Who is Paul D?

A common theme found throughout Toni Morrison’s Beloved is that of identity, especially in the character of Paul D. Because of his past horrific experiences in slavery, he is unable to define himself as a human being. Everything he has ever been has been determined by white men, or his owners, and after becoming free, Paul D has no concept of identity. After leaving Sethe, Paul D’s “tobacco tin” heart is “blown open”. Much of his heartbreaking past is revealed. Paul D is unsure of whether or not he truly is a man or that he was only a man because Mr. Garner made him one. He questions, “was that Garner’s gift or his own will?” and “Did a wheiteman saying it make it so?” (260). Though Garner made his slaves “men”, “Paul D believed schoolteacher broke into children what Garner had raised into men” (160). One can imagine why a slave, such as Paul D, may have trouble identifying with himself. After being told what to do for so long, how does one begin to make his own decisions? It is at this moment in the novel that there is a turning point in Paul D’s character. The reader is relieved and horrified at the same time to finally discover the full story behind Paul D’s tobacco tin. He now becomes a character with which the reader can sympathize. His past has created such confusion and heartbreak that Paul D can no longer find himself. Paul D’s revelation ends with Stamp Paid’s mentioning of Beloved. Stamp Paid asks, “Is she what run you off?” (277) and Paul D replies with a shudder that leaves the reader wondering the same thing he himself is in the last lines of the chapter—“Why?” (277).