All posts by Damany Wallace
Beloved Visual
I chose to create a video depicting a similar scene Paul D could have experienced when he escaped the chain gang during the rainstorm. I used a video editor to overlap both the sound of thunder and the chains, while using several images representing slave labor. The first two images show slaves working with the sound of the chains playing in the background. When the chain sounds stop, the final image shows a group of slaves running away.
Beloved
“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.
Quoting Beloved
Introduce:
When a man named Paul D comes along, a series of events take place and changes the dynamics of the family at 124. Paul D escaping from the Georgia chain gang played a huge part in the novel. Paul D plays a significant role in the lives of Sethe and Denver. If he hadnât escaped, some of the major events of the story wouldnât have happened. Thereâs a lot of evidence that Paul D affected people’s lives through escaping, but I believe Paul D himself changed entirely after his escape and him being at 124.
Quote:
âBut this was not a normal woman in a normal house. As soon as he had stepped through the red light he knew that, compared to 124, the rest of the world was bald. After Alfred he had shut down a generous portion of his head, operating on the part that helped him walk, eat, sleep, sing. If he could do those things–with a little work and a little sex thrown in–he asked for no more, for more required him to dwell on Halle’s face and Sixo laughing. To recall trembling in a box built into the ground. Grateful for the daylight spent doing mule work in a quarry because he did not tremble when he had a hammer in his hands. The box had done what Sweet Home had not, what working like an ass and living like a dog had not: drove him crazy so he would not lose his mind.â
Interpret:
In other words, before coming to 124, he was living life very bland. He has no emotions caused by his days as a slave.
Analyze
“But this was not a normal woman in a normal house. As soon as he had stepped through the red light he knew that, compared to 124, the rest of the world was bald.”
In Paul D’s mind, you could say his life before meeting Sethe wasn’t worth living. It was bland. This also shows how much of an impact Sethe had on Paul D’s life, with Sethe being described as no normal woman.
“After Alfred he had shut down a generous portion of his head, operating on the part that helped him walk, eat, sleep, sing. If he could do those things–with a little work and a little sex thrown in–he asked for no more, for more required him to dwell on Halle’s face and Sixo laughing.”
His time as a slave removed his human features and reason to have emotions. He was basically running on auto-pilot.
Apply
Even with Paul D living life with this “walk, eat, sleep, sing” mentality, he seems to have eradicated it when he reunited with Sethe. Now, with a new outlook on life, he could now better the lives of the people around him, which he did with Sethe and Denver.
Wallace’s Glossary
- Reluctant
- Sullenly
- Paternalistic
- Quizzical
- Exquisite
- Misconstrued
- Breadth
- Scoffingly
- Pious
- Tumultuously
- Encroached
- Rhetorical
- Teetering
- Relinquished
- Detox
For most of the glossary words I choose, I tried looking for words I’ve never heard or used before. Having the context of the words in the stories, as well as the definition, increases the chance of me understanding and using the word more often.
Detox
detox – noun – a process or period of time in which one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances; detoxification.
What You Pawn I Will Redeem By Sherman Alexie
“We stopped in front of the detox center.” – Jackson Jackson, 6AM, line 63
Relinquished
relinquished – verb – to renounce or surrender (a possession, right, etc.)
The Shawl by Ozick
“Without complaining, Magda relinquished Rosa’s teats, first the left, then the right;” paragraph 3, sentence 10
Teetering
Rhetorical
Rhetorical – adjective – of, relating to, or concerned with the art of speaking or writing formally and effectively especially as a way to persuade or influence people
What You Pawn I Will Redeem By Sherman Alexie
âDonât ask me rhetorical questions. They scare me.â-Jackson^2, 11 AM, line 10
