“Paul D made a few acquaintances; spoke to them about what work he might find. Sethe returned the smiles she got. Denver was swaying with delight. And on the way home, although leading them now, the shadows of three people still held hands.”
In this passage, we see that Paul D is trying to be apart of the community, and ultimately Sethe’s life. He is seen looking for work in the neighborhood and within the same chapter, he is being friendly to everyone he meets. Him being well acquainted with the community led to the community finally accepting Sethe and Denver.
One significant part of the passage I found was the relationship between Paul and Denver. Before the carnival, the community kind of ignored them. Denver didn’t have any friends, which led her to befriending the ghost at 124. Their ‘friendship’ came to an end when Paul D came to 124 and chased it away. This made Denver hate Paul D for taking away the only friend she had at the time. Fast forward to the night after the carnival, she seems to have found something likable in Paul, and doesn’t mind his company. Plus, him sort of ‘reintroducing’ the community to the family of 124 brought some attention to her and showed signs of her making friends in the future.
Sethe also got some positive feedback from everyone. The chapter ends with the three characters enjoying their company, which could have foreshadowed a bright future for the family, but that wasn’t the case, unfortunately, with the introduction to a girl named Beloved in the following chapter. It seems like this is the ‘feel-good’ moment, before the main conflict of the story.
