the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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5.5.3.8. The river 1s a dominant symbol in Laurence's The
Diviners whlch begins with the contradiction that the river
flowed both ways
The river is assoclated with Royland, the
,old Man River', 'The Shaman Dlvlner'. HIS gift as a soul-
8;vIner duplicates hls abrllty to release earth-locked
water, he releases pent-up spiritual resources from other's
innermost belngs Slgnlficantly, one of the four elements
domlnates each fictional work of Morrlson and Laurence -
'flre' in Sula, 'alr' in Song of Soloman and 'water' and
'earth' In Beloved. in Laurence's Manawaka works - 'earth'
domlnates the Stone Angel, 'flre' - the Fire Dwellers, alr
In A Blrd in the House and Water In The Divxners
5.5.3.9. Images of b13od and rn~lk, also assocrated wlth
fert:llty,
work on yet another level slgnlfylng the bond
between the mother and child
'Mllk' and 'breasts' are the
symbols of fert~llty and motherhood that Sethe 1s identlfled
wlth throughout Morrlsan's Beloved - these are lmages whlch
underscore the nurslng f~qure of Sethe, of the mother as
nurturer
The psychological scars of havlng her mllk stolen
by Schoolteacher's nephews remaln wlth her throcghout her
llfe as grlm rema~nders of the vlolatlon of her motherhood
and are more sordrd than the scars lnfll=ted on her back
Barbara Hill Rlgney points out that mllk and the lmage of
motherhood are particularly assoclated wlth male Impotence
In Beloved, as Halle watches helplessly from the loft above