Three weeks into his affair with Beloved, Paul D ponders his servitude under Garner, who allowed so much freedom that the male Sweet Home slaves were deluded into thinking themselves men. After schoolteacher took over the management of Sweet Home, the slaves realized that they had nurtured a false sense of security. Paul D's bitter recriminations return him to the scene of Sixo's death, when Sixo displayed his strength by refusing to cry out while his body roasted over flames.
Fears for his lost sense of self impel Paul D to seek Sethe at Sawyer's restaurant. She smiles with "pleasure and surprise" when she sees him and hurries to finish her work. Paul D tries to prepare her for the revelation that Beloved has overpowered and sapped his strong sense of independence. The look of resignation in Sethe's eyes tells Paul D that she expects him to leave her. Inexplicably, he decides not to confess his relations with Beloved, instead proposing that he and Sethe conceive a child.
Paul D's proposal surprises him with its threefold application: A pregnancy would return him to Sethe, salvage his manhood, and break Beloved's hold on him. Sethe cuddles with him on the way home. Snowflakes fall on the couple, and Paul D talks himself into adopting his own suggestion. Joyously, he hoists Sethe on his back and runs toward home.
