Toni Morrison uses the color red in several ways in her novel Beloved. On the one hand, red is a symbol of vibrancy and life, often revealing life in unexpected places. It also symbolizes pain and death, although death does not mean absence in a book where the dead have a very vivid presence in human life. Beautiful but terrible, red is desired and feared by the characters and often signifies important turning points in the book. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Many of the characters in Beloved express desire for red, showing it as a positive symbol of birth, life, and emotion. Denver, which hasn't left 124 in twelve years, craves color and vibrancy. For Denver, Beloved's arrival means the return of the vitality she missed most: that of a companion. The Beloved's value to Denver is made clear by Denver's love of color, and red in particular, as Denver is willing to give up "the fiercest of sunsets...and all the blood of autumn and settle for the palest yellow if it comes from his Beloved." "(143). The beloved is also fascinated by the color red. Although he has experienced more than enough liveliness in his life, his eyes follow the “blood stain” of a cardinal in the leaves of a nearby tree, “hungry of another look” (119). Beloved red represents the emotion she has kept inside for eighteen years. Beloved's need for feelings leads to her relationship with Paul D and stimulates her desire for brightly colored clothes, such as the dress Denver eventually wears to visit Lady Jones, "a dress so gaudy it puts the seat of the embroidered chair to shame" (291) Amy Denver, the white girl for whom Denver is named, is fascinated by velvet “carmine.” Although she has most likely never left her hometown, Amy is willing to travel “a hundred miles, maybe more” to find some red velvet of her own (41). velvet as “as if the world had just been born” reinforces the connection of the color red with birth and life (40). Although admired for its beauty, red appears as both an explicit and implicit symbol of blood and death, reminding the reader of Sethe's past. The beloved sometimes opens the wounds on his neck, terrifying Sethe and using the "blood rubies" to get what he wants (294). Sethe is horrified by this image because it reminds her of the murder she committed eighteen years ago and belies her frequent insistence that "I don't have to explain anything" (236). The reopening of Beloved's wounds reflects the fact that nothing has truly healed and that Sethe can never fully forgive herself for the act. In addition to the clear references to red blood, Morrison links the color red to violence and death in many other places. Stamp Paid often plays with a red ribbon, found attached to part of the scalp of a black child in “Licking River” (212). The stamp always carries with it the ribbon to remember the cruelty of whites and the struggle of blacks. When Paul D enters 124 for the first time, he encounters “a pool of red, wavy light that stops him where he was” (10). The light is the presence of the ghost child, showing that dead things have not disappeared from the world of the living at all. Upon Paul D's arrival, the women of 124 coexisted with the light and other memories of Beloved for eighteen years, allowing the ghost to become part of everyday life; when Paul D forces Beloved out, she returns in person, stronger than ever. The color of blood, ribbon and light connects them to events from the past. Paul D and Baby Suggs' reluctance to recognize the color red demonstrates their fear of the past and their own.