crystal earrings

The crystal earrings are a pair of earrings given to Sethe by Mrs. Garner as a wedding present, symbolizing Sethe's brief experience of dignity and love within slavery. They are hidden, worn, and eventually lost, becoming a recurring motif that connects Sethe's past, her daughter Beloved, and the themes of memory, loss, and maternal love.

Origin and Symbolism

The earrings were a gift from Mrs. Garner, the mistress of Sweet Home, when Sethe married Halle. Sethe had longed for a proper wedding ceremony, complete with a preacher, dancing, and a feast, but was told simply that she and Halle could be husband and wife. Disappointed, she secretly sewed a dress from stolen fabric, and on their wedding day, she and Halle walked into the cornfield holding hands. The next day, Mrs. Garner called Sethe upstairs and presented her with the crystal earrings, saying, "I want you to have these, Sethe." Sethe had never had her ears pierced, but Mrs. Garner insisted she do so, saying, "I want you to have them and I want you and Halle to be happy." The earrings thus became a rare token of white approval and a symbol of the love and legitimacy that slavery denied Sethe.

Hidden and Worn

Sethe did not wear the earrings immediately. She knotted them into her underskirt and carried them with her when she escaped from Sweet Home, a journey that nearly killed her. After arriving at 124 Bluestone Road, Baby Suggs unknotted the underskirt and took out the earrings. Sethe sat by the stove with Denver in her arms and let Baby Suggs punch holes in her ears to wear them. This act of piercing her ears was a deliberate claiming of the earrings as her own, a small assertion of selfhood in her new life as a free woman. The earrings became a tangible link to her past and a symbol of her survival.

Loss and Memory

The earrings were eventually lost. When Sethe was jailed for the murder of her baby daughter, the jailer took them, supposedly to protect her from harming herself with the wire. Sethe later told Denver, "Gone," and "Long gone," refusing to say more. The loss of the earrings paralleled the loss of her daughter and the shattering of her brief happiness. The earrings also became a point of connection with Beloved, the mysterious young woman who appears at 124. Beloved asks Sethe, "Where your diamonds?" and "Tell me your earrings," prompting Sethe to recount the story of the earrings and her wedding. This storytelling becomes a way for Sethe to feed Beloved's hunger for connection, and it also reveals the deep bond between them, as Beloved seems to know about the earrings without being told.

The Earrings and Beloved

Beloved's knowledge of the earrings is one of the clues that she is the ghost of Sethe's dead daughter. In her fragmented monologue, Beloved remembers Sethe's earrings shining in the water, and she longs for them. The earrings become a symbol of the mother-daughter bond that was severed by infanticide. Sethe's willingness to tell Beloved about the earrings, and Beloved's intense interest, suggest a recognition that transcends ordinary memory. The earrings thus serve as a conduit for the novel's exploration of rememory, the idea that the past is not just remembered but can be re-experienced.

Thematic Significance

The crystal earrings are a powerful symbol of the intersection of love, loss, and identity. They represent the brief moment of dignity and joy that Sethe experienced within the dehumanizing institution of slavery, and their loss mirrors the loss of her child. The earrings also highlight the theme of maternal love, as Sethe's decision to wear them after her escape is an act of self-assertion, and her willingness to share their story with Beloved is an act of love. Ultimately, the earrings are a reminder that even in the midst of profound suffering, there are moments of beauty and connection that can be cherished and remembered.