Sula by Toni Morrison

¶ … 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.

Reason why Girls did not tell what Happened

Sula and Nel decided to keep quiet about the whole incident in order to avoid punishment. Both of the girls were accountable for the death of the Chicken Little, as Sula let go of his hands and he drowned in the river while Nel stood watching the whole incident and kept her mouth shut. After realizing what has happened, Sula asked Nel that whether they should inform others or not. Nel advised her to go from there and keep this whole scenario as secret as they cannot bring Chicken Little back. Sula was also of the same view and they both silently went away.

The girls had their own reasons of keeping the secret about the death of the Chicken Little. Although they came from different family backgrounds, but society did not have pleasant and positive views regarding their families and they had poor reputation among the citizens of Bottom. The girls were of the view that if they reported the incident and told the truth they might have to face severe punishment and penalty and everyone would blame them for the death of Chicken Little. They already had several issues and problems. Apart from this, the case of the death of Chicken Little could have been taken to a different level by the society and they could have been accused for intentionally killing him. They could also have been blamed for bullying him which forced Little to take this dreadful step.

Apart from this the white men were also not interested in investigating the case and finding out the real culprits behind the death of the Chicken Little. They just recovered the body from the water and delivered it to his parents. This further motivated Sula and Nel to keep the secret with them.

Reason for Eva being upset by Hannah's questioning about her love for her children

Hannah and Eva shared a strong bonding and relationship with each other as mother and daughter. Both were facing problems in their lives and were struggling to survive in this cruel world. Hannah missed her mother's attention, love, playfulness, and spontaneity during the childhood when her mother used to leave her with the neighbors to take care. She felt that she needed answer from her mother in order to justify her action. Eva got hurt from this inquiry. With a heavy heart, she recalled her past and decided to narrate some part of her life's history to Hannah in order to give answer to her question.

Eva has faced many hardships and severe conditions in her life and sacrificed her own needs and happiness just to fulfill the needs and demands of Hannah and other children. When his husband left her and children without any money, it was Eva who bore hardships to up bring her kids and provided them with necessities of life. She sacrificed her one leg to collect enough money so that she would be able to buy food for her family.

Hannah also raised this question for her mother because she wanted to know that why Eva killed Pulm, her younger brother. Hannah loved Pulm and he was her dearest sibling. This act of Eva made Hannah more curious.

Eva was always ready to face difficult situations and bear sufferings for her children, but she was never able to express her feelings in front of them. The writer wanted to explain that at times it becomes necessary to express your feelings, even if the other person understands your feelings, as words give assurance and high level of comfort. Hannah wanted the same assurance and level of comfort from her mother.

Reason behind Eva killing her son and author's intent when she created this event

Another question raised by Hannah was about the death of Pulm that why Eva killed her. Hannah was disturbed about the killing of Pulm by her mother and wanted to know the reason behind this action of Eva. Eva loved her son and was very proud of him. Pulm served in the army at a very respectable position. He was respected by the whole nation when he returned home from war after contributing a lot in World War I. People acknowledged his services and he was treated gracefully.

After returning home, people witnessed change in the personality of the Pulm. He was not the same person who left to serve his country. He started to keep distance from the social gatherings and become reserved. At the same time he also distanced himself from his mother Eva. His strange actions and attitude made his family, relatives, and friends concerned about him and they wanted to know the reason and cause behind this change of attitude of Pulm.

The main reason behind all these changes was that Pulm got addicted to drugs and indulged in bad habits. Eva got irritated with his childish acts and decided to lay him to rest. She visited his room one evening and loved him like a child. Then she burned him alive with the help of kerosene.

The writer wanted to portray a high image of mother with the help of this event. Toni Morrison wanted to show the ultimate level of love and compassion a mother has, which made her go to such extent that she was even ready to burn her own son alive for his betterment and benefits. Eva wanted to give his son the death of a man and not like a baby. She was of the view that this was the best way of ending all troubles Plum was facing.

List of Social Issues that have Come up in the Novel

The different social events and issues presented in the novel by the writer are as follow:

a) Fear of War: Men from all the houses were forced to take part in the war. People indulged in war not for their own interests but in order to serve their country. People of the town wanted to get their reserved rights from the government as they strived hard every year just in hope to get acknowledged. But the people were afraid of war and the women did not want to lose men of their families because of the war.

b) Mentally ill people: The World War I and World War II had adverse effects on the soldiers and in return the families had to suffer. People who returned alive from the war were mentally disturbed and got addicted to drugs.

c) Drug Addictions: The soldiers of the wars were distressed and got addicted to drugs. As a result of drug addiction they were also involved in other illegal and bad activities like stealing just to get small quantity of drugs. They were also ready to hurt their own families.

d) Negligence on part of the Parents: There were different parents who got indulged in wrong activities and relationships and neglected their children. Apart from this, parents were busy in earning livings for their family that they also neglected and ignored their children. Because of this negligence on part of the parents, the children suffered and this was also reflected in their youth and they indulged in negative activities.

e) Prostitution was very common at that time.

f) Absence of Faith: People had no faith in God or in other religious aspects and matters.

g) Poverty: Poverty was another important issue and people were ready to do anything in order to get money.

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.