Beloved Stamp Paid Essay

Stamp Paid in Beloved In the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison the minor character Stamp Paid plays a massive role in the story as a whole, and sets many events in motion for Sethe and other members of the community. Throughout his time as a slave he was forced to sacrifice his wife to his masters son, and because of this sacrifice he values family, freedom, and debts paid, which all reflect the theme of community Morrison creates throughout the novel. Stamp Paid was forced to give his wife to his masters son, and because of this we see a major emphasis on family and family ties throughout the novel. We see in his description of what happened that the only family that he mentions asides from his nephew is taken from him by the same people that have stolen his freedom. Because of this we see Stamp attempt to claim some sort of family in the residents of 124, even if they aren't related to him by blood. We see this in his many attempts to help out

Thats why he renamed himself Stamp Paid, because he no longer owes anything to anyone. He also believes that even though he helps the slaves to freedom out of the good of his heart, he still thinks he deserves to be able to walk into any house he wants without knocking. This all changes when he drives Paul d away from 124 and starts to think he owes the members of 124, especially Denver, then he previously thought. “By luck he had been there at her very birth almost— before she knew she was alive— and it made him partial to her.” This shows that even though he claims he has payed all of his debts, he still feels he owes something to Denver, to save her from the ghost haunting the house especially after he was the one who got Paul D to leave. This goes back to the theme of community because it shows that stamp believes in a community you have to look out for the other members of it, and you have to repay your