Slavery Stripping Masculinity: Part 2

A similar condition tied Sandy and Paul D, a character in Beloved, together. Chains of slavery bound both Sandy and Paul D. A black slave was always property of his or her master, regardless of whether the slave believed they have been freed from the slavery’s shackles. Property has no sense of personhood and thus it assumes the identity of the owner. For example, an iPod assumes its owner’s identity by containing songs in the owner’s preferred genre. It might have scratches on the sides where the owner dropped it. The iPod is an actually a prop in giving identity to the owner. This is also true about Paul D and Mr. Gardner’s relationship as slave and owner.

After leaving Sweet Home, Paul D struggled with creating a masculine identity. By being treated differently than other slaves at Sweet Home, Paul D thought he had already had a sense of manhood. However, since being freed he questioned previous assumptions. This is exemplified through this quote from Paul D:

“Only the five of them were men. Allowed, encouraged to correct Garner, even defy him. To invent way of doing things; to see what was needed and attack it without permission. To buy a mother, choose a horse or a wife, handle guns, even learn reading if they wanted to-but they didn’t want to since nothing important to them could be put down on paper. Was that it? Is that where the manhood lay?” (Morrison, 147)

While questioning his masculine identity and how it can persist under the chains of slavery, Paul D finds himself envious of the life of Mister the rooster. Mister had been unable to break free from the confinements of his shell when entering the world, and so Paul D cracked the egg containing Mister and thus gave him life. Much like Paul D, Mister escaped the barriers that once held him captive, yet Mister confidently held an identity. A master owned Mister, much like how a master once owned Paul D; however, no matter if his physical form changed he would always remain Mister in both name and personality. For example, if he were slaughtered for meat he would still hold the identity of Mister the Rooster. Paul D makes this assertion by stating:

“Mister was allowed to be and stay what he was. But I wasn’t allowed to be and stay what I was. Even if you cooked him you’d be cooking a rooster named Mister. But wasn’t no way I’d every be Paul D again, living or dead.” (Morrison, page 86).

In this way Paul D is admitting that although he has a name and has been valued as a possession, he has never found his own identity and therefore no true Paul D exists, as he cannot form an identity. 

Paul D did not hold an identity the way Mister did, despite their similar beginnings as the possessions of others. In this way, Paul D’s envy of Mister is similar to how Sandy yearned to be a tree. Both lacked a sense of personhood, and sought a life with certainty and that was rooted in a sense of self.  Both men regarded other creatures and things around them as having a definite sense of self while they continued to search for themselves after having been turned loose from the identifier they had grown up with, of slave.  Being released from slavery took away any sense of self Paul D had and therefore he continued to search for himself while envying those secure around him.