The Color Red In Toni Morrison's Beloved

In literature, symbols are utilized to develop characters and themes emphasized within the work. In the acclaimed novel, Beloved, by Toni Morrison, one such symbol is that of color, specifically red. Morrison uses the color red in order to signify emotions, varying from hope to renewed feeling to vengeance, as well as referencing different varieties of red throughout the novel, such as orange and pink. In Beloved, red deepens the audience’s understanding of the characters’ emotions, expands upon themes of rawness and brutality, and brings a repeated symbol to the novel, making it more cohesive as a whole. Red exists most prominently in the novel as imagery aiding in showing emotions in the different characters, for example it is representative of negative emotion, namely due to its association with blood and

Upon feeling the harsh red in the atmosphere of the house, Paul D is overwhelmed by the power of evil within the house. This redness is significant of the intense, overpowering emotional presence within 124, the color epitomizing the feelings of pain and anger radiating from the home. The same day, Paul D expels the “evil” inside and even days after “the pulse of red light hadn’t come back and Paul D had not trembled since 1856”, signifying the emotional weight and fear associated with the color (21). Red is also used to expand on emotions in the sections of the novel about Sethe killing Beloved and attempting to kill her other children. The imagery of bright “red baby blood” is striking and conveys the urgency and raw emotion Sethe’s actions elicit in herself and in those who witness the act (47). Red is also used to exemplify other powerful emotions in the novel.Again, when looking at the character of Paul D, red is significant in that it symbolizes the opening of his heart after having intimate interactions with Beloved. In this moment, red is not