Tuesday, November 27, 2018

What Role Does Paul D End Up Playing?

In the last section of the novel, Part III, the reader gets another glimpse into Paul D's point of view. It's really interesting because following the vague, poetic sections of Part II in Sethe, Denver, and Beloved's points of view, Paul D's point of view comes as a bit of a reality check. It is through his eyes that the reader learns what actually occurred on the day when the mob of women confronted 124 and Sethe attacked Mr. Bodwin. Through his interactions with Ella and Stamp Paid, the reader can piece together the events.

And yet, after a brief run-in with Denver, he starts to realize that he still feels some emotion or obligation to Sethe and Denver after Beloved apparently disappeared. After a few brief flashbacks to his own life of constant running, he revisits 124 to see Sethe. But why in the world would he want to see Sethe? He doesn't seem to have feelings for her since he learned she killed Beloved and tried to kill her other babies, and he seemed to agree with other people who insisted Sethe had gone crazy after trying to kill Mr. Bodwin. He didn't show any trace of his previous emotions, but through his last act of kindness in the book, returning to 124 to take care of Sethe, the reader realizes that throughout the entire novel, Paul D has been somewhat of a beacon of straightforward kindness and purity in comparison to the convoluted thoughts of the three women in 124.

Although he had some questionable things on his own record during his time there, namely sleeping with Beloved, nearly every action he took since arriving, even banishing Beloved's ghost in the beginning, was done genuinely and out of his compassion for other people and Sethe. The reader doesn't get much of a sense of heartbreak from him upon his first leaving, mostly because despite being a general good person, he insists that his heart doesn't feel because it's tin. But in his return to 124 following still more drama surrounding Sethe, the reader understands that, despite the semi-craziness happening around him as all three women seem to border the living and the dead, Paul D has been a steady, well-meaning hand trying, with little success, to guide them toward some unknown goal simply out of the goodness of his tin heart.

1 comment:

  1. I find it very interesting and helpful that you talked about this, because throughout the entire novel I feel like Paul D served as the same clarifying figure as he did in this last chapter. When Paul D comes into the lives of Sethe and Denver, he forces Denver to be on her own and not be as dependent on her mother. The same goes with Beloved, for when Paul D meets Denver he is always uncomfortable around her and is the only one to point out her strangeness, which is clarifying to the reader also. Paul D also gets Sethe to talk about her past in a way she hadn't with anyone before, and though she also talks about her past to Beloved, the way she talks with Paul D is healthier than with Beloved.

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