PART ONE In this passage Morrison gives the reader a sense of why Sula behaves in a way that is upsetting to others and why the women in Bottom treat her so unfairly. The passage begins, “In a way, her strangeness, her naiveté, her craving for the other half of her equation was the consequence of an idle imagination” (Morrison, Sula, 121). This description of Sula paints her as being offbeat and childlike. Sula is not simply wanting to find her other half, she is “craving” to find it. Using the word craving gives us a sense of the desperation that Sula feels to find her missing piece. It is a word filled with desperation and hunger. Morrison then goes on to say that Sula’s lack of her other half is a “consequence” for having an idle mind. …show more content…
. .” (121). Paints, clay, dance, and strings are all kinds of creative expression that Sula could use as a release. The use of the word “anything” is significant because it calls back to the “craving” described in the previous line. Like the word “craving,” “anything” evokes a sense of desperation. Sula is so desperate to fill the void inside of her that she will accept any method of creative expression as a release for the longing she feels to find her missing piece. Morrison describes Sula as having a “tremendous curiosity” and a “gift for metaphor.” “Tremendous curiosity” can be defined as a strong desire to gain knowledge. A metaphor is a figure of speech that involves symbolism and can be thought of as a quick-witted way of speaking. A “gift for metaphor” can be interpreted as the possession of a sharp tongue. The second half of the line states, “. . .she might have exchanged the restlessness and preoccupations with whim for an activity that provided her with all she yearned for” (121). By stating that Sula is restless and caught up in momentary desires, we get the sense that Sula’s idle mind manifests itself in these ways. Putting the line together, we see that Morrison is saying that if Sula had a creative outlet to appease her mind, she would no longer feel restless or get …show more content…
Ovens and steam kettles bring back the concept of domesticity and housework. These women have had the “sweetness” taken from them by this domestic lifestyle. “Sweetness” here can be understood to mean youth, happiness, or passion. The text then states that for these women, “Their children were like distant but exposed wounds whose aches were no less intimate because separate from their flesh” (122). The children are described as “distant but exposed wounds.” The children are distant because they are longer residing in their mother’s womb. Their existence in the world outside of their mother’s uterus makes them exposed. They are wounds because their existence reminds their mothers of the loss of their “sweetness” due to living a lifestyle centered around domesticity and motherhood. This reminder is painful in the same way that a wound is. The pain is described as being “no less intimate because separate from their flesh,” meaning that just because these children are no longer physically inside these women doesn’t mean that the reminder of what they lost hurts any less (122). Finally, Morrison writes that, “They had looked at the world and back at their children, back at the world and back again at their children, and Sula knew that one clear young eye was all that kept the knife away from the throat’s curve” (122). While I’m not sure
Martin Espada’s poem is a tragic view of what people living in poverty were subjected to. Several lines of this poem, paint a horrific picture of their lives. As the poem progresses the tone changes to what his hopes and dreams were for the future of these people. The author wrote this to help other people be aware of the tragedies that have and could happen again.
In examining the two distinct characters of Nel (Wright) Greene and Sula Peace from Toni Morrison's Sula, a unique individual soul emerges from the two women. This soul takes into account good, bad, and gray area qualities. They gray area qualities are needed because, while Nel exhibits more of the stereotypical "good" qualities than Sula, the stereotypes of good and bad don't fit the definition completely. Nel and Sula combined create a type of ying and yang soul, each half including some of the other half. While at times the two women are polar opposites of one another in point of view, they arrive at their opinions with the help of the other. The two characters need each other in order to exist to the extent that they become "two throats and one eye" (Morrison 2167). A physical example of how connected the two girls are is seen when they line up head to head forming a straight, continuous, and complete line (2124).
Given the title of the novel, Sula Peace is a complex and thought provoking character in Toni Morrison’s, Sula. Her thoughts and actions often contradict, leaving the reader unable to decipher whether Sula should be praised or demonized. As a child, Sula grows up in a chaotic household that is run by strong-willed women. Because of this constant commotion, Sula loves quiet and neat settings, which is shown through her behavior at Nel’s home. In the novel it says, “She had no center, no speck around which to grow” (Morrison 119). This quote points out how much her home life as a child affects her behavior as an adult. Her mother, Hannah, has almost no sense of right and wrong. Her promiscuous behavior is observed by Sula and sets the foundation
Sula by Toni Morrison is a compelling novel about a unique, self-confident woman. As in many other books, each secondary character in the story serves as a vehicle to explain the main character. Hannah, Sula's mother, is dominated by the element of air; she is free spirited, frivolous and child-like. On the other hand, the element of fire is prevalent in Sula, who is impulsive, hot-tempered and passionate. Despite the differences between the two, Hannah's lifestyle intrigues and influences her daughter. The effect Hannah has on Sula is reflected in many of her daughter's perspectives and actions. As a result of the ubiquitous presence of fire within her, in contrast to her mother's blithe spirit, Sula carries all of Hannah's immorality and actions to a more extreme level. Both women have promiscuous tendencies, do not have close friendships with women, and become easily irritated by Eva. The difference is that Sula's fiery character leads her to act more cruelly than her mother.
The lack of support and affection protagonists, Sula Peace and Nel Wright, causes them to construct their lives on their own without a motherly figure. Toni Morrison’s novel, Sula, displays the development of Sula and Nel through childhood into adulthood. Before Sula and Nel enter the story, Morrison describes the history of the Peace and Wright family. The Peace family live abnormally to their town of Medallion, Ohio. Whereas the Wrights have a conventional life style, living up to society’s expectations.The importance of a healthy mother-daughter relationship is shown through the interactions of Eva and Hannah Peace, Hannah and Sula, and between Helene Wright and Nel. When Sula and Nel become friends they realize the improper parenting they
Toni Morrison’s novel Sula is rich with paradox and contradiction from the name of a community on top of a hill called "Bottom" to a family full of discord named "Peace." There are no clear distinctions in the novel, and this is most apparent in the meaning of the relationship between the two main characters, Sula and Nel. Although they are characterized differently, they also have many similarities. Literary critics have interpreted the girls in several different ways: as lesbians (Smith 8), as the two halves of a single person (Coleman 145), and as representations of the dichotomy between good and evil (Bergenholtz 4 of 9). The ambiguity of these two characters allows for infinite speculation, but regardless of how the reader interprets the relationship their bond is undeniable. The most striking example of their connection occurs right before the accidental death of Chicken Little. In the passage preceding his death, Nel and Sula conduct an almost ceremonial commitment to one another that is sealed permanently when "the water darkened and closed quickly over the place where Chicken Little sank" (Morrison 61):
Bishop’s use of imagism in “One Art” helps the reader to comprehend the ability of the speaker to move on from lost items such as a mother’s watch or loved houses.
Sula by Toni Morrison is a very complex novel with many underlying themes. Some of the themes that exist are good and evil, friendship and love, survival and community, and death. In Marie Nigro's article, "In Search of Self: Frustration and Denial in Toni Morrison's Sula" Nigro deals with the themes of survival and community. According to Nigro, "Sula celebrates many lives: It is the story of the friendship of two African-American women; it is the story of growing up black and female; but most of all, it is the story of a community" (1). Sula contains so many important themes that it is hard to say which one is the most important. I agree with Marie Nigro when she says that Sula is a story about community. I believe that community and how the community of Bottom survives is an important theme of the story. But I do not believe that it is a central theme of the story. When I think back on the novel Sula in twenty years, I will remember the relationship and friendship between Nel and Sula. I will not remember the dynamics of the community.
...them into better people, at least for a short while. While Sula was alive, wives were taking care of their husbands more, mothers of their children, and children of their elderly parents. When Sula dies, Morrison writes, "the tension was gone and so was the reason for the effort they had made." (153) Everyone goes back to being selfish and unloving, as they were before. Perhaps having people like Sula in a community should be considered a necessary evil it if motivates people to do good.
In Toni Morrison’s novel Sula, the theme of the story is good versus evil. It’s embodied into the story in various forms to question what defines right and wrong. Good versus evil is presented in forms that are understood on the surface and beneath the surface which gives it multiple meanings. The relationship between Sula and Nel is the main expression of this theme, however, there are also many other contributors such as color schemes, gender and race differences, and life and death. This theme sheds light on the significance and interpretation of issues of everyday reality which includes controversies related to identity struggles, super natural forces, the impact and relevance of upbringing on development, family structure, and racism. Morrison demonstrates the importance of good versus evil with her writing in the way that she overlaps them and interprets them as products of one another. The friendship of Sula and Nel creates a presence of good and evil within their relationship to each other and their community.
... conflicting desires towards women, which stemmed from his Catholic upbringing. As a catholic, Stephen had been taught to view women in one of two ways: as whores, which was in reference to Mary Magdalene, or as Madonna’s, reminiscent of the Virgin Mary. However, his transformation into an artist disproved this theory and allowed Stephen to judge women solely on their artistic beauty. The women within the novel pushed Stephen towards his true calling, each revealing to him the necessary steps required to become an artist. In the final lines of the novel, Stephen proclaims his desire to become an artist: “I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race” (Joyce 224). In a sense, art is Stephen’s “ideal woman,” for nothing on earth can match its purity or ability to transform.
Racism and sexism are both themes that are developed throughout the novel Sula, by Toni Morrison. The book is based around the black community of "The Bottom," which itself was established on a racist act. Later the characters in this town become racist as well. This internalized racism that develops may well be a survival tactic developed by the people over years, which still exists even at the end of the novel. The two main characters of this novel are Nel Wright and Sula Peace. They are both female characters and are often disadvantaged due to their gender. Nel and Sula are depicted as complete opposites that come together to almost complete one another through their once balanced friendship. Nel is shown to be a good character because she plays a socially acceptable role as a woman, submissive wife and mother, while Sula conforms to no social stereotypes and lets almost nothing hold her back, thus she is viewed as evil by the people in her community. Both women are judged by how well they fit into the preconceived social conventions and stereotypes that exist in "the Bottom."
It should be understood that Morrison's novel is filled with many characters and many examples of racism and sexism and the foundations for such beliefs in the black community. Every character is the victim or an aggressor of racism of sexism in all its forms. Morrison succeeds in shedding light on the racism and sexism the black community had to endure on top of racism and sexism outside of the community. She shows that racism and sexism affect everyone's preconceived notions regarding race and gender and how powerful and prevalent the notions are. Within the community, racism affects how people's views of beauty and skin can be skewed by other's racist thoughts; sexism shapes everyone in the community's reactions to different forms of rape.
... The reader is expected to go above and beyond simply reading a book. Everything an author does is purposeful and intentional, it is up to the reader to recognize these things and get the most out of the book they can. Although Morrison employs many other narrative techniques within Sula being able to recognize the narrator, the cruxes and the themes the reader can gain a better understanding and appreciation for the narrative they are reading and the argument (in this case) that Morrison is making for women experiences.
First there is the presence of the old stereotypical woman character, a woman split between the conventional and nontraditional roles of women. No differences are apparent initially between Morrison's Sula and any other women's literature in the past. Women are depicted either as docile servants to men, like Nel, or ball-busting feminist monsters like Sula. The hidden aspect of the novel lies underneath these stereotypical surface roles, in the incomprehensible and almost inappropriate bond of the two women. In the final scene of Sula, Nel comes to the realization that the emptiness inside her is due to the loss of Sula, not Jude (Morrison 174). Her friendship with Sula is all that matters.