In Beloved , Toni Morrison has colors play a role throughout the book. Describe the role of each color and discuss its significance throug...
Friday, April 8, 2016
Manhood in Beloved
Paul D is plagued by thoughts of his strengths and inadequacies as a man. Does he finally reach resolution of this conflict? If not, why not? If so, how? Trace his struggles with manhood.
Paul D never really reaches a resolution to his conflict with manhood, at least not that we ever know. First at Sweet Hoem ,Mr. Garner calls them men but then the only people Paul D can have sex with are not people at all, they're cows. In the chain gang, he is forced to preform oral sex on white men. When he is free and meets a woman, she make sexual advances which he doesn't refuse because she provides him with necessities, and then she passes him off as her (nephew)? Anyone, everyone would feel inadequate as a man or woman after that experience. He finally starts to feel adequate when he moves into 124 and chases out the ghost and makes a family out of Sethe, Denver and himself. But then Beloved comes along, and thinking he has tampered down all those inadequacies, when Beloved forces him to sleep with her, she opens them back up all over again. We see his red tin heart open, but he never shows what happens as a result.
I agree with Katherine completely on this subject. Paul D's manhood was ruined as a slave and when he finally began his relationship with Sethe, and she was not satisfied, just another blow to his confidence. Perhaps after his tin heart is opened and he made his return to Sethe in the end, something could change. But overall, it seemed as though he never truly regained the manhood that he lost. I think that Beloved forcing him to sleep with her, was the tip of the iceberg in a sense and he lost it all. She ruined any chance to find love or fall into his desires.
I agree with Kate that he never really resolved his feeling of manhood; early on during his time as a slave failed to meet any wishes and desires. He was often unable to fulfill any desires, and when he finally got the chance with Sethe after arriving at 124 she was left very unsatisfied. Towards the end of the novel he didn’t even end up with Sethe at 124, he left. His life seemed to be filled with trial and error cases, never reaching the true success and happiness he had been in search of his entire life.
I agree with Katie in that Paul D never quite actually fixed his issue with finding his manhood. While he lived at Sweet Home, he was not even treated as a human, never mind a man. In the chain gang, he was forced to preform oral sex on white men, which really negatively affected his manhood so much such that it affected his entire life and relationships. When he went to 124, all he wanted was Sethe but then Beloved came along and ruined that, driving him away from his sexual desires and a shot at love, acting as another blow to his manhood.
As Kate, Ben, and Marc have stated, Paul D never truly resolved his struggles with manhood. Being at Sweet Home, Paul D was forced to do many things he did not desire and it really effectd him psychologically into never feeling like he would achieve full happiness with Sethe. Especially with the return of Beloved, Paul D is yet again vulnerable and feeling incapable of love.
I don't think Paul D ever resolves his struggles with manhood. I feel like there was no going back once he was controlled by Beloved into making sexual advances with her. He did those things while he was still with Sethe and never owned up to it. Just the idea that he interacted sexually with both mother and daughter is disturbing. I was actually surprised at the end of the novel to see that he wanted to make things work with Sethe again. However, I do not think he is the right state of mind when doing so because he knows how much Sethe has deteriorated and this reminds him of when Baby Suggs was nearing the end of her life. Thus, he pleads and tries to hang on to Sethe. He has to preserve the past and can not move on in life to cleanse himself of all the pain the past and slavery has caused him.
Like all of the people said above, I do not believe that Paul D ever resolve his conflicts. Paul D is just another example of the scars that slavery leave. What he went through at Sweet Home were things that no one could ever forget. I agree with Katherine when she says that he was starting to heal while living with Sethe and Denver at 124. Yet, when Beloved came and slept with him his wounds once again opened.
In my opinion, Paul D did not regain his manhood. He tried to be the "man" of the family and take care of Sethe and Denver. He even tried to get rid of the baby ghost, but that did not work for long because it came back in the form of Beloved. Being seduced by Beloved brought up a lot of his trauma from Sweet Home and the sexual acts that he was forced to perform. His tin box was forced open. She drove him away from Sethe and any possibility at love.
Paul D did not resolve his manhood through the novel. To begin at Sweet Home, he had sexual desires and tensions. When he saw Sethe, he yearned for the sex of a woman which he never had. He failed to win Sethe and failed to fulfill his desires as a man. When he finally had the chance to make love with Sethe, he was left unsatisfied. As he tried to fulfill his manhood as the family man, we see him try so hard to win over Denver and Sethe in places such as taking them to the circus. We see to big blows to his manhood. One is in the chain gang as he is forced to stray away from his sexual desires from women and preform oral sex on men. The second is when Beloved attempts to gain Paul D in a sexual way. Although she does not succeed, it haults Paul D and Sethe’s relationship as well as sexual aspirations.
As most people said, Paul D does not truly ever resolve his struggles with manhood. During his time at Sweet Home, he was forced into doing things that he never imagined doing, which scarred him for the rest of his life. He will never fully open up to anyone or feel true love for anyone because of the traumatic events that happened including being a part of a chain gang. When he was at 124 he started to change but next thing you know Beloved came along and ruined Paul D yet again. Overall, a part of slavery will always be with Paul D, no matter how hard he tries to force himself to change.
First off, Paul D is not viewed as a man during this time in history, being a slave and being black, he is viewed as an animal. To continue with this idea of him being an animal, and having it drilled into his head that thats all he his, lets take a look at where this has effected him. Working at sweet Home, he did things unimaginable to the human mind, thus breaking his "Manhood". On the chain gang, he had to suck dicks, white dicks, because it was viewed as the most dehumanizing act to make another man suck your dick, proved the sucker was not a man, cause he had your manhood in his mouth. At 124, he thinks he gets rid of a baby ghost, this makes him feel manly, then the ghost comes back as a human 19yro girls, has sex with him, and opens his tin box, releasing the terrible memories from sweet home. All his life, he lost his manhood.
I agree with the majority in saying that Paul D never really resolves his issues throughout the novel. Paul D struggles with being a man from the start of the book. First off, he was a slave, so he really had no rights and he had to have sex with cows to relieve himself. In all actuality he became more of an animal than a man. Also, when Paul D is living with Sethe he cannot bring himself to actually want to be with her and while he is with her, he still struggles with his past. Since Paul D struggles to deal with his animalistic past, he never really becomes a man. Instead, Paul D appears to be attempting to be something he is not. I think that the tin he carries around with him represents his past, and when it opens, I think his struggle to become a real man, a free one, come to the forefront of his mind. He even thinks having a child will help him at one point in the novel. In my opinion Paul D’s struggle with manhood is never resolved, as a result of slavery and the horrors he was subjected too.
Paul D does not reach resolution of his conflict nor does he achieve manhood. At Sweet Home, he has no rights and cannot have sexual or romantic relations. He lived the life of an animal and often had sex with cows. Paul D even struggles with his past life at Sweet Home when he attempts to form a relationship with Sethe at 124. At one point in the novel, he wants to get Sethe pregnant in order to form a closer relationship with her and possibly a family. However, he leaves Sethe with Beloved and Denver after learning that she killed her daughter. Even though he returns to her at the end of the novel, it is too late for him achieve manhood. They are both too old to start a family and form a romantic relationship.
Paul D does not really reach a resolution to his conflict. He can never really do things that are what a man would want. He cannot have sex with any women he wants, he can’t even have sex with a women. He is conflicted that he does not really know what his manhood is. Once he got to have sex with a woman, that woman being Sethe, she could not be satisfied. He does not know what to do to please a woman since he has never experienced it. He never even got to live a life with Sethe because of his own actions. He doesn’t know what he needs or wants, and he will never find what exactly he needs to make him into a man.
Paul D never really resolved his feeling of manhood. When he was a slave at Sweet Home he was unable to satisfy any of his desires and the only thing available to have sex with were cows. Also, while enslaved he was forced to give oral sex to white males. Neither one of those things prevents a strong sense of manhood. Additionally, when he finally reunited with Sethe after many years, he was left very unsatisfied. Finally, towards the end of the novel when Paul D thought he had gotten rid of his inadequacies, Beloved forced him to sleep with her and brings up all of the inadequacies once again.
I believe that Paul D was forced to become a man due to being a slave. However, I truly don’t believe that he achieved manhood on his own. He doesn’t know how to love like a man. Over the years he has been forced to perform sexual actions and he doesn’t know what it’s like to truly love a woman. When he finally has sex with Sethe, it isn’t what he expected. He also finds her scars unappealing. This shows truly how naive he is. He also doesn’t know right from wrong. He sleeps with Beloved while already being involved with Sethe, showing his immaturity. He doesn’t know what he wants because he’s never had the freedom to truly seek his desires and passions. This makes him more of a boy and less of a man.
I agree with Madison that Paul D’s life was changed by slavery. His forced labor and hardships that he faced while enslaved began his development as a man. He states that “not even trying, he had become the kind of man who could walk into a house and make the women cry” (Morrison 20). He shows maturity by being able to listen to women; this is one of his strengths. However, I disagree that Paul D willingly sleeps with Beloved while he is with Sethe. Beloved “haunts” Paul D and puts a spell on him literally, so he has no free will. He does not choose to sleep with Beloved, she forces him to. I think that Sethe is the first woman that Paul D wants to stay around for; before, Paul D would stay at places and with women for a certain amount of time before he had to leave. He was trying to avoid “loving too much,” but Sethe makes him want to stay. I think that Paul D does reach resolution of this conflict when he steps up to the plate and returns to 124 Bluestone Road. He comes back to Sethe and starts to build a life with her.
As those above agreed, Paul D failed to truly resolve his feeling of manhood, never being able to achieve such a standing. He instead fails to love Sethe as a man would, and acts immature, not being able to accept Sethe for who she is. Rather than establishing a sense of dignity and pride, he acts to temporarily please himself, an attribute of a boy not a man.
Paul D failed to resolve his sense of manhood. I agree with Sara that his attempts to places himself were the acts of a boy rather than the acts of a man. All in all Paul D acted naive as he put his own desires ahead of those of Sethe.
I believe that Paul D failed to resolve his sense of manhood. Paul D failed to complete his wishes and desires. He failed to accept who Sethe really is but yet falls in love with her. He only satisfies his needs temporarily and not fulfilly by being with SetheZ
Paul D never resolves his conflicts with his strengths and inadequacies of being a man. I agree with what Katherine said about his struggles before coming to 124 and then how once he gets there his mind set changes. Only to be ruined once again by the advances being made by Beloved.
I believe that Paul D never reaches a resolution to his conflict with manhood. He tried to step in an be like a husband figure for Sethe and care for Denver but that didn't last long. He was unsatisfied with their sex and distracted by her scars. He ended up being tempted by Beloved to do sexual acts that she pressured him to do. This led him to become separated from the growing relationship and betray their family. From his time in Sweet Home to 124, I feel that Paul D never could reach manhood.
Paul D didn't have a normal boys upbringing and was forced to perform inhumane acts such as have sex with animals and other men. Once he was able to be with Sethe, he rejected her sexually, most likely due to his mental trauma. He is never able to step in to Sethe's home and be a father figure and ends up leaving. Because of all of these conflicts, it is easy to infer Paul D never reached manhood.
As everyone said above, I agree that Paul D never truly resolved his manhood. Like Sethe, the scars from his slavery past never left him. They play an important role in his character and the decisions that he makes throughout the novel. He tries to be the man of the house at 124, but that is not true. He is afraid of Sethe and what she has done. He cowardly has sex with Beloved, rather than standing up for Sethe and his beliefs.
I do not believe that Paul D reaches a resolution to his conflict of manhood. During his time as a slave, he was never treated as a human and therefore was not able to achieve any of his desires. A part of Paul D’s cruel treatment involved performing oral sex on white men. He also had sex with the cows in order to fulfil his sexual desires. All of the men at Sweet Home were fighting for Sethe as she was the only woman on the plantation. When he eventually had sex with Sethe he was not satisfied. When PAul D comes to 124, he gives his best effort to be the man of the household, however he cannot fill that role. With these examples present, I do not believe that Paul D ever truly met any of his desires throughout his life or found his manhood.
In my opinion, Paul D never fully regained his manhood. This is because through his various owners and what they made him do, he was not only demasculinized but somewhat dehumanized. After he finally escaped, his search for masculinity began. However, even when he and Sethe slept together, she wasn't satisfied, and at the end of the novel he didn't stay with her. To me, it seems as though he isn't ready to settle down because he doesn't feel like he is fully himself and he doesn't have his manhood back.
I feel as though Paul D never truly resolved his inner conflict concerning his manhood. He was badly damaged by the sexual acts he was forced to commit back on Sweet Home and his encounter with Beloved. Since Paul D cannot resolve his conflict sexually, he tries to regain his manhood by providing for Denver and Sethe. As with all the characters in this novel, their past keeps coming back to haunt them. Paul D’s past is the reason he will never truly regain his manhood.
In my opinion Paul did does not reach a resolution with his conflict. All throughout the novel the reader can see that he struggles with his manhood, starting with the ultimatum that he was given on Sweet Home, to either rape Sethe or have sex with cows. Later on in the novel Paul D. suggests to Sethe that maybe they should have a couple kids of their own so that he could "properly love them" as Morrison states but I think the reason why he says this is because he struggles with his manhood. For Paul D, living at 124 was not easy mainly because of his relationship with Beloved and Denver but he tries to regain this manhood, as Sam says, by providing for the family and overall, being the man of the house as he thinks a man should do. But as the past continues to haunt him as it does to others, the reader sees that Paul D can never move past this struggle.
Paul D never reaches a concrete resolution to his conflict regarding his manhood. His experiences at Sweet Home and at the jail tortured him, dehumanized him, and took away his pride. Paul D feels as if he has lost any possible strength and all sense of being a man, but he doesn’t want others to notice, keeping his insecurities locked inside his “tin box”. For example, he tries to prove himself manly by making sexual advances towards Sethe and convincing himself he wants it, but deep down he is disappointed. He again tries to prove himself as strong and independent by refusing shelter offers when he leaves 124, but feels lonely and sad. Paul D tries to be as much of a man as he can, but all of his trauma has left him as a loner who struggles to form strong loving relationships with others.
Paul D. struggles with manhood because all his life it has been taken away from him. From only being allowed to have sex with cows, to forcefully performing oral-sex on white men, to being "played with" by a woman, he has had enough. Paul D. feels like a game piece to a game, his manhood is not existent at first because of all the degrading, humiliating experiences. When he finds Sethe again and Denver, he starts to understand his manhood, but still struggles because initially struggles because he feels that Denver isn't welcoming him to 124. Once this issue has been taken care of Paul D. feels like a man, he is the man of the house. Not long after Beloved ruins him again. Shows him his past, and brings it to the forefront of his life again when she asks him to have sex with her. Paul D. lived a difficult life when it came to his manhood.
Paul D lacks any kind of sense of self throughout most of the novel, and it is not a mystery why. At Sweet Home, he does not have any kind of personal distinction from the rest of the men (all named paul), and they are treated more like animals than people. Later, when he tries to escape he ends up in a prison in Georgia and again, lives like an animal in a hole in the ground. He constantly sees exhibitions of cimes against humanity, including the abuse of his friends and rape of women which he can do nothing to interfere with, which takes away from his manhood. He also has lost anyone he has ever cared about, so his decision that he is incapable of real feelings also would make him feel like an empty vessel of a person. Even as a free man, he wonders from place to place with no real home or connections. His lack of confidence as a man also lets him be easily pushed around by Beloved and eventually contributs to him leaving 124. At the end, when he returns to 124 and sees how the community came together to help Denver and Sethe, I think some of his faith in humanity is restored. Also, he assumes a role in Sethe's life as someone who is needed. When he tells Sethe that she is the best part of him, he lets go of the idea that ex-slaves should not love or care for others so much, and it turns out that his chest is not an empty tin can.
Paul D never really reaches a resolution to his conflict with manhood, at least not that we ever know. First at Sweet Hoem ,Mr. Garner calls them men but then the only people Paul D can have sex with are not people at all, they're cows. In the chain gang, he is forced to preform oral sex on white men. When he is free and meets a woman, she make sexual advances which he doesn't refuse because she provides him with necessities, and then she passes him off as her (nephew)? Anyone, everyone would feel inadequate as a man or woman after that experience. He finally starts to feel adequate when he moves into 124 and chases out the ghost and makes a family out of Sethe, Denver and himself. But then Beloved comes along, and thinking he has tampered down all those inadequacies, when Beloved forces him to sleep with her, she opens them back up all over again. We see his red tin heart open, but he never shows what happens as a result.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katherine completely on this subject. Paul D's manhood was ruined as a slave and when he finally began his relationship with Sethe, and she was not satisfied, just another blow to his confidence. Perhaps after his tin heart is opened and he made his return to Sethe in the end, something could change. But overall, it seemed as though he never truly regained the manhood that he lost. I think that Beloved forcing him to sleep with her, was the tip of the iceberg in a sense and he lost it all. She ruined any chance to find love or fall into his desires.
DeleteI agree with Kate that he never really resolved his feeling of manhood; early on during his time as a slave failed to meet any wishes and desires. He was often unable to fulfill any desires, and when he finally got the chance with Sethe after arriving at 124 she was left very unsatisfied. Towards the end of the novel he didn’t even end up with Sethe at 124, he left. His life seemed to be filled with trial and error cases, never reaching the true success and happiness he had been in search of his entire life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie in that Paul D never quite actually fixed his issue with finding his manhood. While he lived at Sweet Home, he was not even treated as a human, never mind a man. In the chain gang, he was forced to preform oral sex on white men, which really negatively affected his manhood so much such that it affected his entire life and relationships. When he went to 124, all he wanted was Sethe but then Beloved came along and ruined that, driving him away from his sexual desires and a shot at love, acting as another blow to his manhood.
ReplyDeleteAs Kate, Ben, and Marc have stated, Paul D never truly resolved his struggles with manhood. Being at Sweet Home, Paul D was forced to do many things he did not desire and it really effectd him psychologically into never feeling like he would achieve full happiness with Sethe. Especially with the return of Beloved, Paul D is yet again vulnerable and feeling incapable of love.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Paul D ever resolves his struggles with manhood. I feel like there was no going back once he was controlled by Beloved into making sexual advances with her. He did those things while he was still with Sethe and never owned up to it. Just the idea that he interacted sexually with both mother and daughter is disturbing. I was actually surprised at the end of the novel to see that he wanted to make things work with Sethe again. However, I do not think he is the right state of mind when doing so because he knows how much Sethe has deteriorated and this reminds him of when Baby Suggs was nearing the end of her life. Thus, he pleads and tries to hang on to Sethe. He has to preserve the past and can not move on in life to cleanse himself of all the pain the past and slavery has caused him.
ReplyDeleteLike all of the people said above, I do not believe that Paul D ever resolve his conflicts. Paul D is just another example of the scars that slavery leave. What he went through at Sweet Home were things that no one could ever forget. I agree with Katherine when she says that he was starting to heal while living with Sethe and Denver at 124. Yet, when Beloved came and slept with him his wounds once again opened.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Paul D did not regain his manhood. He tried to be the "man" of the family and take care of Sethe and Denver. He even tried to get rid of the baby ghost, but that did not work for long because it came back in the form of Beloved. Being seduced by Beloved brought up a lot of his trauma from Sweet Home and the sexual acts that he was forced to perform. His tin box was forced open. She drove him away from Sethe and any possibility at love.
ReplyDeletePaul D did not resolve his manhood through the novel. To begin at Sweet Home, he had sexual desires and tensions. When he saw Sethe, he yearned for the sex of a woman which he never had. He failed to win Sethe and failed to fulfill his desires as a man. When he finally had the chance to make love with Sethe, he was left unsatisfied. As he tried to fulfill his manhood as the family man, we see him try so hard to win over Denver and Sethe in places such as taking them to the circus. We see to big blows to his manhood. One is in the chain gang as he is forced to stray away from his sexual desires from women and preform oral sex on men. The second is when Beloved attempts to gain Paul D in a sexual way. Although she does not succeed, it haults Paul D and Sethe’s relationship as well as sexual aspirations.
ReplyDeleteAs most people said, Paul D does not truly ever resolve his struggles with manhood. During his time at Sweet Home, he was forced into doing things that he never imagined doing, which scarred him for the rest of his life. He will never fully open up to anyone or feel true love for anyone because of the traumatic events that happened including being a part of a chain gang. When he was at 124 he started to change but next thing you know Beloved came along and ruined Paul D yet again. Overall, a part of slavery will always be with Paul D, no matter how hard he tries to force himself to change.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Paul D is not viewed as a man during this time in history, being a slave and being black, he is viewed as an animal. To continue with this idea of him being an animal, and having it drilled into his head that thats all he his, lets take a look at where this has effected him. Working at sweet Home, he did things unimaginable to the human mind, thus breaking his "Manhood". On the chain gang, he had to suck dicks, white dicks, because it was viewed as the most dehumanizing act to make another man suck your dick, proved the sucker was not a man, cause he had your manhood in his mouth. At 124, he thinks he gets rid of a baby ghost, this makes him feel manly, then the ghost comes back as a human 19yro girls, has sex with him, and opens his tin box, releasing the terrible memories from sweet home. All his life, he lost his manhood.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the majority in saying that Paul D never really resolves his issues throughout the novel. Paul D struggles with being a man from the start of the book. First off, he was a slave, so he really had no rights and he had to have sex with cows to relieve himself. In all actuality he became more of an animal than a man. Also, when Paul D is living with Sethe he cannot bring himself to actually want to be with her and while he is with her, he still struggles with his past. Since Paul D struggles to deal with his animalistic past, he never really becomes a man. Instead, Paul D appears to be attempting to be something he is not. I think that the tin he carries around with him represents his past, and when it opens, I think his struggle to become a real man, a free one, come to the forefront of his mind. He even thinks having a child will help him at one point in the novel. In my opinion Paul D’s struggle with manhood is never resolved, as a result of slavery and the horrors he was subjected too.
ReplyDeletePaul D does not reach resolution of his conflict nor does he achieve manhood. At Sweet Home, he has no rights and cannot have sexual or romantic relations. He lived the life of an animal and often had sex with cows. Paul D even struggles with his past life at Sweet Home when he attempts to form a relationship with Sethe at 124. At one point in the novel, he wants to get Sethe pregnant in order to form a closer relationship with her and possibly a family. However, he leaves Sethe with Beloved and Denver after learning that she killed her daughter. Even though he returns to her at the end of the novel, it is too late for him achieve manhood. They are both too old to start a family and form a romantic relationship.
ReplyDeletePaul D does not really reach a resolution to his conflict. He can never really do things that are what a man would want. He cannot have sex with any women he wants, he can’t even have sex with a women. He is conflicted that he does not really know what his manhood is. Once he got to have sex with a woman, that woman being Sethe, she could not be satisfied. He does not know what to do to please a woman since he has never experienced it. He never even got to live a life with Sethe because of his own actions. He doesn’t know what he needs or wants, and he will never find what exactly he needs to make him into a man.
ReplyDeletePaul D never really resolved his feeling of manhood. When he was a slave at Sweet Home he was unable to satisfy any of his desires and the only thing available to have sex with were cows. Also, while enslaved he was forced to give oral sex to white males. Neither one of those things prevents a strong sense of manhood. Additionally, when he finally reunited with Sethe after many years, he was left very unsatisfied. Finally, towards the end of the novel when Paul D thought he had gotten rid of his inadequacies, Beloved forced him to sleep with her and brings up all of the inadequacies once again.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Paul D was forced to become a man due to being a slave. However, I truly don’t believe that he achieved manhood on his own. He doesn’t know how to love like a man. Over the years he has been forced to perform sexual actions and he doesn’t know what it’s like to truly love a woman. When he finally has sex with Sethe, it isn’t what he expected. He also finds her scars unappealing. This shows truly how naive he is. He also doesn’t know right from wrong. He sleeps with Beloved while already being involved with Sethe, showing his immaturity. He doesn’t know what he wants because he’s never had the freedom to truly seek his desires and passions. This makes him more of a boy and less of a man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Madison that Paul D’s life was changed by slavery. His forced labor and hardships that he faced while enslaved began his development as a man. He states that “not even trying, he had become the kind of man who could walk into a house and make the women cry” (Morrison 20). He shows maturity by being able to listen to women; this is one of his strengths. However, I disagree that Paul D willingly sleeps with Beloved while he is with Sethe. Beloved “haunts” Paul D and puts a spell on him literally, so he has no free will. He does not choose to sleep with Beloved, she forces him to. I think that Sethe is the first woman that Paul D wants to stay around for; before, Paul D would stay at places and with women for a certain amount of time before he had to leave. He was trying to avoid “loving too much,” but Sethe makes him want to stay. I think that Paul D does reach resolution of this conflict when he steps up to the plate and returns to 124 Bluestone Road. He comes back to Sethe and starts to build a life with her.
DeleteAs those above agreed, Paul D failed to truly resolve his feeling of manhood, never being able to achieve such a standing. He instead fails to love Sethe as a man would, and acts immature, not being able to accept Sethe for who she is. Rather than establishing a sense of dignity and pride, he acts to temporarily please himself, an attribute of a boy not a man.
ReplyDeletePaul D failed to resolve his sense of manhood. I agree with Sara that his attempts to places himself were the acts of a boy rather than the acts of a man. All in all Paul D acted naive as he put his own desires ahead of those of Sethe.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Paul D failed to resolve his sense of manhood. Paul D failed to complete his wishes and desires. He failed to accept who Sethe really is but yet falls in love with her. He only satisfies his needs temporarily and not fulfilly by being with SetheZ
ReplyDeletePaul D never resolves his conflicts with his strengths and inadequacies of being a man. I agree with what Katherine said about his struggles before coming to 124 and then how once he gets there his mind set changes. Only to be ruined once again by the advances being made by Beloved.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Paul D never reaches a resolution to his conflict with manhood. He tried to step in an be like a husband figure for Sethe and care for Denver but that didn't last long. He was unsatisfied with their sex and distracted by her scars. He ended up being tempted by Beloved to do sexual acts that she pressured him to do. This led him to become separated from the growing relationship and betray their family. From his time in Sweet Home to 124, I feel that Paul D never could reach manhood.
ReplyDeletePaul D didn't have a normal boys upbringing and was forced to perform inhumane acts such as have sex with animals and other men. Once he was able to be with Sethe, he rejected her sexually, most likely due to his mental trauma. He is never able to step in to Sethe's home and be a father figure and ends up leaving. Because of all of these conflicts, it is easy to infer Paul D never reached manhood.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone said above, I agree that Paul D never truly resolved his manhood. Like Sethe, the scars from his slavery past never left him. They play an important role in his character and the decisions that he makes throughout the novel. He tries to be the man of the house at 124, but that is not true. He is afraid of Sethe and what she has done. He cowardly has sex with Beloved, rather than standing up for Sethe and his beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Paul D reaches a resolution to his conflict of manhood. During his time as a slave, he was never treated as a human and therefore was not able to achieve any of his desires. A part of Paul D’s cruel treatment involved performing oral sex on white men. He also had sex with the cows in order to fulfil his sexual desires. All of the men at Sweet Home were fighting for Sethe as she was the only woman on the plantation. When he eventually had sex with Sethe he was not satisfied. When PAul D comes to 124, he gives his best effort to be the man of the household, however he cannot fill that role. With these examples present, I do not believe that Paul D ever truly met any of his desires throughout his life or found his manhood.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Paul D never fully regained his manhood. This is because through his various owners and what they made him do, he was not only demasculinized but somewhat dehumanized. After he finally escaped, his search for masculinity began. However, even when he and Sethe slept together, she wasn't satisfied, and at the end of the novel he didn't stay with her. To me, it seems as though he isn't ready to settle down because he doesn't feel like he is fully himself and he doesn't have his manhood back.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though Paul D never truly resolved his inner conflict concerning his manhood. He was badly damaged by the sexual acts he was forced to commit back on Sweet Home and his encounter with Beloved. Since Paul D cannot resolve his conflict sexually, he tries to regain his manhood by providing for Denver and Sethe. As with all the characters in this novel, their past keeps coming back to haunt them. Paul D’s past is the reason he will never truly regain his manhood.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Paul did does not reach a resolution with his conflict. All throughout the novel the reader can see that he struggles with his manhood, starting with the ultimatum that he was given on Sweet Home, to either rape Sethe or have sex with cows. Later on in the novel Paul D. suggests to Sethe that maybe they should have a couple kids of their own so that he could "properly love them" as Morrison states but I think the reason why he says this is because he struggles with his manhood. For Paul D, living at 124 was not easy mainly because of his relationship with Beloved and Denver but he tries to regain this manhood, as Sam says, by providing for the family and overall, being the man of the house as he thinks a man should do. But as the past continues to haunt him as it does to others, the reader sees that Paul D can never move past this struggle.
ReplyDeletePaul D never reaches a concrete resolution to his conflict regarding his manhood. His experiences at Sweet Home and at the jail tortured him, dehumanized him, and took away his pride. Paul D feels as if he has lost any possible strength and all sense of being a man, but he doesn’t want others to notice, keeping his insecurities locked inside his “tin box”. For example, he tries to prove himself manly by making sexual advances towards Sethe and convincing himself he wants it, but deep down he is disappointed. He again tries to prove himself as strong and independent by refusing shelter offers when he leaves 124, but feels lonely and sad. Paul D tries to be as much of a man as he can, but all of his trauma has left him as a loner who struggles to form strong loving relationships with others.
ReplyDeletePaul D. struggles with manhood because all his life it has been taken away from him. From only being allowed to have sex with cows, to forcefully performing oral-sex on white men, to being "played with" by a woman, he has had enough. Paul D. feels like a game piece to a game, his manhood is not existent at first because of all the degrading, humiliating experiences. When he finds Sethe again and Denver, he starts to understand his manhood, but still struggles because initially struggles because he feels that Denver isn't welcoming him to 124. Once this issue has been taken care of Paul D. feels like a man, he is the man of the house. Not long after Beloved ruins him again. Shows him his past, and brings it to the forefront of his life again when she asks him to have sex with her. Paul D. lived a difficult life when it came to his manhood.
ReplyDeletePaul D lacks any kind of sense of self throughout most of the novel, and it is not a mystery why. At Sweet Home, he does not have any kind of personal distinction from the rest of the men (all named paul), and they are treated more like animals than people. Later, when he tries to escape he ends up in a prison in Georgia and again, lives like an animal in a hole in the ground. He constantly sees exhibitions of cimes against humanity, including the abuse of his friends and rape of women which he can do nothing to interfere with, which takes away from his manhood. He also has lost anyone he has ever cared about, so his decision that he is incapable of real feelings also would make him feel like an empty vessel of a person. Even as a free man, he wonders from place to place with no real home or connections. His lack of confidence as a man also lets him be easily pushed around by Beloved and eventually contributs to him leaving 124. At the end, when he returns to 124 and sees how the community came together to help Denver and Sethe, I think some of his faith in humanity is restored. Also, he assumes a role in Sethe's life as someone who is needed. When he tells Sethe that she is the best part of him, he lets go of the idea that ex-slaves should not love or care for others so much, and it turns out that his chest is not an empty tin can.
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