Sula begins with serious questions within the mind of a reader. Many motifs in the book challenge social structure, and what it means to be human. Pride is apparent within the plot, because dramatic characters have pride, or belief in who they are. Characters are meant to be dramatized to provoke audience emotion. The characters may change throughout a play, but they will be prideful in their change. Toni Morrison puts the reader into the eyes of a character, allowing the reader to become the character. This then leads to the realization of the questions, Is it good or bad to be prideful, and does the characters pride create a bond between the audiences? Sula brings about many occurrences of pride either being good, or pride being bad. Two examples are Eva Peace's decision to kill Plum, and Sula's return to the bottom. Before the occurrences are determined as good or bad, there must first be a definition of what constitutes something as being good, or bad. Kraut and Richard wrote of the ethnic and moral virtue, "First, I believe that there are these two relationships: being good for someone and being bad for someone; furthermore, some things are related in these ways; and in favorable circumstances, we can know that these relationships hold" (pg.31). The philosophers stated there are things in the world that are considered good, or bad. Relationships will hold true due to the experiences of defining something as good or bad. Before an occurrence can be established as good, or bad, it must first be compared. "To call someone a good chess player is to compare her with other chess players; it is to say she is good-in-relation-to-them" (Kraut,Richard pg. 32). The comparison allows an occurrence to form relation to other occurrences. ...
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...erve others'. This connection allows the audience to feel empathy towards Sula. Sula's pride did lead to her downfall, just as it led to Eva's. So, is it true what Eva said to Sula? "Pride go'eth before a fall" (Sula 1937.44). Can pride be defined as an antagonist trait? With people or are there times pride is a protagonist trait? Toni Morrison has provoked these questions, they aren't easy to answer. Challenging questions create a bond between character and audience. It is the audience who interprets, decides, and continues to question who they are, and what the meaning of life really is.
Sources:
Kraut, Richard. Against Absolute Goodness. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.
Krakowiak, K. Maja. "When Good Characters Do Bad Things: Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Knopf;, 1974. Print. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Sula.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNote
This essay will contrast a good and evil concept between two different stories. There is an obvious distinction that stands out between the stories; however they are similar in one way. In A Worn Path (Eudora Welty) and A Good Man is Hard to Find (Flannery O’Conner) the one thing that sticks out, is the main character in both stories. The main character in both stories being the grandmother. Grandmothers are of course an important part of the family. In each story we have a grandmother of a different race, appearance, and attitude. In each story the grandmothers take different journeys, but there is one thing they both face being treated disrespected. We live in a world in which the grandmother resides with the family and helps to take care of the grandchildren. In the world today things are different and times are still hard if not harder. We live in a time when respect is no longer earned. Now days it seems as if respect is not as important as it was in earlier years and it is evident in these two stories.
Davis, Cynthia A. "Self, Society, and Myth in Toni Morrison's Fiction." Contemporary Literature 23.3 (1982)
In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, an important theme is pride. Pride is what keeps the story going. The theme is expressed in the story in many ways. An example is when the narrator teaches Doodle to walk and shows the family. The narrator is so proud of what he did that he wanted to continue to make Doodle "more of a person." I think that this pride that the narrator has can cause readers to get angry. It was that pride that caused Doodle to die in the end. The narrator lost his pride when Doodle could not succeed and left him. Doodle died because the narrator ran away and did not help him. If he didn't let his pride get to him then Doodle wouldn't have died.
In James Hurst's short story “The Scarlet Ibis” the author describes the life of Doodle and the relationship he shares with his brother. During the story he has some happy moments with his brother, but his brother is also very selfish. Doodle pushes himself to his limits to try to please his brother. Doodle’s brother lets his pride get the best of him and forgets about the wellbeing and feelings of Doodle. (Summary) Throughout the entire story the central message is, Pride can lead people to do terrible as well as wonderful things.(thesis)
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
In the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler, Dana reveals in the fight that she is drawn back again to a flashback of her husband Kevin talking to her in their kitchen; however, she realizes Kevin did not make it back to their home. Dana had a feeling of fainting and vomiting, and she realized that she would soon see Rufus and reconciled with her husband that she had not seen for months. Dana saw that Rufus was beaten by this young black male and there was a young lady who was frighten and had her clothes tore and told the man to run away and to leave Rufus. Then Rufus denies Dana’s help throughout the chapter. He says that he is a young adult and does not need her help at all. Later, in the chapter Rufus reveals that Dana’s fear would come to reality and that sooner Rufus will break the purity of the relationship they have. After that Dana, will realize the true colors that were reveal during Rufus confrontation with Kevin that almost resulted in a horrifying situation for Dana. Nonetheless, when it comes to relationship or treatment, every character differs from each other due to race, or how they
The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson Works Cited Missing The insight on life can be influenced greatly on past experiences and those experiences that one only dreams about. These perceptions are windows into our thoughts about life. In the story "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson, Jackson develops the idea how one perceives the world can have a great impact on her beliefs and values.
In the past, every decade and every generation has had its momentous event that has shaped it and left a mark on its history. The 1600's were no different. In The Crucible, the author, Arthur Miller, demonstrates many examples of the complexity of “good” and “evil” in his characters. He does this through many characters, seen and unseen. The entire village bases its belief system on the conflict between Good vs. evil, or Satan vs. God. It may seem like evil is winning, as one innocent person after another is put to death. The towns people are mislabeling people as good or evil like Mary Warren, although they have very little evidence. Rebecca Nurse is an outstanding example of honesty, and a well-respected member of the community and the church. Rebecca, is accused of killing Mrs. Putnam's babies and witchcraft. Saving the last for the best Abigail Williams, uniquely gifted at spreading death and destruction wherever she goes. She has an eerie sense of how to manipulate others and how to gain control over them. All these things add up to make her a marvelous antagonist. So who really has a pact with the Devil? Or is it just non-sense taking the lives of innocent people?
Morrison, Toni. “Recitatif.” Elements of literature, 5th Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2007. 154-160.
Every individual’s life is shaped by personal relationships that they have with others. Whether there are complications in the friendship or not, the person’s life is changed in some way. In Sula by Toni Morrison, friendships are put to the test. Single mother-child relationships and other friendships have hardships that they must overcome. Friendships between women when unmediated by men in a mother and child relationship create difficult decision-makings and ways of life, yet friendships between friends are less complicated and stronger without them.
Any great accomplishment can make someone feel proud about their work. It makes one feel good; it raises a person's spirits. "No question, pride has its good points." (The Toronto Star, Nov 1999) Then again, there are also the bad points of pride one must consider, before being proud. Pride can deceive a person into being ambitious, and make them strive for something that is not rightfully theirs. Both Macbeth and Willy encountered this problem. Pride can also cause a bad relationship with the people one loves most. For Macbeth and Willy, their relationships with their families were burdened as a consequence of this pride. Pride can lead to much worse things; it can put a person in a position to be their ultimate cause of their death, and such was the fate for Willy Loman and Macbeth. "It's an excess of pride that buys you one-way, economy coach passage to the fires of hell." (The Toronto Star, Nov 1999) In the play Macbeth and Death of a Salesman, both Macbeth and Willy are seen as tragic heroes due to their pride, as seen in these three situations.
Throughout history of mankind pride has been recognized as a precursor to destruction. We find numerous references to pride being the downfall of man in the Bible. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Men who choose to be prideful are often destined for great suffering. Famous author, C.S. Lewis says in his book Mere Christianity that, “the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice.” ( insert bib). He also says that “it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the
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.
Throughout the book, Bob Starrett changes drastically. From a small boy eager to prove his worth in vicious battles with a gun in hand, to a boy tinted with the understanding that having courage and being a good man doesn’t necessarily mean building your reputation so others find fear in your presence. ‘’This was the Shane I had dreamed for him, cool and competent, facing the room full of men in the simple solitude of his own invincible completeness’’ (152). This certain passage displays Bob’s aspirations for both himself and Shane because in the beginning of the book, Bob felt as if he had to resort to violence to prove his worth. Feeling proud of his ability to injure others in instances such as the time when Bob felt important and ‘manly’ for having Licked Ollie Johnson in the ear (49).
The Good and Evil in Literature and Poetry Sir Philip Sidney, in his quote about poetry (literature) as it pertains to real life vice and virtue, is indeed correct that it can have a lasting effect on the way one acts, however, he is making a gross generalization when he states that a portrayal of pure virtue can divinely inspire, where as a portrayal of evil can herd the masses away from evil deeds. The true social value of poetry and literature is not in the portrayal of vice against virtue, but rather when the two meet inside a protagonist. It is the illumination of the paradox of right and wrong that gives us truly poignant literature. We can truly understand things about ourselves when we read about characters being pulled in two