Sula's search for love and belonging in Toni Morrison's novel

¶ … Life:

The main character of the novel, Sula, has always been in search of true love. She tried to seek compassion and love from many different sources, but every time had to face disappointment and failure. She had relationships and contacts with many people but the outcome was always unpleasant.

In her childhood she came close to Nel and eventually they both became best friends. The family background of both girls was different and contrasting yet they shared a strong bond and relationship. They were friends since childhood but the incident where Sula accidently killed Chicken Little (drowned in the river and the girls decided to keep quite) changed their whole lives. They started to get apart after this incident, as the differences in their personalities became visible and evident. Both of the friends took different decisions about their future lives. After ten years when Sula came back to Bottom, she had a bad reputation and was considered to be ill mannered by almost everyone. The relationship of Nel and Sula further worsened and deteriorated when Sula had an affair with the Nel's husband.

The second character which had impact on the life of Sula was of Hannah, who was the mother of Sula. She loved her but was unable to express her feelings to Sula. She had to earn the livings for the whole family and hence was busy in her own life and was not able to give time to Sula. Apart from this Eva, the grandmother of Sula, blamed her for the death of Hannah.

The third person from whom Sula tried to seek love was of Ajax. Sula had a strong and serious attachment with Ajax. Sula was very much serious about the relationship and got strongly attached to him. She also started dreaming about getting married with him and spending whole life with him. But on the other hand Ajax was not serious about the relationship. And eventually he left Sula because he was not interested in long-term relationship. Apart from this he even concealed his true identity from Sula.

All these characters reflect important people in our lives, like the best friend, the mother, and the special person in the life. People always prefer friends on whom they can blindly trust and one should not hurt feelings of each other particularly feelings of a friend as it has a negative impact on their friendship. The mother has a vital role in the life of a child. She is the one who is responsible for the personality and character building of the child. One should give whole attention to the children. The childhood period has reflection on the youth. Finally, no one wishes for a guy who will not be interested in the serious and long-term relationship.

Death in My Life:

The author has presented two different scenarios of death in the novel. In one scenario the author has linked death with negativity and in the other scenario has linked death with positivity. The reader is confused how to react at certain death situations. The writer wants that the readers should understand the causes and reasons behind the different death scenarios and adjust their feelings and views regarding death according to the situations and characters associated with it.

The first death scenario narrated by the writer was of Chicken Little. He was a small black boy killed by Sula and Nel accidently. While playing, Sula lose the grip of his hand and he drowned in the river. The girls kept quiet about the whole situation only to get away from the punishment and penalty from the government, from the parents of the Chicken Little, and from the society of Bottom.

By narrating this scenario of death the writer wants to establish and register the fact among the readers that one should have high moral values and should not restrain oneself from telling the truth in any situation or condition. Apart from this another point which is evident from this scenario is that death can occur at any time. There is no age bound or limit for death so one should enjoy each and every moment of the life.

Another death scenario presented by the writer is of Pulm, the dearest child of Eva. She loved him the most among all her children, but still she killed him and burnt him alive. The author of the novel has justified the action of Eva and presented her as a mother who cannot see her son in distress and in pain. Pulm was addicted to drugs and was involved in wrong practices. She wanted him to die like a man, and for this reason used kerosene to burn him alive.

With the help of this scenario the writer had tried to convey the point that it is acceptable to indulge in such actions for the betterment and benefit of someone. The writer has portrayed positive image of the mother and has tried to maintain the fact that one should trust mother and should be close to her and should accept all her decisions gracefully. A mother would never intend to hurt her own child in any possible way. The level of love of the mother is boundary less and can force the mother to do anything for the betterment of the child.

Was Sula guilty of Chicken Little's Death?

Chicken Little was a black boy who lived in the neighborhood. Sula and Nel had friendly terms with him. One day three of them were playing in the fields. Sula was holding his hands and was swinging in the wide open air to have fun. Accidently, Sula lost grip and Chicken Little felt into the river and drowned. The whole incident happened in the flick of seconds and gave no time to Sula to think what had happened. Both girls watched the whole scene with astonishment and were reluctant to inform anyone. This incident ruined the whole childhood of Sula and Nel.

Sula was the main reason and cause behind the death of the Chicken Little. Sula let go of his hands and because of her, Chicken Little drowned. Sula was sorry for his death but was not guilty at all. She was upset at the funeral but did not consider herself as a murderer and was not guilty.

Nel is indirectly involved in the whole scene. She did not inform any one about the incident and decided to keep quiet. But she felt guilty at the funeral of the Chicken Little. Nel was astonished and shocked to see the calmness of Sula at funeral although Sula was sad and regretted the loss, but was not guilty about the death of Chicken Little.

This also reflected the differences among the personalities of the Sula and Nel. This incident negatively influenced the friendship of Sula and Nel.

The end of Ajax and Sula's Love

Sula returned to Bottom after many years but no one was happy to see her back in the town and she had a bad reputation among the people. People of Bottom blamed her for the death of her mother, Hannah, just like her grandmother. Everyone maintained a distance from her and every negative incident was blamed on her. Whether it was a child falling from her porch or death of the man who died while eating a piece of chicken.

Sula was abandoned by everyone in the town and no one wanted to talk to her or keep any relation with her. In these severe conditions, Ajax came into life of Sula. He got interested in her because of her irresponsible and don't care attitude. Ajax liked the attitude and way of living of Sula. She was least bothered about the views of others about her and was living in her own style and manner. She was not concerned about the opinions of other people and was not worried because of her bad reputation. Ajax had almost similar nature and for this reason he got attracted to Sula.

There were no rules and restrictions within the relationship of Ajax and Sula. Both had their own independence. Ajax loved his freedom, but Sula got serious about this relationship and wanted to spend rest of her life with him. This seriousness on part of Sula was unacceptable by Ajax. He was not interested in long-term and serious relationship and wanted to live like this. He was in love with irresponsibility and rebelliousness of Sula, and this sudden change in the attitude of Sula forced him to leave her. Ajax left Sula as he was not interested in serious affiliations and bonding.

Sula even got to know that Ajax was not the real name of her lover; it was Albert Jacks-short which was also pronounced as A. Jacks or Ajax.

List of character name associations

a) Eva -- Eve, first woman

b) Peace -- ironic

c) Boy -- immature

d) Helene -- Helen of Troy -- powerful woman

e) Wright -- " right," good

f) Hannah -- Biblical Hannah also had many men

g) Plum -- sweet, goes bad

h) Sula -- African roots

i) Nel -- old-fashioned, sweet

j) Jude -- Judas, betrayer

k) Deweys -- Huey, Louie and Dewey

l) Tar Baby -- ironic

m) Shadrack -- survived fire in Bible (Book of Daniel

n) Ajax -- Greek hero or Albert Jacks, ordinary

What happened at tunnel related to the Civil Rights Movement:

The story of the novel is based on the people of the Bottom. In the mid of twentieth century people living in this region were mostly African-American or commonly known as black people. People of Bottom were criticized on the grounds of color and had to face serious discriminations.

The tunnel was a source of earning livings by people especially by black African natives. They were appointed to build the tunnel. The tunnel was also known as new river road. This tunnel was a symbol of hope and respect for the people of town. It motivated and encouraged them that they will be able to get the equal rights and the world will acknowledge their presence. They also felt that they will have money to fulfill the needs and desires of their families. But all these hope and motivation ended when they had to face constant racism and discrimination from the white people. The white people were interested in destroying the land of black people and build a golf course.

Every year the Suicide Day was celebrated by the people of Bottom in order to get their rights of freedom. The writer demonstrated the civil rights movement during the period of World War I and World War II in the novel.

In 1941, people got aggressive as a result of the negative responses from the government about their rights. The black people were tired of facing and tolerating continuous discrimination, and as a result they marched towards the tunnel and destroyed the whole structure. The tunnel was ruined and destroyed and many lives were also lost during that riot.