Baby Suggs and Paul D
While I was reading the assignment from 12/3 (pages 159-195), something that stood out to me was the parallelism of Baby Suggs and Paul D. Throughout the novel I thought of them as two separate, very different people, despite both living at Sweet Home. In the novel, Baby Suggs is a voice and person of the past that occasionally motivates or encourages characters in the present. Paul D is a character that exists in the present and does not appear to have any capabilities of “seeing” anything outside of the ordinary. In this chapter, though, there is a joining of the past (Baby Suggs) and the present (Paul D) in the middle of the novel: as Baby Suggs experiences the event at 124 and Paul D hears of the true story of the event at 124 for the first time.
The beginning of Baby Suggs’ interaction with 124 begins with her talking with Janey about her need for a job. Janey suggests the slaughterhouse. Almost immediately, Baby Suggs’ is drawn to the slaughterhouse, “When they asked what work she could do, instead of reeling off the hundreds of tasks she had performed, she asked about the slaughterhouse. She was too old for that, they said” (170). Despite being denied the job at the slaughterhouse, Baby Suggs ends up living in the slaughter house (notice the space). Conversely, Paul D’s interaction with 124 begins when he, Stamp Paid, and twenty more have, “pushed and prodded them [pigs] from canal to shore to chute to slaughterhouse” (181). After working at a slaughterhouse, Paul D leaves to go to the slaughter house.
The day that Sethe makes 124 the slaughter house, Baby Suggs is described as “a woman with a flower in her hat” (175). As Sethe kills her daughter and attempts to kill her other children, Baby Suggs stands still, grappling with what is before her. After hearing the story of the slaughter house, Paul D struggles to process the difficult information that he has been told by and about the woman he loves. Only after opening the door and telling Sethe that he “might be a little late”, he puts on his flowerless hat (195). The absence of the flower in this scene represents Sethe, as she is now detached from him. By the end of Part I, both Baby Suggs and Paul D leave 124 with their hearts closed.
At Baby Suggs first arrival at 124, she has a realization about, arguably the person she loves the most, “And when she stepped foot on free ground she could not believe that Halle knew what she didn’t; that Halle, who had never drawn one free breath, knew that there was nothing like it in this world. It scared her” (166). Just before Paul D’s first leaving of 124, he makes a similar realization about the person he loves the most, “This here new Sethe didn’t know where the world stopped and she began. Suddenly he saw what Stamp Paid wanted him to see: more important than what Sethe had done was what she claimed. It scared him” (193). These two very similar lines that are quite easy for one to miss is what made me think about the parallelism of Paul D and Baby Suggs. Both individuals in this novel have gone through extremely traumatic events that make them react in opposite ways. Baby Suggs opens her heart and once she gains freedom and closes it after the events at 124. By the time that Paul D has gained freedom, his heart is sealed shut and remains shut after he truly understands what caused Sethe to act at 124.
Sethe’s arrival at 124 begins with Baby Suggs washing her and helping her recover from the trauma she has experienced in her life. Paul D and Sethe’s story ends with him loving her the way that Baby Suggs did. Upon writing this blog post, I thought of the line on page 311 about Paul D, “His coming is the reverse route of his going.” I thought of this line in two other ways, “Her coming is the reverse route of his going” and “His coming is the reverse route of her going”. Regardless, it creates the idea of symmetry that occurs in the stories of Paul D and Baby Suggs. Perhaps Paul D and Baby Suggs are not about the parallel of the stories and life of 124, but rather the symmetry and reflection of it?
Awesome blog post Sam! I never thought of the parallelism between Baby Suggs and Paul D, and in my opinion that is a very apt theory. They both share similar qualities in terms of personality, and I believe Paul D has the capability of unknowingly developing some of Baby Suggs' characteristics in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis is so good, and the connections between these two characters and how they function in Sethe's mind makes a lot of sense to me, and you're right that these connections don't seem at all obvious initially. Among other things, Paul and Baby Suggs represent different genders and different generations, and they've had very different experiences with slavery (Sethe experiences Sweet Home as a relative kind of relief from the more brutal situations she's been in, while Paul is in many ways harmed by the expectation of his "manhood" that Garner and Sweet Home generates in him). But they both represent Sethe's past intruding on the present, and they both possess this remarkable capacity for empathy and compassion. There's an instinctual kind of gentleness to both of them, and with both of them Sethe feels free to express her feelings. And with both of them, Sethe believes she can be "understood," since they both know the horrors of Sweet Home. And this proves true, in a way: Baby Suggs is alone in not being willing to condemn Sethe's actions, even if she can't affirm them either. And while Paul is initially horrified, he does come around to a more sympathetic point of view at the end. When he reconciles with Sethe as she lies in Baby Suggs's bed, seeming to wait for death, this connection comes full circle ("symmetry and reflection").
ReplyDeleteHi Sam, great post! I never thought of connecting Baby Suggs and Paul D together but you did a really good job of explaining their parallels. You're right, they do share somewhat similar experiences. And they are both definitely underrated characters that are so essential to the plot line, often overlooked next to characters like Sethe, Denver, and Beloved.
ReplyDeleteHey Sam! this is a really good post. This is such a unique topic to write about, I didnt think about the relation between Baby Suggs and Paul D. I agree that they are both very similar and that they both contribute so much to the story and each characters journey. Good work!
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting, especially since Paul D and Baby Suggs came from the same place. Rather than representing a distinct past and future, they represent the same part of her life and both are able to help her move into a new present. I think this is also important to the theme of the book that understanding and reconciling with the past is integral to moving into a new future.
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting comparison, and I think you brought up a lot of good points to support it! One of the symmetries you discuss is the idea of both characters "closing their hearts," or essentially reacting to the trauma they've been through by shutting themselves off from loving people. After she's first freed, Baby Suggs finds purpose in spreading love (especially the idea she preaches of rebellious self-love) to others, but is overwhelmed with despair after Sethe's murder of Beloved, and feels her capacity to give away her heart is finally worn out. In contrast, Paul D. enters the story with his heart already closed off in a "tobacco tin," but comes, through the course of the story, to rediscover the power of his love for Sethe as a means of healing.
ReplyDeleteHello Sam, this was such an interesting blog post and the comparison you made was something I would have never thought of. I agree that Paul D and Baby Suggs share many similarities and I really liked how you described their roles as a "symmetry and reflection" of life at 124 and their stories instead of a "parallel". Fantastic Job!
ReplyDeleteThis post was awesome, I enjoyed your wordplay, and you made a connection I hadn't thought to make. The symbolism you observe is impressive, and so is your interpretation of the text. Your comment about “Her coming is the reverse route of his going” and “His coming is the reverse route of her going” was particularly interesting. A swaggy statement fs.
ReplyDelete