Tom 1

Olivia Tom

HL English Year 1

Mrs. Balka

April 18th, 2018

Prompt #8

Slavery is a culture that dehumanizes its victims by impeding free will under the grips of

ownership and abuse. Carol Iannone describes “the psychological and emotional effects of being

owned-of having no sense of self, of fearing to trust or to love when anything can be taken away

at any time” (“Toni Morrison’s Career,” ​Commentary ​84(6), December 1987, 63). In ​Beloved,

Toni Morrison explains this concept to the reader through the characterization of Paul D, who

has suffered this tragic fate as a result of slavery, and is portrayed as a displaced character who

has lost his sense of manhood, consequently.

After the emergence from his sufferable journey, Paul D was left unsettled and displaced,

internally. The residual damage is manifested through his thoughts and behavior throughout the

novel. Through Morrison’s technique of non-chronological narration and spiral storytelling, a

cause and effect relationship is revealed. Through most of Paul D’s early adulthood, he was

transferred from place to place with no real home, which may be the cause for his unsettled

mentality. More specifically, Sweet Home to the imprisonment, then to shelter as provided by a

woman he had trouble committing to. At the end of his sufferable journey, he arrives at house

124, where he tries to heal and commit himself to Sethe. Paul D’s experience in Sweet Home

may have been better than most slaves due to the gentler ownership by Mr. Garner, however it

still took a toll on Paul D’s sense of self, as he was still under ownership. As a result, the name
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“Sweet Home” becomes ironic, as it was not actually a home to Paul D at all. Paul D’s next

destination was imprisonment, where he suffered unbearable living conditions and abuse. Not

only was Paul D still under the grips of ownership, the living conditions were worse. The mental

damage that he had endured from his plantation life became much worse after being imprisoned.

Once Paul D had escaped North, he was provided shelter from a woman he had relations to.

However, he was unable to commit to her. The narration jumps back and forth from this past to

the present, creating the cause and effect relationship. After each setting is narrated, Paul D is

described as having a “tin heart” that he holds his pain and memories in. He uses coping

mechanisms, such as singing to obtain comfort still, just as he did in the chain gang. Most

importantly, his relationship with Sethe is based off of the past. They are both portrayed as

deeply traumatized and only able to connect through painful memories and damaged mental

health. The emphasis on how the past has affected Paul D’s future is especially prevalent in this

relationship, as he opens up for the first time on everything that has happened, however rather

painfully. Him opening up to Sethe also portrays his settlement after being so displaced after

travelling from setting to setting, thus finally finding a home in house 124.

Through these many tragedies Paul D had endured, he ultimately becomes deeply

insecure of his masculinity as well. In Sweet Home, Paul D’s peers were in relationships, but

Paul D was not. This left him to question his masculinity, as his only option for sex were the

calves that lived on the plantation. After leaving Sweet Home, he was forced to give oral sex to

the white men while he was in imprisonment. Paul D’s only sleeping quarters were a ditch.

Being treated as less than a human, Paul D was not able to feeling like a man, let alone his own

person. This is reflected on his trouble with commitment with the woman he had relations with
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on his journey. To cope with this issue, Paul D seeks for comfort and familyship with Sethe, as

portrayed in the novel. His behavior around Sethe indicates this. He had suggested starting a

family with Sethe, despite there already being Denver. Paul D ultimately uses Sethe as leverage

to regain masculinity, as well as a mechanism to heal. The idea of family becomes a symbol of

recovery as the story progresses; “Paul D made a few acquaintances; spoke to them about what

work he might find. Sethe returned the smiles she got. Denver was swaying with delight. And on

the way home, although leading them now, the shadows of three people still held hands.” (4.64)

A consistent issue throughout the novel is that Sethe’s family were rejects to the black

community. Paul D entering the family unit has brought them together and completed each

character, thus the importance of family becomes emphasized as it becomes the key to healing

Sethe, and especially to Paul D. This connects to how Paul D is especially focused on creating

this stable family unit, so that he is able to heal from his past.

Throughout the novel, non-chronological narration is used to especially highlight a cause

and effect relationship between Paul D’s past and his present behavior. It becomes clear how

psychologically damaged he is through his story telling with Sethe and their relationship

dynamic. Ultimately, Paul D strives create a family with Sethe, so that he is able to heal from his

past, because Paul D has lost one of the biggest pieces of himself through slavery.