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 hadn’t escaped, some of the major events of the story wouldn’t have happened. There’s 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:
”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. 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.”
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.
