There are many symbols intertwined in Beloved, by Toni Morrison. Among these is Paul D's tobacco tin, which is a figurative stand-in for his heart. Being a slave at Sweet Home and a prisoner in a camp in Alfred, Georgia, Paul D certainly faces traumatizing events. These traumatizing events manifest themselves figuratively in Paul D's tobacco tin. In more abstract terms, the tobacco tin represents the loss of connection between memories and emotional function. With a tobacco tin as a figurative stand-in for Paul D's heart, Morrison highlights the destruction of identity caused by slavery. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayPaul D as an example of a person who has unintentionally lost his personalityPaul D's traumatizing experience under the weight of a piece of iron in his mouth caused him to lose his voice and adopt a feeling of worthlessness. The iron bite is a manifestation of the destruction of identity caused by slavery because Paul D is limited in his ability to speak. Most of our personality is shown by what we say or do, and by being severely limited in those areas, Paul D ends up having a diminished personality. Paul D is naturally a kind and caring person, but when “Paul D saw [Halle] and could not save or comfort him because he had the iron bit in his mouth,” his caring nature was destroyed (Morrison, 83). The piece of iron is a critical piece to Paul D's tobacco tin because it "put a wildness where there was none before" (Morrison, 84). The tin symbolically represents all the harsh emotional changes that occur due to the horrors of slavery. For Paul D, that change was a wilderness that would stick around for a while. Paul D reaches 124 years old and begins to become more and more the male character he aspires to be. After being treated as subhuman for the past few years, spending quality time with Sethe and Denver changes him for the better. Although, once Paul D learns of Sethe's questionable past, there's no looking past it. Having a tobacco tin for a heart, Paul D fails to understand the kind of "strong love" Sethe believes in for her children. Suffering abuse, humiliation and torture, Paul D remains immune to any feelings of love. This is part of the emotional dysfunction that Paul D suffers from on a daily basis. Paul D says, “You have two feet, Sethe, not four” (Morrison, 194). The knowledge of Sethe's brutal actions is yet another element added to the tobacco box. Paul D as a character is naturally inclined to be kind and feel sympathy for those he loves, but his tobacco box deprives him of this. Scraping away whatever was left of his original identity, all he can do is separate himself from Sethe, “blocking the distance between them, giving it shape and weight” (Morrison, 194). The work as a whole places great emphasis on the trials of abandonment and desperation that Paul D goes through. His separation from Sethe is stacked with everything else, in his tobacco tin. Paul D's opening of the tobacco tin represents how the horrors of the past can always come back to haunt us. With Beloved violating a growing threat to Paul D's sanity, an emotional revolution was imminent for Paul D. Beloved's sexual pressure and Paul D's uncontrollable urge to connect breaks his emotional stagnation and opens the lid on his tobacco box. Paul D keeps saying, “Red heart. Red Heart” (Morrison, 138). It was a deep connection,.