Locked Away: A Cold-Hearted Paul D

In Beloved, as Paul D describes his recollections of slavery and its horrors, he halts himself out of fear of bringing back unwanted recollections. If Paul D had gone further, he may have “push[ed] them both into a place they couldn’t get back from” which could have put Sethe and himself into an inescapable slave-memory limbo (86). Some memories are too painful to bring up, and additionally have too many disturbing visuals attached. Paul D had turned his heart into a “tobacco tin” in order to order to seal away his memories (86). In essence, some memories are believed better untouched than mended. This book exemplifies how it is nearly impossible to rid ones family of slavery and its affects, so some choose to shield their feelings. Additionally, Paul D is projected is characterized as rigid and unable to love when his “red heart” is replaced with a box (86). When observing that the tin’s “lid [is] rusted shut” one cannot help to think that Paul D is somewhat cold and cannot accept or give off emotions (86). This is demonstrated when Beloved is never truly accepted into the household in the mind of Paul D. The closed tin symbolizes his boxed in feelings that are essentially trapped and cannot be reached for the time being. The memories inside can only sit and culminate without a place to go, so at some point in the near future Paul D will have to reveal what he thinks and feels about slavery and most relevantly, Beloved’s living place.