Shoat (noun) – a young hog and especially one that has been weaned.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 263, in the fifth paragraph. âAfter the conversation about the shoat, Sixo is tied up with the stock at night, and locks are put on bins, pens, sheds, coops, the tackroom, and the barn door.
Sixo was tied up after the conversation of the young hog.
Spigot (noun) – a device that controls the flow of liquid from a large container.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 237, in the center of the page. âDoes it hit the pump handle first or the spigot?â
Sethe was looking outside of the window and wanted to know what the sun was doing to the day. She wanted to know if it hit the pump handle or the device that controls the flow of liquid from a large container.
Spry (adjective) – full of life and energy.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 142, in the third paragraph. âWhere she was once indolent, resentful of every task, now she is spry, executing, even extending the assignments Sethe leaves for them.
With every task given by her mother, Denver became full of life and completed them, only to want more.
Indolent (adjective) – not liking to work or be active.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 142, in the third paragraph. âWhere she was once indolent, resentful of every task, now she is spry, executing, even extending the assignments Sethe leaves for them.
Denver never liked to work. She was resentful of the tasks given.
Lisle (noun) – a smooth tightly twisted thread usually made of long-staple cotton.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 138, in the second paragraph. âDenverâs skin dissolved under that gaze and became soft and bright like the lisle dress that had its arm around her motherâs waist.â
The dress that Denver saw had smooth tightly twisted thread mad of cotton.
Buckboard (noun) – a four-wheeled vehicle with a floor made of long springy boards.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 12, in the first paragraph. âWhen he turned his head, aiming for a last look at Brother, turned it as much as the rope that he connected his neck to the axle of a buckboard allowed, and, later on, when they fastened the iron around his ankles and clamped the wrists as well, there was no outward sign of trembling at all.â
Paul Dâs neck was connected to a four-wheeled vehicle, kind of like a car.
âShe and Mrs. Garner were the only women there, so she decided to ask her.
“Halle and me want to be married, Mrs. Garner.”
“So I heard.” She smiled. “He talked to Mr. Garner about it. Are you already expecting?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Well, you will be. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Halle’s nice, Sethe. He’ll be good to you.”
“But I mean we want to get married.”
“You just said so. And I said all right.”
“Is there a wedding?”
Mrs. Garner put down her cooking spoon. Laughing a little, she touched Sethe on the head, saying, “You are one sweet child.” And then no more.â
This passage is from page 31.
In this passage Sethe is asking Mrs. Garner for a wedding for herself and Halle. Mrs. Garner was the owner of Sweet Home and the slaves that worked there. She doesnât seem to be too interested in what Sethe is asking for. She mentions that Halle is a good person for Sethe. When Sethe asks if there is a wedding, itâs clear that she wants to have a ceremony, but Mrs. Garner laughs and calls her a sweet child. She fails to take Sethe seriously, and calls her a child because of the fantasy that she desires. I think this is showing one thing in the life of a slave, you canât get what you desire. From what I interpreted, Mrs. Garner, like any other slave owner, didnât care for the slaves working in her home. She only asked Sethe if she was pregnant, which she wasnât, and that she will have to get pregnant. This passage displays that concept of marriage among slaves, which was prohibited because they were thought to be obligated to their owners instead of to each other. Also, their children were to be taken away from them. This passage is significant because it shows that these people who were slaves had no free will. They couldnât live how they wanted to live, and couldnât live with the people they wanted to live with. Even their children were taken away from them.
Undulating (verb) – to present a wavy appearance.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 10, paragraph 2. âPaul D tied his shoes together, hung them over his shoulder and followed her through the door straight into a pool of red and undulating light that locked him where he stood.â
The lighting in the house that locked on Paul D was red and appeared to be wavy.
Salsify (noun) – a European biennial composite herb (Tragopogon porrifolius) with a long fusiform edible root âcalled also oyster plant, vegetable oyster.
This was found in âBeloved,â on page 17, in the first paragraph. âShe who had never had one but this one; she who left a dirt floor to come to this one; she who had to bring a fistful of salsify into Mrs. Garnerâs kitchen every day just to be able to work in it, feel like some part of it was hers, because she wanted to love the work she did, to take the ugly out of it, and the only way she could feel at home on Sweet Home was if she picked some pretty growing thing and took it with her.â
Baby Suggs had to bring a handful of an edible root everyday into Mrs. Garnerâs kitchen
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