Symbols
Trees: In Beloved, trees represent comfort and healing. Denver finds solitude in her "emerald closet", Baby Suggs held gatherings in a clearing in the woods, and the trees of Sweet Home help cover the horrors in Sethe's memories of the place. Sethe escapes to the North through a forest, and Paul D finds his way North by following the flowering trees. Amy Denver also imagines the scars left on Sethe's back into a chokecherry tree, helping change the way Sethe thought about them. Trees symbolize a safe place, a way to move on from the past, and a second chance at life. But they also symbolize the darker side of life, because they were also the sites of lynchings, as Sixo was burned alive and Paul A was hung.
The color red: Red both symbolizes life and death. While walking to the carnival, Sethe, Paul D, and Denver pass the roses growing by the side of the road. The roses announce the beginning of their life together and the arrival of the carnival, but they also have the smell of death. Paul D's "red heart" represents emotion, and the red blood of her baby and pink mineral of the baby's gravestone haunt Sethe's memory.
Water: Water also symbolizes life, or in this case, rebirth. When Sethe first sees Beloved sitting on her front porch, she has the feeling of when a pregnant woman's water breaks. Sethe says she knew when her water "broke again", she knew that this was her baby coming back to her again.
The tin tobacco box: The tin tobacco box is how Paul D. describes his heart. He locks away all his feelings and emotions in the tobacco tin because of the experiences he went through, and by the time he arrives at 124, he feels the tin tobacco box is rusted over completely. He thinks that by locking everything away and alienating himself from his emotions he can protect himself from any further damage. Sethe finally starts the process of reopening his heart, but after a few encounters with Beloved, he finally is able to open his heart to feel again.