Fonny's Sculpture (symbol)
After he drops out of vocational school, Fonny starts creating sculptures and gives one to Tish’s mother. The sculpture was made of “black wood” and depicted “a naked man with one hand at his forehead and the other half hiding his sex” (35). Tish recalls the man’s “long legs,” one of which “seems planted, unable to move” (35). She describes the “motion of the figure” as “torment” and its overall creation “strange…for such a young kid to do” (35). This sculpture stands as a symbol of the black male experience throughout If Beale Street Could Talk, not only in its physical similarities, made of “black wood,” but also in what it signifies. The foot which remains stuck represents the constriction which Fonny feels throughout the novel, in school, in prison, and with his family relations; The “torment” of the motion also stands in for the unstable and painful experience associated with such entrapment. The nakedness and the attempt to cover or protect the genitals also connotes vulnerability and perhaps even places the piece somewhere outside the present. Though the piece could be interpreted to depict Fonny himself, Tish instead reads the work as a testament of a more general experience, recounting that “[s]omething about it always made me think of Daddy” (35). She also states that after her initial surprise, the piece began to make sense: “it seemed strange until you thought about it” (35). Thus, the innocence of a child is overriden by the harsh realities which black children also face, explaining and rationalizing how Fonny could create such a symbolic and emotional piece at such a young age.
Fonny and Tish's Love (Allegory)
Fonny and Tish's love is an allegory for Christianity. Trudier Harris in “The Eye as a Weapon in If Beale Street Could Talk" asserts: "Fonny and Tish love and save (figuratively and literally) by loving." Though the novel focuses on Fonny’s trial and the pain which it brings to Tish and the family, it is their love and perseverance which offers a hope of redemption throughout. When talking about Fonny, Tish often equates his love to something greater than humanity: "I thought of Fonny's touch, of Fonny, in my arms, his breath, his touch, his odor, his weight, that terrible and beautiful presence riding into me and his breath being snarled, as if by a golden thread, deeper and deeper in his throat as he rode—as he rode deeper and deeper not so much into me as into a kingdom which lay just behind his eyes" (42). Tish also describes herself and Fonny as merging into one: “I don't remember that we ever had any curiosity concerning each other's bodies at all—due to the cunning of that watching moment which we knew was approaching. Fonny loved me too much, we needed each other too much. We were a part of each other, flesh of each other's flesh—which meant that we so took each other for granted that we never thought of the flesh. He had legs, and I had legs—that wasn't all we knew but that was all we used. They brought us up the starts and down the stairs and, always, to each other" (51). The phrase “flesh of each other's flesh” evokes Old Testament imagery of the relation between the sexes (recalling Adam's phrase about Eve in Genesis 2:23, "flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood").
Fonny's Woodworking (Allegory)
Fonny's craft of woodworking is an allegory for Baldwin's role as author, as both men attempt to bring light to themselves and others through their work. Lynn Orilla Scott in James Baldwin’s Later Fiction writes of "how Baldwin came to understand his role as an African American 'artist,' which was to resist political and psychological oppression and to pass on the cultural resources of African American survival to others." Thus, Baldwin hoped to create “cultural resources” which others could use for generations following. Similarly, Fonny plans to "build us a table and a whole lot of folks going to be eating off it for a long, long time to come" (193-194). Fonny justifies his new hobby as a way of survival for himself, “He knows he must do something to keep himself from drowning in this place, and everyday he tries” (178). Thus, Fonny’s creation of the table in resistance to the hardship surrounding him stands parallel to Baldwin’s writing of this novel. Both men are attempting to better themselves and provide for future generations.
Eyes (symbol)
Eyes and eye contact stand as a symbol of realization throughout If Beale Street Could Talk. In addition to their literal purpose of providing sight, eyes provide a metaphorical sort awareness. When Ernestine begins to recognize the corruption of certain media, disavowing newspapers and movies, she states: “I don’t need no more of the white man’s lying shit…He’s fucked with my mind enough already” (39). Ernestine’s realization is marked by a change in her eyes: "Her long narrow eyes darkened with whatever it was they were beginning to see" (39). Additionally, when Joseph learns the news of Tish’s pregnancy, his eyes undergo a similar “darken[ing]”: "His face became definite as stone, every line and angle suddenly seemed chiseled, and his eyes turned a blacker black" (43). Thus, eyes stand as symbol throughout the novel of knowledge and awakening to realities which the characters previously did not realize.
Neighborhoods of New York City (Motif)
A major recurring motif within If Beale Street Could Talk is the differences in neighborhoods around New York City, the novel's location. The characters in Harlem have a strong community in which they live, work, and go to church together. Fonny decides to leave the projects in Harlem and thus this community when he moves downtown early on into the novel. Though this decision connotes moving up in social stratus, the move marks a major downfall in Fonny’s path as he is soon accused of rape and arrested. Tish notes Fonny’s growing autonomy in his choice to move downtown prior to the arrest and believes that it was this very success which lead police to pursue Fonny so intensely: “And if you’re nobody’s nigger, you’re a bad nigger: and that’s what the cops decided when Fonny moved downtown” (38). Thus, while Harlem is associated with the black community and the social tensions within that community, downtown marks a racial hostility for Fonny not found in the projects. Tish describes “the Village,” a downtown neighborhood, as a space without allies: “I was frightened because, in the streets of the Village, I realized we were entirely alone. Nobody cared about us except us; whoever loved us was not there” (172). Despite her positive associations with trips downtown as a child which Tish briefly describes in the opening of the novel, the experiences she and Fonny have had in the area have spoiled the neighborhood forever: “If I ever get out of this, if we ever get out of this, I swear I’ll never set foot in downtown New York again” (9).
The glass wall at the Tombs (Metaphor)
The glass wall that separates Tish and Fonny at the Tombs whenever Tish goes to visit him is a symbol of the many constraints on their lives that keep them apart. In this novel, everything that Tish and Fonny have coming to them comes to a head in the same months of Tish's pregnancy: Officer Bell gets his revenge on Fonny, Fonny goes to jail, and Tish must consider the possibility of raising this baby on her own. Despite this, as the pages of Beale Street show us, Tish keeps Fonny close by her side through her memories of him. Similarly to seeing him from behind a glass wall, Tish can remember the moments she has had with Fonny, but she cannot actually be with him in the present.
