Symbolism throughout the novel Beloved essays

Symbolism throughout the novel Beloved essays Beloved, a novel written by Toni Morrison is more than a fiction. When composing her book, Morrison used many different writing techniques to make it the best possible. One particular technique used throughout Beloved is symbolism. Symbolism is found in the number references used, nature and the characters portrayed. Many numbers used in Beloved are actually more than what they are written out to be. A common number used, is the address of Sethes home, 124 Bluestone Road. Their house, which use to be a railway station is located in the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio. The main character, Sethe had four children in her lifetime. Her house number indicates those four children, but leaves out the third born (being Beloved). Her remaining three children: Denver, Howard and Burglar are the ones resembled in the numeric address. Also in Beloved, single numbers like two, three and five show up in many different parts. The number two implies a unity (Livraghi). In this novel, two and four come up when Morrison relates to children and sex. Sex is usually viewed as in a couple, a pair of two (Elwell). When two people come together, they make a whole. With children, Baby Suggs had eight children; four girls and four boys (Morrison, 209). Seth had four children: two girls and two boys. Also, the number five appears in Beloved many times. There are five fingers on a hand. An outstretched, open hand is usually an offering or blessing (Adams), and when Morrison writes about the characters receiving aid or giving help, the number five usually shows up. Amy Denver, who met Sethe on her flee from Sweet Home was said to have hair enough for five heads (Morrison 32, 77). Amys hands were often referred to strong and good hands, helped with the birth of Sethes baby Denver. In Beloved, numbers play an important role. They convey thoughts in a form of shorthand (Elwell), giving this novel a deeper sense of ...

Menes - Legend of the First King of Egypt

Menes - Legend of the First King of Egypt In Egyptian legend, the first king of Egypt was Menes. At least, Menes is the form of the kings name that was used by the 3rd century B.C. historian Manetho. Two other first dynasty kings names are associated with Menes, Narmer (as in the Narmer Palette) and Aha. The Greek historian Herodotus calls Menes Min. The Jewish historian Josephus calls him Minaios and the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus refers to him as Manas. There are various etymologies for the name, including an attempt to connect Menes with the name of the city he founded, Memphis, which he reclaimed by means of dam construction. Diodorus Siculus refers to Manas as the first law-giver. Menes is credited with introducing papyrus and writing (Pliny), founding cities, building dikes and more. Manetho says Menes dynasty had 8 kings and that a hippopotamus carried off Menes at the end of his life. How Menes died is part of his legend, with the hippopotamus version being only one possibility. Pharaoh Menes death after an anaphylactic reaction - the end of a myth says Diodorus Siculus wrote he was chased by dogs, fell into a lake, and was rescued by crocodiles, leading scholars to think possibilities include death by dogs and crocodile. The article, as is fitting an article on the topic of allergy, explains why some think Menes was killed by an allergic reaction to a wasp sting. Source: Steve Vinson Menes The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald B. Redford, Oxford University Press, Inc., Pharaoh Menes death after an anaphylactic reaction - the end of a myth, by J. W. Krombach, S. Kampe, C. A. Keller, and P. M. Wright, [Allergy Volume 59, Issue 11, pages 1234-1235, November 2004] Go to Other Ancient / Classical History Glossary pages beginning with the letter a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | wxyz