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Masculinity in toni morrisons novels
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From the time earth began to this very moment, disobedience is what has pushed humans to excel they way they have. May it be through religious doctrines, a child disobeying their mother, or by social progress heroes standing up to society, disobedience is always there. Disobedience does not necessarily mean a negative thing, although that is the image that comes to someone's head when disobedience becomes the topic of discussion. It cannot be ignored or erased, as Oscar Wilde said, it is a valuable human trait. Disobedience opens doors and creates change, it runs through society and makes the necessary differences. Those who practice the main monotheistic religions of the world know, that the very reason humans are on Earth is due to disobedience. Adam and his wife Eve were the first humans God had created. He let them live in paradise with only one rule, to not eat from the forbidden tree. Eventually, they decided to eat from the tree, and their disobedience resulted in them being sent to earth. This enriches Wilde’s point of …show more content…
In the book Sula by Toni Morrison, through disobedience stereotypes are shattered, and open mindedness is created. Helene Wright dislikes her own mother because of the way society looks at her. Women who own their sexuality and aren't tied down by societal expectations are seen as “whores”, and Helene agrees with this. Her daughter Nel becomes friends with Sula, who's mother is another woman who society looks down on. Although, Helene forbades the friendship, Nel disobeys her and continues being friends with Sula. Through this friendship Helene realizes that just because someone is labeled ands stereotyped negatively, they are not a bad person. Without disobedience no real change can occur and despite what some might think disobedience can cause positive
-Toni Morrison uses strong diction to resonate the central message that the most unexpected people/places have the deepest meaning in life. In the novel it states,“ In the safe harbor of each other’s company they could afford to abandon the ways of other people and concentrate on their own perceptions of things.” (Morrison, 55) Toni Morrison shows how they were important in helping each other understand the world around them. By the author using the word abandon, she displays how they needed to escape the world when it came to focusing on their relationship. She could have easily used “they left the world” but by using the word abandon it adds more depth to just how powerful they were to one another. Toni Morrison used perceptions to help relate to the powerful bond of their friendship. In the novel, Sula and Nel saw things very different. Sula perceived the world with its imperfections by rebelling against society. Nel perceived the world in a warped sense and felt the need to follow society’s rules. Sula was an unexpected force in Nel’s life, which impacted her view on the world and her future.
The civil and eventually violent disobedience of the thirteen colonies against England resulted in the birth of now one of the most powerful nations in the world. The civil disobedience of those willing to go against the norm allowed for Americans to be able to marry who they chose. It is because of Nelson Mandela getting arrested for what he believed in to allow for south Africa to be free from segregation. Civil disobedience has paved the way for society to become better because at some points society was not based on fairness. It was based on cruel ideologies and those ideologies put laws into affect that were meant to lower certain groups of people. So by breaking those laws it awakens those groups and allows them the motivation to go up against these unfair laws and in doing this allows for these unfair laws to be
Conformity and defying social norms were a common theme this week. In Toni Morrison’s book Sula, Sula Peace actively opposes gender roles. She does this by doing what she would like to do without the burden of her town’s expectations. Sula enjoyed sex and disregarded all of the opinions of the townspeople around committing adultery. Eli commented that it was even more unacceptable in that time period, but Sula’s main priority is being authentic. Even though she urged men to cheat she was still a risk taker and lived spontaneously, which was even more forbidden for a black woman and like Lauren said, the men were also to blame, not just Sula. Not many people in the Bottom share that trait because they are afraid of social isolation. For example, Nel didn’t stray far from the status quo due to her upbringing. Nel’s mother taught her to be proper and follow the set of rules given to her. Her mother often reminded her to “pull her nose” (28) so Nel could have a more appealing nose. On the other hand, Sula lived in an unconventional household with a constant flow of different people coming and going out of the house. Since she was not exposed to a father figure, she was not tainted by patriarchal expectations of the genders. She didn’t witness
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.
In the book Sula by Toni Morrison, Morrison’s ambiguous link between good, evil, and guilt, she is able to show that these terms are relative to each other and often occur mutually. In her comparison of good and evil, Sula states that "Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don't get nothing for it" (145). Good and evil are being compared as if they are equal and that is how the book is structured. For instance, Eva's burning of Plum is a complex conjunction of motherly love and practicality and cannot be described as simply being a good act or a bad one. The killing of Chicken Little is a similarly ambiguous situation from which Sula and Nel's feelings are unclear. Lastly Sula, upon her death bed, questions what it means to be good and suggests that it what may be considered bad could in reality be good. Both in the syncopated style of Morrison's writing and the morally ambiguous portrayal of characters, cause the reader to question morals and think about them on a larger scale.
Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil
The book “Sula,” written by Toni Morrison, it’s about the power of friendship and adolescence. What is friendship between women when unmediated by men? The two main characters are friends Sula and Nel. Nel is a quite girl who was raised by her imperious mother Helene. As the narrator explains, “Under Helene’s hand the girl became obedient and polite.
There are many aspects of story that come together to create a complete narrative. A lot of the tools used by writers are intentional and serve the purpose of driving home certain aspects of the story or creating and engaging, and entertaining narrative. Toni Morrison—the author of Sula—is no different. Morrison employs many writing techniques and tools in her narrative Sula. It is important for the reader to be aware of and understand some of these narrative tools that the author uses because it allows the reader to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the narrative. In Sula a few narrative techniques that allow for the argument of women experiences to shine through are the use of a third person narrator, and gaps; throughout the story these tools allow the reader to become interested in and focus in on women experiences.
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."
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.
Sula, Florens, and Bride all represent a desire to find control in Toni Morrison’s novels. Sula constantly rejects social norms and follows her own code up until the moment she dies. When the Blacksmith lashes out at Florens for hurting Malaik, she finds the willpower to retaliate in turn. Bride tries to break away from the negative expectations that Sweetness imparted on her due to colorism. Of the three characters, however, only Sula is successful at obtaining control.
Disobedience pumps within our blood traveling through our veins leading to our hearts. As the amazing Irish writer Oscar Wilde once said “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” without disobedience we has people will never experience the drive of fighting for what we believe in. Numerous accomplishments were achieved through disobedience, it is due to people such as Martin Luther King, Malala Yousafzai, and Soujner Truth fighting for their beliefs and going against all odds that lead us to where we are today.
From the novel Sula written by Toni Morrison, Morrison discusses the main character of the novel, Sula, and describes the type of women she is and how she breaks free from stereotypes of black women. Morrison portrays Sula in this way to emphasize the fact that she is the encompassment of fierce feminism. Morrison uses her impression of Sula to highlight Sula’s unwavering fight against society and the necessity of this fight for all women. Although her character was hated by many, because of their fear of difference, her “…town thrived because of her” (lecture notes), and she remained faithful to the life that she wanted. Sula did not let her gender or race hold her back.
Seeing her step so easily into the pantry and emerge looking precisely as she did when she entered, only happier, taught Sula that sex was pleasant and frequent, but otherwise unremarkable” (Morris, 44). Hannah does not hide her involvement with men, and she is not embarrassed by her sexual practices. For her, motherhood and sexuality are both part of her womanhood. As mentioned, Henderson discusses that black women are often stereotypically portrayed as “sexually promiscuous” (Morris, 32) which confines black mother experiences and disseminates stereotypes. Characters such as Eva and Hannah challenge these boundaries by being mothers who care about their children while at the same time expressing their sexuality and consequently their individuality.
Being a black woman in the 1920’s were not the only factors that denied Nel Wright of ever living a life of freedom and autonomy. Nel, Helene Wright’s daughter from Toni Morrison’s novel Sula, is raised in a conservative household, and is bounded by the black community of Medallion’s traditional standards of motherhood and marriage. Nel and her mother become victims of the deep racial tensions of the south when they are humiliated by a white man on a segregated train en route to New Orleans. This event, along with her visit to her ill great grandmother, prompt Nel to assert her own sense of independence and individuality that completely defy her society's conventions. The community brings Nel and Sula together, despite their polar opposite identities.