How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
A fully dressed woman walked out of the water. She barely gained the dry bank of the stream before she sat down and leaned against a mulberry tree. All day and all night she sat there, her head resting on the trunk in a position abandoned enough to crack the brim in her straw hat. (5.1)
Um, we've clearly got trouble. This whole scene just feels unnatural and out of sorts. (Who would be dressed and in water in the first place?) The whole woman walking out of water thing makes us think of all sorts of supernatural water ladies beings: mermaids, nymphs, selkies, rusalki, you name it. You think this is intentional?
Quote #5
The questions Beloved asked: "Where your diamonds?" "Your woman she never fix up your hair?" And most perplexing: Tell me your earrings.
How did she know? (6.39-40)
It seems kind of weird that Beloved knows to ask about diamonds. But just to play devil's advocate: Morrison does leave some room for error on Beloved's part—after all, Beloved mentions diamonds, but Sethe only had crystal earrings. So it's possible that Beloved isn't who you think she is (i.e., the baby ghost). Denver may be remembering things in a way that seems pretty (over)dramatic, but it kind of works. Because time and memory are so jumbled together in Sethe's and Denver's world, maybe Beloved did know all these things before Sethe told the girls about them. You've got to wonder though…
Quote #6
"Something funny 'bout that gal," Paul D said, mostly to himself.
"Funny how?"
"Acts sick, sounds sick, but she don't look sick. Good skin, bright eyes and strong as a bull."
"She's not strong. She can hardly walk without holding on to something."
"That's what I mean. Can't walk, but I seen her pick up the rocker with one hand."
"You didn't."
"Don't tell me. Ask Denver. She was right there with her." […]
"Paul D says you and him saw Beloved pick up the rocking chair single-handed. That so?"
Long, heavy lashes made Denver's eyes seem busier than they were; deceptive, even when she held a steady gaze as she did now on Paul D. "No," she said. "I didn't see no such thing."
Paul D frowned but said nothing. If there had been an open latch between them, it would have closed. (5.58-64, 67-69)
Tsk, tsk, deceptive Denver. But how about that last line about the "open latch"? That's Morrison's talent: she creates an image for us that shows just how Paul D and Denver are shut out from each other from this point on. Just another example of how Paul D is associated with picture-metaphors (think: tin box heart).