus of society; they are consulted on decisions that they were not trusted to do so before. Parents invest a great deal emotionally in children as well as financially and often have higherShow MoreRelatedSociology5053 Words   |  21 Pagesfeminists use the term ‘dual burden’ to describe the woman’s role in the family today. Item 2B Government policies and laws include tax and benefit policies as well as legislation such as relating to divorce and marriage. Sociologists have different views on the impact of these policies and laws on families. For example, feminists argue that social policies assume that the ideal family is a patriarchal nuclear family, and that government policies and laws therefore favour this sort of family. On theRead MoreScly1 Past Papers7036 Words   |  29 Pagesthat changes in society have led to a situation where childhood is being lost. By this, they mean that children today no longer have an opportunity to enjoy childhood, but instead have to deal with adult concerns and pressures while they are still young. An alternative view is that children are now denied access to the adult world for a much longer period than was the case for previous generations of children. Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that childhood is being lost inRead MoreAssess sociological explanations of cha1814 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿ Assess sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood? Childhood is a social construction and varies between times, places and groups. Most sociologists see our ides of childhood as a fairly recent one, the result of industrialisation and other social changes. 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Since our behaviours determines our values, this mandatory journalingRead MoreEquality and Diversity in Childcare9428 Words   |  38 PagesIntroduction My name is and I am currently doing a FETAC level 6 Early Childhood Care and Education course. One of the modules is Equality and Diversity in Childcare. For this exercise I will explore equality and diversity concepts as relevant to Irish Society. Analyse approaches to diversity education including, assimilation, multicultural, intercultural and anti-bias. Explore equality and diversity terminology; including prejudice, discrimination, racism, sexism and abelism etc. Examine currentRead MoreNature Vs Nurture On Intelligence4016 Words   |  17 Pagesof the debate, seeing what views they had and why. Furth more, I then go into both a paragraph on how nature and the genes you inherit influence intelligence and through nurture and caring can improve intelligence, looking at specific studies to show both theories. The debate of whether nature vs nurture can have an impact on intelligence is the question even every day people want to know. Many psychologists have long been looking for an answer. A lot of research has gone into this topic, studyingRead MoreTransactional Anlysis Essay examples4884 Words   |  20 PagesControlling (or Critical) Parent, attempts to make the Child do as the parent wants. This can involve trying to transfer their own values or beliefs or helping the Child to adapt behaviour to live in society and also to keep the child from danger. The Child state This state is repeated from childhood. The child state involves how the person feels, as with the parent state it is a recording, usually up till the age of 5, but this time of the internal state, of how the child feels in response

Admission Essay for Counseling Psychology Program Free Essays

My country, Serbia, underwent a period of terror and wars, especially during the NATO Bombing in 1999. This marking event in our history taught me more than what my formal education could. Before this disaster struck, I was a full-time student and the University of Pristina majoring in English Language and Literature. We will write a custom essay sample on Admission Essay for Counseling Psychology Program or any similar topic only for you Order Now During the high of political upheavals, the situation in Kosovo was already tense. Minorities had constant provocations, and hatred had a firm imprint on the people. My life was heavily influenced, as well as my education. I had experienced first hand what it means to be â€Å"persona non grate† in the your childhood community. I wished everyone could understand what this meant for all of us, regardless of who we were and where we came from. Being prosecuted and not having the right to enjoy our college days was a sour memory, but something I live by as a source of my strength. I experienced biases and prejudice, yet I stand firm. I was treated badly, but my dreams never blurred from my sight. I was emotionally affected, but I was more inspired to pursue these dreams, and become a counselor. Freedom in this country was taken for granted, and our college life overlooked. The war made it necessary for me to leave Pristina and Kosovo. Shocked and scared, I came back to a home where fires, bombings and NATO planes assailed my daily itinerary. The screeching sirens did not help our situation. It seemed that we merely waited for the bomb to drop on our heads and defy us from mere existence. During all the madness, I tried to suppress my stress by being optimistic for my family and friends.   As a child, I have been my family’s â€Å"corrupter of words†, as I’ve always seen myself as one of Shakespeare’s fools. My mom always pointed out my ability to rearrange words and it’s meanings to create a personal â€Å"philosophical† statement. I would often add humor when the our lives would seem bland, other times when we feel the panic crawling through our bones, and fear completely etching our faces. The bombings taught us this. As you watch the planes every day, you’d get to realize that there are things you can do as not to be so stressed. Since we could not prevent the many disasters in our lives, we can re-frame the fear and pain to something more positive. The idea was to live your life as normally as possible, by teaching yourself to be blind of some of the negative events in our lives. It wasn’t all that bad during those terrifying days. There were positive outcomes as well, like in social gatherings where the unique humor and spirit in my culture gave me a good faith and optimism to survive next days. If I couldn’t eliminate stress by changing or ignoring the situation, the least I could do was offer social support. My profound interest in teaching English to people of different languages didn’t falter due to the war. It allowed me to complete my education on time, and start my career as an English teacher. In the classroom, it is particularly important for me to understand the point of view of the student, and use humor and real-life situations to get my points across. I developed my interest in researching about language through my undergraduate studies. My greater interest is on how sociocultural factors have an impact on the awareness, design, implementation, and assessment of a second language in a multicultural community, in comparison to those in culturally homogeneous communities. ESL classes in Serbia were more British oriented, both in linguistics and culture. As a young teacher, I have always been open to new teaching methods. I also tried to add novelties into the curriculum. My decision to spend a year in the United States was supported by my desire to learn more about the American culture. I believe this will broaden my perspectives on cultural diversity and different systems of education. Furthermore, this will heighten my personal and professional development. I can say that life can be very unpredictable because my one year visit become a life of adventure and possibilities by studying psychology. You would know if you are experiencing life if the wind pushes you in all directions. My senses were surrounded with uncertainty as I involved myself in a different culture. I knew how it felt to be a little fish in a big pond. Being an international student from Eastern Europe did not prepare me for the many interesting things a new country can offer me. The initial knowledge gained from textbooks, and the places I’ve traveled to see, were put to waste as I stepped onto unknown territory. I felt helpless, and wanted desperately to go home. I could have been with my family, a cup of cappuccino and the newspaper within my grasps. However, even though I experienced culture shock, I believe hands-on education is still the best teacher. Soon after arriving in a new country, I was caught between my old values from my native culture, and the new values of the host culture. I was pressured to adapt in order to survive. Adjusting to a new culture, new system, and new life, was not an easy task. But my ability to adapt allowed me to face any obstacle. My goals were always set whenever I face any challenge. I never let my self-esteem falter. I love to feel challenged because it makes me work twice as hard. I proved this by obtaining my second undergraduate degree (BA in Liberal Arts/Psychology) and graduating with the highest honors.   I always tried to reach for the stars.   But the opposite side of the coin is nostalgia. Something that is present when I am working, studying, eating, and even when sleeping. Being an international student among fellow foreigners in the US made me realize how much social support and understanding was necessary to challenge and achieve academically in other countries. By considering the problems students have in the US, and by developing different approaches and solutions, I believe I can be a great counselor in a multicultural world. Just by the thought of it made me eager to learn more, and increase the repertoire of counseling styles and skills alongside others. During my senior year of college, I conducted an extensive literature review on â€Å"psychosocial adjustment issues of international students and the need for social support†. I refined my research skills in data analysis using SPSS, as well as my ability to present my findings in the manner of an accepted professional research paper. I enjoyed conducting the literature review the most, approaching it as a scavenger hunt and considering the quantity and quality of information found as my reward. This project, along with my other undergraduate studies, prepared me for the rigors of graduate study and the parameters of successful research. Professional experiences, research, and undergraduate courses at Menlo College have further stimulated my interest in psychology and reinforced my conviction that I am well suited to the field. Although these varied research experiences have provided me with fundamental skills, I still feel the need for more training. In retrospect, college was one of the most stimulating periods in my life, and I found tremendous determination to achieve my goal of helping others through the study of psychology. Looking from the prospective of a student gave me more retrospection on my teaching profession, which I love so much.   However, life is an intriguing railroad with many stations.   Some of those stations I got off at were good experiences and some bad. But over all, it has been a journey that continues on. Helping others reach their goals, having a positive attitude, and dedicating both personal and professional growth were the traits I held when I entered Menlo College.   They remain as an integral part of my work ethic today. My international student experience, and many research projects, have helped me achieve a theoretical foundation for the important work of helping students succeed in college. We must have an understanding and compassion for diverse student populations. I learned this from the years of teaching experience. Furthermore, I am able to demonstrate my strengths and abilities to relate effectively with individuals from all levels and cultural backgrounds. These experiences have not only taught me valuable lessons about student life, but have also reinforced my interest in pursuing my career in counseling psychology. Graduate school will enable me to develop vital research and counseling skills, and the solid academic background that I need to be a successful counselor and researcher. A master’s program in counseling psychology will not only cultivate and refine my involvement in research, but also equip me to deal with the challenges of an MS program. The combination of MFT and my counseling degree will enable me to fulfill my career aspirations and passion for helping students in need. Furthermore, I can prepare myself in facing the complexity of psychotherapy and unpredictability when dealing with emotional issues of individuals and their families. I have all the traits needed to be a good counselor. Undoubtedly, my devotion to my education will be the greatest asset of all. Being able to successfully help   individuals in the future will be my greatest reward for the effort and investment I will put myself into How to cite Admission Essay for Counseling Psychology Program, Essays

BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON (4379 words) Essay Example For Students

BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON (4379 words) Essay BELOVEDBY TONI MORRISON Beloved begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Sethe, a former slave, has been living with her eighteen-year-old daughter Denver. Sethes mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, lived with them until her death eight years earlier. Just before Baby Suggss death, Sethes two sons, Howard and Buglar, ran away. Sethe believes they fled because of the malevolent presence of an abusive ghost that has haunted their house at 124 Bluestone Road for years. Denver, however, likes the ghost, which everyone believes to be the spirit of her dead sister. On the day the novel begins, Paul D, whom Sethe has not seen since they worked together on Mr. Garners Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky approximately twenty years earlier, stops by Sethes house. His presence resurrects memories that have lain buried in Sethes mind for almost two decades. From this point on, the story will unfold on two temporal planes. The present in Cincinnati constitutes one plane, while a series of events that took place around twenty years earlier, mostly in Kentucky, constitutes the other. This latter plane is accessed and described through the fragmented flashbacks of the major characters. Accordingly, we frequently read these flashbacks several times, sometimes from varying perspectives, with each successive narration of an event adding a little more information to the previous ones. From these fragmented memories, the following story begins to emerge: Sethe, the protagonist, was born in the South to an African mother she never knew. When she is thirteen, she is sold to the Garners, who own Sweet Home and practice a comparatively benevolent kind of slavery. There, the other slaves, who are all men, lust after her but never touch her. Their names are Sixo, Paul D, Paul A, Paul F, and Halle. Sethe chooses to marry Halle, apparently in part because he has proven generous enough to buy his mothers freedom by hiring himself out on the weekends. Together, Sethe and Halle have two sons, Howard and Buglar, as well as a baby daughter whose name we never learn. When she leaves Sweet Home, Sethe is also pregnant with a fourth child. After the eventual death of the proprietor, Mr. Garner, the widowed Mrs. Garner asks her sadistic, vehemently racist brother-in-law to help her run the farm. He is known to the slaves as schoolteacher, and his oppressive presence makes life on t he plantation even more unbearable than it had been before. The slaves decide to run. Schoolteacher and his nephews anticipate the slaves escape, however, and capture Paul D and Sixo. Schoolteacher kills Sixo and brings Paul D back to Sweet Home, where Paul D sees Sethe for what he believes will be the last time. She is still intent on running, having already sent her children ahead to her mother-in-law Baby Suggss house in Cincinnati. Invigorated by the recent capture, schoolteachers nephews seize Sethe in the barn and violate her, stealing the milk her body is storing for her infant daughter. Unbeknownst to Sethe, Halle is watching the event from a loft above her, where he lies frozen with horror. Afterward, Halle goes mad: Paul D sees him sitting by a churn with butter slathered all over his face. Paul D, meanwhile, is forced to suffer the indignity of wearing an iron bit in his mouth. When schoolteacher finds out that Sethe has reported his and his nephews misdeeds to Mrs. Garner, he has her whipped severely, despite the fact that she is pregnant. Swollen and scarred, Sethe nevertheless runs away, but along the way she collapses from exhaustion in a forest. A white girl, Amy Denver, finds her and nurses her back to health. When Amy later helps Sethe deliver her baby in a boat, Sethe names this second daughter Denver after the girl who helped her. Sethe receives further help from Stamp Paid, who rows her across the Ohio River to Baby Suggss house. Baby Suggs cleans Sethe up before allowing her to see her three older children. Sethe spends twenty-eight wonderful days in Cincinnati, where Baby Suggs serves as an unofficial preacher to the black community. On the last day, however, schoolteacher comes for Sethe to take her and her children back to Sweet Home. Rather than surrender her children to a life of dehumanizing slavery, she flees with them to the woodshed and tries to kill them. Only the third child, her older daughter, dies, her throat having been cut with a handsaw by Sethe. Sethe later arranges for the babys headstone to be carved with the word Beloved. The sheriff takes Sethe and Denver to jail, but a group of white abolitionists, led by the Bodwins, fights for her release. Sethe returns to the house at 124, where Baby Suggs has sunk into a deep depression. The community shuns the house, and the family continues to live in isolation. Meanwhile, Paul D has endured torturous experiences in a chain gang in Georgia, where he was sent after trying to kill Brandywine, a slave owner to whom he was sold by schoolteacher. His traumatic experiences have caused him to lock away his memories, emotions, and ability to love in the tin tobacco box of his heart. One day, a fortuitous rainstorm allows Paul D and the other chain gang members to escape. He travels northward by following the blossoming spring flowers. Years later, he ends up on Sethes porch in Cincinnati. Paul Ds arrival at 124 commences the series of events taking place in the present time frame. Prior to moving in, Paul D chases the houses resident ghost away, which makes the already lonely Denver resent him from the start. Sethe and Paul D look forward to a promising future together, until one day, on their way home from a carnival, they encounter a strange young woman sleeping near the steps of 124. Most of the characters believe that the womanwho calls herself Belovedis the embodied spirit of Sethes dead daughter, and the novel provides a wealth of evidence supporting this interpretation. Denver develops an obsessive attachment to Beloved, and Beloveds attachment to Sethe is equally if not more intense. Paul D and Beloved hate each other, and Beloved controls Paul D by moving him around the house like a rag doll and by seducing him against his will. When Paul D learns the story of Sethes rough choiceher infanticidehe leaves 124 and begins sleeping in the basement of the local church. In his absence, Sethe and Beloveds relationship becomes more intense and exclusive. Beloved grows increasingly abusive, manipulative, and parasitic, and Sethe is obsessed with satisfying Beloveds demands and making her understand why she murdered her. Worried by the way her mother is wasting away, Denver leaves the premises of 124 for the first time in twelve years in order to seek help from Lady Jones, her former teacher. The community provides the family with food and eventually organizes under the leadership of Ella, a woman who had worked on the Underground Railroad and helped with Sethes escape, in order to exorcise Beloved from 124. When they arrive at Sethes house, they see Sethe on the porch with Beloved, who stands smiling at them, naked and pregnant. Mr. Bodwin, who has come to 124 to take Denver to her new job, arrives at the house. Mista king him for schoolteacher, Sethe runs at Mr. Bodwin with an ice pick. She is restrained, but in the confusion Beloved disappears, never to return. Afterward, Paul D comes back to Sethe, who has retreated to Baby Suggss bed to die. Mourning Beloved, Sethe laments, She was my best thing. But Paul D replies, You your best thing, Sethe. The novel then ends with a warning that his is not a story to pass on. The town, and even the residents of 124, have forgotten Beloved ike an unpleasant dream during a troubling sleep. Character List Sethe-Sethe, the protagonist ofBeloved,is a proud and independent woman who is extremely devoted to her children. Though she barely knew her own mother,Sethesmotherly instincts are her most striking characteristic. Unwilling to relinquish her children to the physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual trauma she endured as a slave at Sweet Home, she attempts to murder them in an act of motherly love and protection. She remains haunted by this and other scarring events in her past, which she tries, in vain, to repress. Denver-Sethesyoungest child, Denver is the most dynamic character in the novel. Though intelligent, introspective, and sensitive, Denver has been stunted in her emotional growth by years of relative isolation. Beloveds increasing malevolence, however, forces Denver to overcome her fear of the world beyond 124 and seek help from the community.Her foray out into the town and her attempts to find permanent work and possibly attend college mark the beginning of her fight for independence and self-possession. Beloved-Beloveds identity is mysterious. The novel provides evidence that she could be an ordinary woman traumatized by years of captivity, the ghost ofSethesmother, or, most convincingly, the embodied spirit ofSethesmurdered daughter. On an allegorical level, Beloved represents the inescapable, horrible past of slavery returned to haunt the present. Her presence, which grows increasingly malevolent and parasitic as the novel progresses, ultimately serves as a catalyst forSethes, Paul Ds, and Denvers respective processes of emotional growth. PaulD-The physical and e motional brutality suffered by Paul D at Sweet Home and as part of a chain gang has caused him to bury his feelings in the rusted tobacco tin of his heart. He represses his painful memories and believes that the key to survival is not becoming too attached to anything. At the same time, he seems to incite the opening up of othershearts, and women in particular tend to confide in him.Sethewelcomes him to 124, where he becomes her lover and the object of Denvers and Beloveds jealousy. Though his union withSetheprovides him with stability and allows him to come to terms with his past, Paul D continues to doubt fundamental aspects of his identity, such as the source of his manhood and his value as a person. BabySuggs-After Halle buys his mother, Baby Suggs, her freedom, she travels to Cincinnati, where she becomes a source of emotional and spiritual inspiration for the citys black residents. She holds religious gatherings at a place called the Clearing, where she teaches her followers to love their voices, bodies, and minds. However, afterSethesact of infanticide, Baby Suggs stops preaching and retreats to a sickbed to die. Even so, Baby Suggs continues to be a source of inspiration long after her death: in PartThreeher memory motivates Denver to leave 124 and find help. It is partially out of respect for Baby Suggs that the community responds to Denvers requests for support. StampPaid-Like Baby Suggs, Stamp Paid is considered by the community to be a figure of salvation, and he is welcomed at every door in town. An agent of the Underground Railroad, he helpsSetheto freedom and later saves Denvers life. A grave sacrifice he made during his enslavement has caused him to consider his emotional and moral debts to be paid off for the rest of his life, which is why he decided to rename himself Stamp Paid. Yet by the end of the book he realizes that he may still owe protection and care to the residents of 124. Angered by the communitys neglect ofSethe, Denver, and Pau l D, Stamp begins to question the nature of a communitys obligations to its members. schoolteacher-Following Mr. Garners death, schoolteacher takes charge of Sweet Home. Cold, sadistic, and vehemently racist, schoolteacher replaces what he views as Garners too-soft approach with an oppressive regime of rigid rules and punishment on the plantation. Schoolteachers own habits are extremely ascetic: he eats little, sleeps less, and works hard. His most insidious form of oppression is his scientific scrutiny of the slaves, which involves asking questions, taking physical measurements, and teaching lessons to his white pupils on the slaves animal characteristics. The lower-casesof schoolteachers appellation may have an ironic meaning: although he enjoys a position of extreme power over the slaves, they attribute no worth to him. Halle-Setheshusband and Baby Suggss son, Halle is generous, kind, and sincere. He is very much alert to the hypocrisies of the Garners benevolent form of slaveh olding. Halle eventually goes mad, presumably after witnessing schoolteachers nephews violation ofSethe. LadyJones-Lady Jones, a light-skinned black woman who loathes her blond hair, is convinced that everyone despises her for being a woman of mixed race. Despite her feelings of alienation, she maintains a strong sense of community obligation and teaches the underprivileged children of Cincinnati in her home. She isskepticalof the supernatural dimensions of Denvers plea for assistance, but she nevertheless helps to organize the communitys delivery of food toSethesplagued household. Ella-Ella worked with Stamp Paid on the Underground Railroad. Traumatized by the sexual brutality of a white father and son who once held her captive, she believes, likeSethe, that the past is best left buried. When it surfaces in the form of Beloved, Ella organizes the women of the community to exorcise Beloved from124. Mr. and Mrs. Garner-Mr. and Mrs. Garner are the comparatively benevolent owners of Sweet Home. The events at Sweet Home reveal, however, that the idea of benevolent slavery is a contradiction in terms. The Garners paternalism and condescension are simply watered-down versions of schoolteachers vicious racism. Mr. and MissBodwin-SiblingsMr. and MissBodwinare white abolitionists who have played an active role in winningSethesfreedom. Yet there is something disconcerting about theBodwins politics. Mr.Bodwinlongs a little too eagerly for the heady days of abolitionism, and MissBodwindemonstrates a condescending desire to experiment on Denver by sending her to Oberlin College. The distasteful figurine Denver sees in theBodwins house, portraying a slave and displaying the message AtYo Service, marks the limits and ironies of white involvement in the struggle for racial equality. Nevertheless, the siblings are motivated by good intentions, believing that human life is holy, all of it. AmyDenver-A nurturing and compassionate girl who works as an indentured servant, Amy is young, flighty, talkative, and idealistic. She helpsSethewhen she is ill during her escape from Sweet Home, and when she seesSetheswounds from beingwhipped,Amy says that they resemble a tree. She later delivers baby Denver, whomSethenames after her. Paul A, Paul F, andSixo-PaulA and Paul F are the brothers of Paul D. They were slaves at Sweet Home with him, Halle,Sethe, and, earlier, Baby Suggs.Sixois another fellow slave.Sixoand Paul A die during the escape from the plantation. Themes, Motifs SymbolsThemes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Social Justice EssayCincinnatis black community plays a pivotal role in the events of 124. The communitys failure to alert Sethe to schoolteachers approach implicates it in the death of Sethes daughter. Baby Suggs feels the slight as a grave betrayal from which she never fully recovers. At the end of the novel, the black community makes up for its past misbehavior by gathering at 124 to collectively exorcise Beloved. By driving Beloved away, the community secures Sethes, and its own, release from the past. The Powers and Limits of LanguageWhen Sixo turns schoolteachers reasoning around to justify having broken the rules, schoolteacher whips him to demonstrate that definitions belong to the definers, not to the defined. The slaves eventually come to realize the illegitimacy of many of the white definitions. Mr. Garner, for example, claims to have allowed his slaves to live as real men, but Paul D questions just how manly they actually are. So, too, does Paul D finally come to realize with bitter irony the fallacy of the name Sweet Home. Although Sixo eventually reacts to the hypocrisy of the rhetoric of slavery by abandoning English altogether, other characters use English to redefine the world on their own terms. Baby Suggs and Stamp Paid, for example, rename themselves. Beloved may be read as Morrisons effort to transform those who have always been the defined into the definers. While slaves, the characters manipulate language and transcend its standard limits. Their command of language allows them to adjust its meanings and to make themselves indecipherable to the white slave owners who watch them. For example, Paul D and the Georgia prison inmates sing together about their dreams and memories by garbling . . . tricking the words.The title of the novel alludes to what is ultimately the product of a linguistic misunderstanding. At her daughters funeral, Sethe interpreted the ministers address to the Dearly Beloved as referring to the dead rather than the living. All literature is indebted to this slippery, shifting quality of language: the power of metaphor, simile, metonymy, irony, and wordplay all result from the ability of words to attach and detach themselves from various possible meanings. Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the texts major themes. The SupernaturalMorrison enhances the world of Beloved by investing it with a supernatural dimension. While it is possible to interpret the books paranormal phenomena within a realist framework, many events in the novelmost notably, the presence of a ghostpush the limits of ordinary understanding. Moreover, the characters in Beloved do not hesitate to believe in the supernatural status of these events. For them, poltergeists, premonitions, and hallucinations are ways of understanding the significance of the world around them. Such occurrences stand in marked contrast to schoolteachers perverse hyper-scientific and empirical studies. Allusions to ChristianityBeloveds epigraph, taken from Romans 9:25, bespeaks the presence that Christian ideas will have in the novel. The four horsemen who come for Sethe reference the description of the Apocalypse found in the Book of Revelations. Beloved is reborn into Sethes world drenched in a sort of baptismal water. As an infant, Denver drinks her sisters blood along with her mothers breast milk, which can be interpreted as an act of Communion that links Denver and Beloved and that highlights the sacrificial aspect of the babys death. Sethes act so horrifies schoolteacher that he leaves without taking her other children, allowing them to live in freedom. The babys sacrificial death, like that of Christ, brings salvation. The books larger discussions of sin, sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, love, and resurrection similarly resound with biblical references. Symbols Symbols are objects, characters, figures, orcolorsused to represent abstract ideas or concepts. TheColorRedColors from the red part of the spectrum (including orange and pink) recur throughout Beloved, although the meaning of these red objects varies. Amy Denvers red velvet, for example, is an image of hope and a brighter future, while Paul Ds red heart represents feeling and emotion. Overall, red seems to connote vitality and the visceral nature of human existence. Yet, in Beloved, vitality often goes hand in hand with mortality, and red images simultaneously refer to life and death, to presence and absence. For example, the red roses that line the road to the carnival serve to herald the carnivals arrival in town and announce the beginning of Sethe, Denver, and Paul Ds new life together; yet they also stink of death. The red rooster signifies manhood to Paul D, but it is a manhood that Paul D himself has been denied. The story of Amys search for carmine velvet seems especially poignant because we sense the futility of her dream. Sethes memory is awash with the red of her dau ghters blood and the pink mineral of her gravestone, both of which have been bought at a dear price. TreesIn the world of Beloved, trees serve primarily as sources of healing, comfort, and life. Denvers emerald closet of boxwood bushes functions as a place of solitude and repose for her. The beautiful trees of Sweet Home mask the true horror of the plantation in Sethes memory. Paul D finds his freedom by following flowering trees to the North, and Sethe finds hers by escaping through a forest. By imagining the scars on Sethes back as a chokecherry tree, Amy Denver sublimates a site of trauma and brutality into one of beauty and growth. But as the sites of lynchings and of Sixos death by burning, however, trees reveal a connection with a darker side of humanity as well. The Tin Tobacco BoxPaul D describes his heart as a tin tobacco box. After his traumatizing experiences at Sweet Home and, especially, at the prison camp in Alfred, Georgia, he locks away his feelings and memories in this box, which has, by the time Paul D arrives at 124, rusted over completely. By alienating himself from his emotions, Paul D hopes to preserve himself from further psychological damage. In order to secure this protection, however, Paul D sacrifices much of his humanity by foregoing feeling and gives up much of his selfhood by repressing his memories. Although Paul D is convinced that nothing can pry the lid of his box open, his strange, dreamlike sexual encounter with Belovedperhaps a symbol of an encounter with his pastcauses the box to burst and his heart once again to glow red.