In Sula and Beloved, the community members are
central to the plot. Comment on the ways that the community works with and/or
against the main characters. Consider why the community responds in the way
that it does. What is ultimately revealed about the plot through the actions of
the townsfolk?
Toni Morrison says there is a conflict between the individual and community. While the conflict is persistent, it does not have to be solved. We see this conflict in both texts. Sethe and Sula are both outcast of the Black community because of the extent of their actions. Former bondwomen could relate to Sethe's desire to keep her children from re-entering the life of a slave, but the gruesome crime of chopping the baby girl's head off was an action most people could not fathom. Sula's action of sleeping with her best friend's husband was an action the community refused to forgive, although Nel made attempts to forgive her former friend. I think both narratives shows the importance of the community in the life of the individual. Sula died without the presence of the community and Sethe tried to give up living as an individual as well. We see from both characters that life without the community is very lonely.
ReplyDeleteNel Wright and Sula Peace who meet as children in the town of Medallion, they were devoted to each other. They grow up to become women, but Sula become a pariah because she was having affairs with many men in the community including Nel Wright’s husband. Their friendship ended in this unforgivable betrayal but I think at the end of the story Nel forgives Sula. Even though Nel forgives Sula, the community did not seem to tolerate her actions because there were rumors that Sula slept with white men. Sula was watched very carefully by the community and those women who found that their man have slept with Sula seize the chance and seeking for whatever they could find as evident to against Sula. The community responded in this way because of their ancestors was enslaved by white and the continuing crimes black and white committed to each other in the society. This revealed the negative humanity in the community, instead of showing kindness, respect, and sympathy toward Sula after she dies; they treated Sula as enemy who does not deserved to be treated like that, just like white and black felt against each other.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story, Sula was seen as a rebel, a home-wrecker, and an outcast simply because she refused to conform to the expectations of the community in Medallion. She was targeted as the reason for everything bad happening in the town. She was seen as an omen. When she arrived back in Medallion, a “plague” of robins came with her. In most cases, Robins are seen as beautiful birds. But in this context, they were seen as a burden on the town. People began to talk badly about Sula and started rumors about her. However, she never let it bother her, or so she made it seem. Even when people were saying bad things about her, she “acknowledged none of their attempts at counter-conjure or their gossip and seemed to need the services of nobody” (113). She was an independent woman. She stood as an individual and paid no attention to the talk of the townspeople. However, we soon realize that this hate against Sula is what brings the community together. The women start caring for their husbands more, and mothers start taking care of their children better. Sula makes the people of Medallion become better people. For example, after it is believed that Sula pushed him down, Teapot’s mother begins taking better care of him by getting a job and making sure there is food on the table for him instead of simply giving him a small amount of money for a candy bar for breakfast. This cumulative hatred towards Sula brought them all together, and when Sula died, they no longer had anything to motivate them to become better people. Sula was the binding factor that kept the community together, and she affected them in more ways than she ever knew.
ReplyDeleteToni Morrison wrote the novel Sula with the theme of community throughout the whole work. The main characters Sula Peace and Nel Wright were two women that had two different meanings of community. Nel Wright was the character that conformed to society and became a member of the community whom settled down and started a family. Sula Peace was a whole other story.
ReplyDeleteSula was a woman who never conformed to society. She was considered an outcast, which partially lead to bringing the community together. For a period of time, Sula left Medallion to travel. Eventually, she returned, along with a “plague of Robins.” Along with this “plague of Robins” was a negative connotation. This negative vibe was associated with the arrival of Sula and people of Medallion did not say very nice things to Sula but Sula “acknowledged none of their attempts at counter-conjure or their gossip and seemed to need the services of nobody” (113), this lead Sula to being on her own and to be very independent. The townspeople, as a community came together to take a stand against Sula and her actions. The women of Medallion starting loving their husbands more, and mother’s cared more about their children like Teapot’s mother gets a job so she can feed him and provide fro him. Because of Sula, the town has come together as one making the community all together so much stronger. The community banned together against Sula Peace making Medallion a place with a huge sense of community and strong relationships.
Morrison highlights the huge flaws within the black community as well. Nel’s mother, Helene, a New Orleans-raised Creole of color, is disappointed with her daughter’s flat, Negroid nose she inherited from her father. Helene also looks down on many of the darker-skinned inhabitants of Medallion, despite being a part of the community. She joins the most conservative Protestant church and initially disapproves of her daughter’s decision to befriend Sula because of her perceived lower-class origins. So problems of color prejudice are still entrenched within the community, alongside patriarchy and morally questionable approach to the mentally ill. Sula, her mother Hannah, and her grandmother, Eva, represent a feminist family tree within the male-dominated city. Eva, the matriarch, raises her children alone, but remains independent of male control or domination. She deliberately loses a leg to receive insurance money, but purchases a large home and rents out rooms for her income. Her daughter, Hannah, loses her husband to death, and becomes a nymphomaniac. Hannah, however, only sleeps with men on her terms and uses them for sexual pleasure. Indeed, she hates it when her lovers fall asleep in the house because she only wants them for sexual gratification, not for any relationship that would ultimately require them “owning” or controlling her body. Sula, the product of these two women, carries on their tradition of rejecting expected social conventions for women: marriage, children, and loss of independence the aforementioned entail.
ReplyDeleteToni Morrison talks so much about community in the novel "Sula". The main character in this book, in my opinion, is Sula. She knows what to do to make the community mad at her and she knows how to do it. She, in a way did everything possible to pull the community apart, but in fact, did the complete opposite during her time in the Bottom. She was a major reason the community stayed together. When Sula left town, she came back with a plague of robins. This was a major point in the story, but at the same time kind of confuses me now. If she was a positive part of the community, why did she bring a plague of robins with her? I guess that is up for discussion.
ReplyDeletePeople in the town of Medallion really didm't enjoy Sula in their presence. She slept around with white men. This was a big mistake according to everyone in town. She also slept with her best friends husband and broke up the marriage. You would think all of this would pull the community apart. But this in fact did not, it actually was glue to the community. Sula was that one piece of the community that people could stick to. Mothers sheltered their kids and loved their husbands more when she was around. People did everything for their loved ones because they didn't want Sula to mess anything up.
Sula died eventually. When she died, a silver took over the town. The town began falling apart and I think people realized what they were missing all along. Mothers started not caring what their kids did anymore and bad things started to happen. Sula, their glue, was gone. I think what Toni Morrison is trying to say is that you should love your neighbors no matter who's there or what the circumstances. She teaches us the powerful lesson of not knowing what you have until it's gone.
The theme of Community is very present in Sula. Morrison gives us prime examples of how the community of Medallion both came together and fell apart. The reason that the community fell apart was because of Sula. Her presence both while she is in Medallion and when she is away from the town that the people of the town begin to act in different ways. When Sula first comes back to Medallion after having being gone for ten years, she had a huge effect on how the people of the town acted. Before Sula came in the wives of the town did not really have a tight grip on their husbands. However when Sula came back into town and started getting acquainted with the men of Medallion we saw a change as people started learning about who Sula truly was this change came in the most noticeable way from the wives. From this the wives started having more control and asserting more authority as to what their husbands were doing. This was not the only impact that Sula had on the community while she was still there; she also had an effect of the mothers of the community. When Sula first returned she was on her porch and Teapot had come to her asking for bottles. As Teapot was leaving he fell down her stairs and Teapot’s mother happened to be walking by at the same time and saw him fall. She assumed that Sula had pushed him. Before this incident Teapot’s mother did not treat him very well, however after this she began to treat Teapot much better. The death of Sula also had a very significant impact on the community of Medallion. After Sula had passed away the wives of the town started letting go of their husbands as with Sula gone they felt as if they didn’t have to worry as much. Also after Sula’s death, Teapot’s mother started mistreating him again as she also felt as if she did not have to be as nice as she was. Sula’s presence had such a tremendous effect on the community of Medallion and without her coming back, the community would not of bonded together as they did when she returned.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Toni Morrisons novel "Sula" I feel that the theme of community and togetherness out weighs all other themes by far. Community is really all that the African American people of medallion have. The Peace family being directly made up of Eva, Hannah, Sula, and to a certain degree Plum. The peace family of Medallion are anything but a peaceful family, however they have good intentions for the most part. Eva Peace who is Sula's grandmother is the head of the household after her husband up and leaves her one day out of the blue. Throughout the story you never know what Eva is going to do. She is very unpredictable and at times violent, however she also has a very caring side. This can be seen when he takes in the 3 Dewey's off the street and gives them all a place to live. In my opinion this shows a strong sense of community for her to take these boys into her already chaotic household. Sula and her grandmother Eva have many similar character traits throughout the book. I don't think that Sula realizes how much she is actually like her grandmother even though she does not want to be.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Sula goes away for 10 years. When she returns things become much different for primarily the husbands and wives of the bottom. Sula, like her mother and grandmother before her, is also very sexually promiscuous. She begins sleeping with the married man of medallion. I do not think that she realizes it, but by doing this the community in a way comes together. They come together all having the common goal to keep Sula away from their husbands. The women of Medallion don't like Sula, however they never try to cause any physical harm to her. Well apart from spreading nasty rumors about what she has done in the past.
I think that after Sula's death the townspeople of Medallion finally realize that Sula did have a great deal of importance to the town. This can be seen by the harsh winter that immediately follows her death leaving many families to start without food. It can also be seen by the caving in of the tunnel killing many that were involved.
In the book "Beloved," the community people played sides when the time was right. When Sethe had it going good they were all there to support and cherish her. It seemed as if they were on her side until they forgot to mention that she would soon be troubled by the owners. It was then clear to me that the community wanted to fit in where there would be peace and happiness and stand back when there was not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that they played sides! When Baby Suggs was alive it seems like the community had nothing against Sethe but when Baby Suggs died nobody came by 124! If Denver wouldn't have reached out to the community first, Denver, Sethe and Beloved would've died in that house. Nobody would've knew and nobody would've cared...
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