Question 2:
“Risky, thought Paul D, very risky. For a used-to-be-slave woman to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love. The best thing, he knew, was to love just a little bit; everything, just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe you’d have a little love left for the next one.” (Morrison, page 45)
This quotation adequately explains Paul D’s feelings about love. In this situation, Sethe and Paul D are arguing about Denver. When Sethe starts defending Denver, Paul D chastises Sethe in his mind for giving so much love to the child. Although Paul D has come to Sethe after escaping from slavery, he is still incredibly scared of being brought back to slavery. He doesn’t believe that loving anything, let alone children, after being in slavery is reckless. He has experienced the worst that slavery has to offer and he refuses to make himself vulnerable again. But, I also think that he does not understand the undying love Sethe has for her children. When Stamp Paid revealed to Paul D what Sethe did to her children, he couldn’t believe it. He kept saying “That ain’t her mouth.” (Morrison, page 154) Yet, later he confront Sethe about the incident where she explains everything. She had allowed herself to love her kids when they were out of slavery because she knew they were hers.
“Look like I loved em more after I got here. Or maybe I couldn’t love em proper in Kentucky because they wasn’t mine to love. But when I got here, when I jumped down off that wagon, there wasn’t nobody I couldn’t love if I wanted to.” (Morrison, page 162)
I included this quotation because I believe there is a parallel between this re-memory and Paul D’s unspoken warning about love. Sethe had not fully loved her children while she was still a slave, which made sense to her at the time. When she was finally free, she opened her heart to her children for the first time since she had given birth to them. Unfortunately, Sethe’s love backfired when Schoolteacher showed up to take her children to be slaves. She followed her first instinct and attempted to murder all four of her children.
What is interesting to me is that even after this horrific experience, where her oldest daughter was killed, and she spent time in jail with Denver, is that she was again able to open up and love her children with her whole heart. Paul D, without having done something so terrifying, knows in his heart just how dangerous love can be for a slave.
But, even Paul D let his guard down towards the end of the novel. He had left 124 after hearing about Sethe’s attempted murder on her children. But, he eventually returned. He found Sethe lying in Baby Suggs’ bed and he tells her that he will not let her die on him. He explains to her how she puts together the pieces of him that are broken, that with her, he can forget about Sweet Home, and the atrocities of slavery. In my opinion he is opening up himself to love Sethe, against his own judgement, but he knows that he needs her, and she needs him.
After reading the first quotation, I think Paul D wants to love Sethe, but he is too scared to love her. With all he's been through i dont think he wants to lose Sethe. I agree with you that Paul D doesn’t understand why Sethe could love her kids so much. I also think that because of Paul D’s experience as a slave, he doesn’t know what it means to be in love or even care about someone. After Schoolteacher took over Sweet Home, Paul D lost his humanity because Schoolteacher punished him for speaking him mind, then he was lost like an animal, and finally he was put in a chain gang. When he comes to 124, he considers loving Sethe, but he wasn’t sure because Beloved tried to seduce him. But in the end, when he saw how much Sethe was suffering from losing Beloved, I think he understood what it meant to be in love.
ReplyDeleteI think that when Paul D comes back he does see Sethe's love as something stronger than what he thought possible for a former slave. Although she is there, waiting for death i think its her life story that has so greatly influenced his return. Although it seemed crazy to him to kill a child, he realized that she does love them and is not crazy. That love is so powerful that i feel Paul D knew he had to come back. As he said in the last scence with him and Sethe- they had so many yesterdays of slavery and hatred, they need to makes some tomorrrows and changes.
ReplyDeleteI feel that love to Paul D is a much greater influence than he wants to believe. He may want to live life in thinking that you should only love a little bit because when that person leaves then you'll still have some love for the next person, but in his case that just isn't true. Slowly through the story he finds out the he indeed does need the love of Sethe to live and that he wants to give her all of his love. He sadly figures this out when he leaves after discovering a terrible seceret about Sethe but soon redeems himself by returing to just be with her.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Damien's comment. Throughout the story, Paul D was having an internal conflict about his love for Sethe. He KNOWS that he loves her, but he is having a hard time opening up and admitting it. It seems like he thinks that once something is said out loud that it can't be taken back. It makes him feel very vulnerable and he doesn't know how to react.
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