Paul D's Homecoming and Return

Follows the last Sweet Home man from his sudden appearance at 124 through his struggle with Beloved, his flight, and his final reconciliation with Sethe.

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The Last of the Sweet Home Men

The Last of the Sweet Home Men A Stranger on the Porch Sethe comes around the house with chamomile on her legs and finds Paul D sitting on the porch. He is the last of the Sweet Home men, gaunt and weather-beaten, with a face that can produce whatever feeling you need. They have not seen each other in eighteen years. The Memory of the Farm Their reunion is full of the old brotherly flirtation, but also of terrible absences: Halle is missing, Sixo is dead, and Paul D has lived through things he cannot tell. He learns that Baby Suggs is dead and that Sethe lives alone with Denver and a ghost. A Tentative Welcome Paul D steps through the red light of the haunted house, and despite his fear, he stays. His presence gives Sethe a future she had stopped imagining.

Beating Back the Ghost

Beating Back the Ghost The House Pitching Again The baby ghost, threatened by Paul D's maleness, turns violent. A table rushes toward him, and he grabs it and bashes the room apart, screaming at the ghost to leave Sethe alone. His rage overwhelms the spirit, and the house goes quiet. The New Order With the ghost gone, Paul D takes its place. He sleeps with Sethe, mends the broken table, and begins to sing the hard songs from Georgia. The house feels like a life again, and even Denver comes around at the carnival. The Limits of Exorcism Paul D believes he has cured 124, but the ghost has only been displaced. The deeper haunting—the memory of Sethe's past, the return of Beloved—will prove much harder to beat.

The Carnival and the Shadows

The Carnival and the Shadows A Day Out Paul D takes Sethe and Denver to the carnival's Colored Thursday. They watch the one-ton lady, the snake charmer, and the midget; they eat candy and laugh. For Sethe it is her first social outing in eighteen years. Three Shadows Holding Hands The three of them do not hold hands, but their shadows do, gliding over the dust. Sethe sees it as a sign: a life could be possible. For a moment, the past is not the only future. The Return Home The carnival is the last ordinary happiness before Beloved appears on the stump. When they come back, a woman is waiting, and the fragile new life begins to unravel.

The Unwelcome Truth

The Unwelcome Truth Stamp Paid's Clipping Stamp Paid shows Paul D a newspaper clipping with a drawing of a woman who looks like Sethe. The story describes the infanticide she committed eighteen years ago. Paul D refuses to believe the face is hers, but the truth begins to crack his world. The Price of Knowing When Paul D confronts Sethe, she does not deny it. She says she was putting her babies where they would be safe. He calls her love too thick and tells her she has two feet, not four—a comment that cuts her to the bone. The Forest Between Them A forest of judgment and shame springs up between them. Paul D leaves 124 that same day, claiming he might be late getting back, but both know he is not coming back.

Returning to Sethe

Returning to Sethe The Quiet House Paul D returns to 124 after Beloved has vanished. He finds Sethe in Baby Suggs's bed, a shell of herself, lying under a quilt of carnival colors, singing a lullaby. She has stopped eating, stopped washing, stopped imagining a future. You Your Best Thing Paul D sits down and tells her that they have more yesterday than anybody, and they need some kind of tomorrow. He lifts her hand and says, "You your best thing, Sethe. You are." The words begin to call her back to herself. A New Beginning The last chapter of their love is not a healing, but a start. Paul D will bathe her, stay at night, and help Denver tend her in the day. The red heart that was rusted shut in his chest opens again, and the two of them stand together at the edge of a new morning.

the summer day Paul D finds 124

Paul D's first night in 124

early autumn, a Thursday afternoon

while Paul D works at the slaughterhouse in winter

weeks after Beloved's disappearance, late summer