A mother killing her own child is an act that subverts the natural order of the world. A mother is expected to create life, not destroy it. The truth about Beloved's death is finally revealed, and Morrison leads up to the story with images of death and unnatural circumstances. The setting for Stamp Paid's revelation to Paul D is the slaughterhouse, where he and Paul D work with death every day. When looking at the newspaper clipping, Paul D immediately recognizes the implications of Sethe's picture appearing in a white newspaper. News about blacks does not normally appear in white papers unless something terrible enough has occurred to capture the white readers' interest. Just as it is unnatural for the white community to acknowledge any blacks, it is unnatural for a black community made up of ex-slaves not to protect their own from white slave catchers. However, that is what happened on the day Sethe tried to murder her children.
Paul D's resistance to Stamp Paid's revelation about Beloved's murder demonstrates the degree of horror and disbelief such an act creates. As we have seen, Paul D has undergone terrible, dehumanizing experiences which have toughened him and made him nearly impervious to hardship and pain. Morrison reminds us of his toughness when she describes his working conditions at the slaughterhouse. Paul D, we know by now, is not a man who is easily shocked. He is horrified, though, by the nature of Sethe's crime and by her inability to comprehend why her actions were wrong.
