From Sweet Home to the chain group, Paul D's fear stems from the roots of slavery. He is fine in dealing with it all until he's free and hears of one more atrocity.
When Paul D first meets Sethe again, they rejoice in remembering Sweet Home optimistically, recalling that they had been like family. "There had been six of them who belonged to the farm, Sethe the only female," (9). But as Denver comes and dampens the mood, Paul D takes a step back saying, "it wasn't sweet and it sure wasn't home," (14). "But it's where we were... All together. Come back whether we want it to or not," Sethe replies, shivering afterward (14). The irony of its name is that Sweet Home became a hell and so much so, that it was worth risking their lives to escape.
For the majority of the novel, Paul D reveals/"rememories" his experiences as a slave: the bit after attempting to run away, seeing Halle go mad before running away, or when he actually did manage to leave Sweet Home, it was because he was sold to a chain group in Alfred, Georgia.
"To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay. The 'better life' she believed she and Denver were living was simply not that other one.
The fact that Paul D had come out of 'that other one' into her bed was better too; and the notion of a future with him...was beginning to stroke her mind," (3).
In an attempt to pull something out of the harsh past and smoothing out its edges, Paul D and Sethe reach to move towards the "better life." The second it begins to become a reality, Beloved -self encompassing of the past- turns 124 upside down. During the process, Paul D finally learns of Sethe's unspeakable crime and that's he crumbles. "Tell me this on thing. How much is a nigger supposed to take?" (235). His past strikes back unrelenting; slavery can never be escaped, thus the irrational becomes rational. What was thought to have been learned to escape the harshness of it all becomes futile the second freedom becomes slightly jeopardized. Paul D now fears the cruelty of slavery, but also its products.
Do you think Paul D has a reason to remain almost paranoid, constantly telling Sethe not to love something so much, and trying to justify Mr. Gardner's actions in creating the idea that the Sweet Home slaves were men?
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I think Paul D is correct in remaining paranoid about not letting Sethe love something too much. Paul D lived on Sweet Home and he knows what it’s like to beaten, tortured, and humiliated on a day-to-day basis. He knows, as well as Sethe does, that even though slavery is over schoolteacher could come back to 124 again. If this was to happen and Sethe loved her children too much, she would be a wreck for the rest of her life. I also think that Paul D is correct in remaining paranoid because Sethe has had a lot of hardships in her life and it is impossible to tell when the next will arrive. Her husband, went crazy, Baby Suggs died, and Howard and Buglar ran away. Many unfortunate things have happened to Sethe and if she loved any of these people too much then she would have lived a very depressed life. Paul D is trying to prepare Sethe for the future and there is no certainty that they will be graced with favorable events.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I don’t think Paul D is justified in trying to defend Mr. Gardner’s actions. Sure he treated them better than other slaves were treated but at the end of the day they were still slaves. They still had to do the hard labor everyday without pay. They may have been treated like people but until they are all set free, they are truly not treated like people. Paul D is trying to make Sweet Home seem like it was better than it actually was because he does not want to remember how awful it was being a slave. Paul D should step up to the plate, realize that being a slave is being a slave, and move on with his life.
I agree with Adam that I believe Paul D has every right to be paranoid about not allowing Sethe to love anything or anyone too much. By loving something too much, the prospect of losing it is just that much harder, and sometimes impossible to overcome. Sethe has lost many things throughout her life that we have seen. These things include: Howard, Buglar, Halle, Baby Suggs, and Beloved. Through the attempt to murder her children, Sethe demonstrates that by loving something too much, there is no positive outcome.
ReplyDeleteI think Adam was a little harsh in saying that Paul D needs to step up to the plate and move on with his life. I understand that the slaves were still slaves at Sweet Home, but they did it have much easier than the majority of slaves did at the time. The working conditions were much better and although they were still in "slavery", it was not nearly as intense as it could have or "should have" been at the time.