Paul D's Journey In Beloved

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Recommended: Character analysis for Paul's case

Paul D’s journey in search of his sense of self begins with reclaiming his manhood in order to distinguish himself as a person which is integral to Beloved because the quest for his identity is only capable because of Sethe and the need to be a part of a family unit. When Sethe and Paul D’s stories intertwine they form the basis of the soul searching theme present in Beloved. Paul D’s struggle to reclaim himself is a significant aspect that represents the collective journey of African men looking to redefine themselves as individuals; to become separate entities form their slavery injected pasts.
Paul D’s initial image of his identity is the product of living at Sweet Home under the care of the Garners; having been told and treated as a man, Paul D is hopeful about his life and who he truly is. In identifying himself as a man, he believed he would be able to provide and be in control of his own life and possibly take care others’ wellbeing, like a family. In finding what it means to be a man, freedom becomes essential. “ ‘Y’all got boys…Young boys, old boys, picky boys, stroppin boys. Now at Sweet Home, my niggers is men every one of em. Bought em thataway, raised em thataway. Men every one.’ ‘Beg to differ, Garner. Ain’t no nigger men.’” (Morrison 12) While Mr. Garner believes his slaves to be men, others do not and this will serve to destroy Paul D’s frame of thinking once Schoolteacher becomes his master after the Garner’s relinquish their property. Because of the uniqueness in authority at Sweet Home, Paul D knows how it feels to have a family, a support system, and to be treated as a human instead of a piece of property. While Paul D is not free at Sweet Home, this sense of an assumed identity keeps him hoping that one day t...

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...overcome their hardships and grow from the memories, not to let the memories define their sense of self. For, “the definitions belonged to the definers—not the defined” (Carden 405). Their union is representative of a tree given life once more, able to bloom again after a rebirth into a community where a family will take place soon. Their romance is a symbol of life after a crippling past, that it is capable to find one’s self again through love and a supportive, nurturing community. Sethe and Paul D symbolically represent the mass loss of selfhood for the masses of slaves that encountered split families and torturous treatments and through uniting together as a community can the past be overcome, can slavery be destroyed and from the ashes can a newborn race rise to fulfill and gain their own individual identity, separate from a damaging historical lifecycle.

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