scars

• Sethe’s scar on her back is an emblem and reminder of the physical cruelty of slavery.
• But the scar eerily resembles a beautiful tree. This can be seen as symbolizing the deceitfully pleasant and beautiful appearances of picturesque plantations like Sweet Home, which were rooted in ugly violence.
• In this way, the scar can even become an analogue for Morrison’s novel itself, an artistic creation arising out of the tragedy of slavery, whose beautiful writing asks the reader to confront the relationship between beauty and human suffering.