Beloved

Three weeks after their initial sexual encounter, Paul D resolves to end his illicit affair with Beloved. He has no control over his body when she comes to the shed to have sex with him. He decides to tell Sethe about what he has been doing with Beloved but is fearful that she may reject him. He waits for Sethe one day outside Sawyer’s Restaurant where she works. When he greets her, he tells her that he has bad news. From Sethe’s expression, Paul D can tell that she believes he is about to tell her that he is leaving her. However, as what Paul D has to tell her is worse, he lies and says that he wishes to have a baby with her instead. The thought of it makes them both amorous, and they walk back to the house together under a spell of romance. However, the sight of Beloved waiting on the front porch breaks their reverie. Sethe realizes she has little desire to have another child given that Beloved’s appearance has satiated her need for an additional member of her family. Sethe takes a shawl from Beloved’s hands that was intended for her mother and instead wraps it around Beloved herself to protect her from the cold.