The Relationship Arc of Paul D and Sethe
As I finished reading Beloved, the ending, which heavily features Sethe and Paul D, made me want to reflect upon their complex relationship as a key part of the novel. Paul D and Sethe share many similarities in that they both had extremely traumatic pasts. Paul D was caught after trying to escape Sweet Home, had to watch Sixo be burned alive, and worked all day as part of a torturous chain gang. All of these experiences culminated into the reserved and closed off character of Paul D that we see throughout the novel. This characterization isn’t something that is only apparent to the reader, as Paul D describes himself as having a tobacco tin instead of a heart to hold all of his most painful emotions. Thus, his behavior at the end of the novel is key to his character development and relationship with Sethe. As we know, Sethe also had an extremely traumatic experience as a slave, and has to deal with the complex emotion of slaughtering her children to help them avoid slavery as well.