Love of all Sizes

I agree that perhaps Paul D is simply afraid to love due to his availability heuristic. All throughout his life, Paul D has seen countless mothers and their children be separated without getting the chance to know each other. Although we do not know Paul D's family history, figuring in the era, it is safe to assume that he, as an able-bodied young male, probably did not know his family for too long. However, I do not think that it is an equal comparison to say that Paul D is capable of loving Sethe or any other person for that matter, but is simply afraid to, based on the fact that at one point he mentioned that he loved the stars and moon because they could not be taken away. One cannot have an intimate, loving, two-sided relationship with a star. Maybe he is simply trying to fixate on something that will always be there for him, as nothing else in his life ever has been. Mr. Garner, the man that gave him his manhood, left him. Sixo was killed. His family is never spoken of. Halle disappeared. Baby Suggs was freed. Sethe ran. The chain gain men had places to go and people to turn to when they escaped -- all but one, Paul D. The Sethe he thought he knew "left" him a second time when Beloved came and he was informed of Sethe's past. This incident warped his view of her and brought him to yet another disappointment. So what does this mean? Is Paul D capable of love, yet unwilling or is he simply a "lost cause?"

Moreover, if you do believe that Paul D, and the other characters in Morrison's novel, are capable of loving, what type of love is it? Is it the romantic type of love one has with another person? The type you feel for your home and the people in it when you're back after a hard day? A friendship? Or is it something else?

Beloved and Love

The idea of love in "Beloved" is more of an unspoken, ostracized emotion unlike today's prospective. Now, love is something that most people are on the hunt for and some people envy others who are in relationships for example if they are not currently involved in one. With "Beloved", love is forbidden among slaves and is dealt with by punishment as we have heard from Baby Suggs and Sethe. The slaves at sweet home were beaten for being accused of feeling or displaying affection which could condition people to lack the ability to love by result. Another way love was dealt with at sweet home was to split up families, making them just a distant memory. Sethe does not allow herself to be told what to feel and with that, places all of her love into her four children, Howard, Buglar, Denver, and Beloved.

Sethe takes her love to the extreme by attempting to murder all four of her children before they can be taken turned into slaves. She believes that this is the only way to "save" them. I think that her actions are more than overprotective. Paul D. even says that "your love is too thick". By killing them she would clearly render them of experiencing life for themselves since their life would be no more. By holding on so tightly Sethe has almost done what she had not planned to do. Howard and Buglar left her while Beloved was dead, for the time being, and Denver was the only one left. I think Sethe wanted to show them how much they meant to her, but in reality, she has only drove them away, except for Denver. If Sethe had not been so attached and close-minded, would she have had the perfect, loving, happy family that she desires?