“For years Paul D believed schoolteacher broke into children what Garner had raised into men. And it was that that made them run off. Now, plagued by the contents of his tobacco tin, he wondered how much difference there really was between before schoolteacher and after. Garner called and announced them men-but only on Sweet Home, and by his leave. Was he naming what he saw or creating what he did not? That was the wonder of Sixo, and even Halle; it was always clear to Paul D that those two were men whether Garner said so or not. It troubled him that, concerning his own manhood, he could not satisfy himself on that point. Oh, he did manly things, but was that Garner’s gift or his own will? What would he have been anyway-before Sweet Home-without Garner? In Sixo’s country, or his mother’s? Or, God help him, on the boat? Did a whiteman saying it make it so? Suppose Garner woke up one morning and changed his mind? Took the word away. Would they run then? And if he didn’t, would the Pauls have stayed there all their lives? Why did the brothers need the one whole night to decide? To discuss whether they would join Sixo and Halle. Because they had been isolated in a wonderful lie, dismissing Halle’s and Baby Suggs’ life before Sweet Home as bad luck. Ignorant of or amused by Sixo’s dark stories. Protected and convinced they were special. Never suspecting the problem of Alfred, Georgia; being so in love with the look of the world, putting up with anything and everything, just to stay alive in a place where a moon he had no right to was nevertheless there. Loving small and in secret. His little love was a tree, of course, but not like Brother-old, wide and beckoning.”
The main theme of this passage is the third sentence (highlighted). There is no difference between owners even if one treated the slaves better than the other. Slavery is slavery and there is no getting around that.
The POV is third person limited omniscient. Paul D is the main person of the passage.
He questions slavery and the slave owners. His questions project his uncertainty about his own freedom and what slavery is to everyone else. The syntax is made up of short questions and incomplete sentences. The fragmented sentences further show his muddled thoughts; the tone of the passage is of confusion and uncertainty. The diction consists of words ending in “–ing”. He speaks in the present tense while he reminisces of the past.
The beginning of the passage is from the first sentence to the fourth sentence. These first sentences explain the situation. The middle of the passage is from the fifth sentence to the eighteenth sentence. These middle sentences are the questions that Paul D asks himself about slavery and what happened to the people around him and why they did what they did. The last part of the passage is from the nineteenth sentence to the twenty-fifth sentence. These last sentences are there as Paul D attempts to answer his own questions. They also explain why his love is the way it is now and how his heart is now a tobacco tin. Slaves couldn’t love any one thing too much because anything could be taken away from them at any moment; slaves didn’t own anything, even their own bodies.
There is figurative language in the last sentence of the passage. His tree was small and he didn’t allow himself to let it grow. His metaphors of love are in two separate images. The first is of his heart being a tobacco tin. The second is of his “little love” being a “tree”.
“It was as though Sethe didn’t really want forgiveness given; she wanted it refused. And Beloved helped her out.
Somebody had to be saved, but unless Denver got work, there would be no one to save, no one to come home to, and no Denver either. It was a new thought, having a self to look out for and preserve. And it might not have occurred to her if she hadn’t met Nelson Lord leaving his grandmother’s house as Denver entered it to pay a thank you for half a pie. All he did was smile and say, “Take care of yourself, Denver,” but she heard it as though it were what language was made for. The last time he spoke to her his words blocked up her ears. Now they opened her mind. Weeding the garden, pulling vegetables, cooking, washing, she plotted what to do and how. The Bodwins were most likely to help since they had done it twice. Once for Baby Suggs and once for her mother. Why not the third generation as well?” Pg 297
ANALYSIS:
The POV is third person omniscient, although slightly leaning towards Denver’s perspective.
The tone goes from upset to desperate to tired and finally determined. Denver sees Beloved sucking the life out of her mother and becomes desperate to save her family as well as herself. Then she gets tired from the constant fight between Beloved and her mother. Finally, Denver becomes resolved to support the family on her own and is determined to finally go past the edge of the yard and into the world.
The organization of the structure goes from past, present, to future. The past part of the passage goes from the first sentence to the seventh sentence. Denver explains the situation in 124 of the moment and why she needs to go out. The present and future is fairly short. The present is the eighth sentence to the tenth sentence. Denver plans out her actions for the future and how she fill find a job with help from the Bowdins. The future is the last sentence; she is certain that they will help her because that helped her previous generations.
The diction is to the point. Denver knows what she needs to do and she is convicted to go out and do it. The words aren’t grandiose; it is common and informal but still better than the average slave’s vernacular.
The sentences start off loose and as the passage goes on the sentences become concise. There are a lot of commas in the beginning, which show how she isn’t sure of what she will do. Then towards the end of the passage, as the sentences become shorter, the reader can see Denver’s determination.
