Sethe's Beautiful Chokecherry Tree

"The wrought-iron maze he had explored in the kitchen like a gold miner pawing through dirt was in fact a revolting clump of scars.. Not a tree as she said" (25).  

"There are memories that time does not erase... Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.” (Cassandra Claire). Sethe and Paul D have memories about the past and they are constantly brought up throughout the book whether they are good or bad, the memories are still with them. A huge part of Sethe's life whether she likes it or not is the "tree" on her back. She tells Paul D when he arrives at the house, that she has what she thinks looks like a Chokecherry tree according to Amy. Trees represent different things depending on the person and their interactions with them. Paul D thinks "trees were inviting; things you could trust and be near; talk to if you wanted to as he frequently did" (25). Paul D sees a "brother" in a tree, what a pet is to us nowadays, something that just sits there and listens to you complain about whatever is on your mind. When he thinks of Sweet Home he thinks of that tree and how it helped him find who he is as a person. The tree helped him through the harsh times of slavery by being there when nobody else was and because of trees it helped him become free by following the flowering trees to the North. The tree on Sethe's back, made from being whipped so many times represents her past, but also could represent something that could grow into something beautiful. As much as the past is in the past for her, it just seems to be brought up in mysterious ways. As much as she tries to "run" away from her past it is there mentally and physically due to the tree on her back. She is always reminded that slavery will always be with her, she will never forget that at a time that she was once treated poorly just by the color of her skin and that she was once treated like an animal. 
A chokecherry tree which is sought to be on her back typically brings spring, bloom and peaceful nature instead of the pain and sorrow that the scar actually represents. To most trees represent life, strength, good fortune etc, Amy the one who discovered the "tree" on Sethe's back said, "It's a tree Lu. See, here's the trunk- it's red and split open, full of sap, and this here's the parting for the branches. You got a mighty a lot of branches. Leaves, too, look like, and dern if these ain't blossoms. Tiny little cherry tree blossoms, just as white. Your back got a whole tree on it. In bloom" (79). Instead of looking at the "tree" as a bunch of scars clumped together, Amy looks at each one of the scars on her back as a piece of a puzzle which somehow forms a beautiful chokecherry tree.
When we look at trees we forget that they were once a seed, we forget that they all developed from the ground. We forget that they had to go through tough days from being in the cold or the heat or being pushed around by the strong gusts of wind. But we also forget that from a little seed, the trunk, the branches, the leaves all make a strong, beautiful tree. And that is what I think is going to happen to Sethe is that her past will eventually make her out to be a beautiful and strong person. Her shady past will never be forgotten, but the little things in the present and future that make her happy will make the memories of her past "only bearable".