Her feet are beaten to a pulp, beyond recognition, by unforgiving earth. Her hands are bound, around her waist, cradling a child yet to be born. She is being assaulted by Insects “from gnats to grasshoppers,” and in this time of greatest need, she comes across a girl who will save her. This story of Seethe meeting Amy during her escape from Sweet Home is comprised of fatigue as Toni Morrison depicts Settee’s struggle on “two feet meant – for standing still. ” The scene [begins] with Seethe traversing a landscape, In a sentence of extremely extended length, giving no rest between each estimation, “past the storeroom… He cold house, the privy, the shed the porch. ” When she sank she knew not whether “she was In a hole or kneeling. ” When she was In greatest distress, Amy had appeared. Aryans character was a direct comparison to Huckleberry Finn, the way she dressed Like “the raggedness trash you ever saw”, the situation she found herself In – helping out a runaway slave, and her mention of huckleberries. Running through fatigue, red flashes before her. The color of red Is also a strong overtone In this section. Throughout, things are described as red Like he “bloody side of the Did’ or the velvet that Amy was searching for.
Red is not only the symbol for fire and blood, escaping the living hell that was to the south of the Ohio River, but it is also the sign of warmth and compassion. In fact, the red of the velvet Amy wants is carmine, which historically had been recognized as the color of a soothing ointment, used in many different healing purposes. This is exactly what Amy helps Seethe do, accompanies her and leads her to a place of relative comfort. And when in safety, her eyes can rest. Throughout the section, Morrison makes mention f the dance between their eyes which are “slow-moving” and caring.
These two fugitives, traveling with no one else to relate to, find each other and provide each other company. When Amy first appeared to her, Seethe had been ready to strike out “like a snake with fangs and a split tongue” but Amy quickly disarmed her, approaching with “slow-moving eyes” (39). Just as a snake charmer entrances a snake through eye contact, Amy is able to make a friend in the nearly hysterical Seethe. Quick, darting eyes signify fear, distrust, caution, while gradually moving ones indicate a whole separate range of emotions: care, safety.