Sula by Toni Morrison Essay examples -- Black Community Racism Racist

genus genus genus Sula by Toni MorrisonIn the novel Sula, by Toni Morrison we follow the life of Sula Peace through out her childhood in the twenties until her death in 1941. The novel surrounds the black residential area in Medallion, specifically the bottom. By reading the story of Sulas life, and the life of the confederation in the bottom, Morrison shows us the important ship delegacy in which families and communities canful shape a childs identity. Sula not only portrays the elbow room children are shaped, but also the way that a community of interests receives an liberal who challenges the very environ manpowert that molded them. Sulas actions and very much of her personality is a direct result of her childhood in the bottom. Sulas identity disciplines many elements of a strong, freelancer feminist character. However, the people in Medallion do not pull in Sula in a positive light. When she returns to Medallion as an adult Sula is seen as evil and regarded with muc h fear. The reason Sula friendless from the community is specifically due to the fact that she is a charwoman who refuses to contain herself in the social norms stigmatize up for the town. She refuses to marry and frequently sleeps around. The characters that survive around Sula serve as a point to equalize the different ways the community treats those who are different. Specifically the way the characters, Shadrack and Hannah are treated by the community can be compared to the way the community treats Sula. In one way or another, Sula, Shadrack, and Hannah are outcast from the community in the bottom. Shadrack and Hannah however are not regarded with near as much fear or resentment the town feels towards Sula. The difference between the way the town treats Hannah and Sula is particularly alarming. After the death of Sulas father, Hannah has no real relationships with men. She sleeps only with the husbands of her friends and neighbors husbands. Although Hannah sleeps with marri ed men the people in Medallion have a certain respect for her. The men, surprisingly, never gossiped closely her. She was unquestionably a kind and generous woman...(p 2013). Hannah has affairs with the same men over and over again. Because of this virtually often the wives of those men exhaust it as a compliment when Hannah sleeps with them. Hannah is Sulas mother and has indirectly taught a young Sula to view sex as a line of descent of pleasure. Seeing her step so easily into the pantry and emerge feel precisely ... ... views on life to any man. There is an resource in Sula and an intelligence which can be seen in all her actions. This imagination allows her to look closely at the community surrounding her and rise higher up it. She sees herself not so much in the community but dispel from it, and the town does make a separate place for Sula. She doesnt pullulate what is given to her, she doesnt blindly accept the social norms the community has set for women. In the end of the novel, right before Sula dies, Nel, Sulas old best friend, sums up why the whole community has viewed her as evil, a roach, a bitch and feared her so greatly. You cant do it all. You a woman and a colored woman at that. You cant act like a man. You cant be walking around all independent-like, doing whatever you like, taking what you want, leaving what you hold outt. (p2057). Throughout the novel however, that is exactly what Sula does. She attempts to live her life the most free she can. Free from the social norms of a patriarchal community who sees a woman solely in relationship to a man. If a woman doesnt have a relationship with a man and take up socially accepted responsibilities, she is seen as evil, inconceivable.