The powerful water symbol in BelovedWater. It expresses its power in the form of hurricanes and flash floods. He displays his gentleness by washing the dirt from a child's crusted knee. The water has been used to quench the thirst of many nostalgic throats; and he was the cause of the death of those who unfavorably crossed his path. It possesses the power of total destruction, but it holds the basis of all life. Generally, water symbolizes cleanliness and renewal. In the Bible, water was used in baptism, cleansing the soul from original sin and providing new life in the light of God. Water itself is a natural purifier, washing dirt from our bodies. Water is a symbol of transition from dirty to clean. In Beloved, Morrison uses water to introduce a transition between stages of a character's life. Water separates one stage of a character's life from another. Paul D.'s escape from Alfred, Georgia, was directly facilitated and represented by the rain that fell over the past few weeks. Paul D. was sent to Alfred, George because he tried to kill Brandywine, his master after the schoolteacher. In Alfred, he worked in a chain gang with forty-five other captured slaves. They worked all day with “Georgia’s finest hand-forged chain” stringing them together. They slept in a cell dug in the ground. A man's breaking point was questioned every day. It was hell for Paul D. Then it rained. Water gave Paul D. his freedom. The rain raised the water level in the dug-out cell so that they could dive “into the mud beneath the bars, groping blindly,” in search of the other side (p. 110). One by one, each of the forty...... middle of paper ......d that Beloved was Sethe's child. Sethe broke the waters to represent Beloved's second birth. Sethe was whole again. She had found the child she had lost. The water symbolized the beginning of his life with Beloved. Sethe could now start sharing her life with Beloved again. She could go ice skating, go for walks, or just start loving her child again. Beloved depicts the struggle and challenge of former slaves trying to cope with an unforgettable past. Their courageous journey carries them through tragic moments full of torment and torture, and joyful moments full of love and tenderness. Beloved teaches the lesson of never giving up. Water denotes a change for the better - from dirty to clean - where a person bounces back from life's tragedies. It symbolizes hope and assurance that life will get better.