The effects of internal and external oppression of innocents by reviewing Toni Morrison’s Sula, a tale of two women who cope with the rigors of family and social oppression in different ways.
This paper endeavors to explore three characters in Sula: ‘Sula’ , Nell Wright -Sula’s best friend and Shadrack, an alcoholic veteran from the war, suffering from shell-shock. The writer discusses how pressures from family and/or neighbors shaped the above three characters and forged their destiny.
“Sula is a very mystical girl, identified by an aura of evil about her. (http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmSula32.asp) Sula’s mother, Hannah, and grandmother, Eva, reared Sula. Eva and Hannah were both perceived to be the town hussies. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sul/summary.html) Their unconventional and promiscuous nature helped shape Sula’s personality odd, enigmatic and rebellious. Her best friend is Nel Wright and they virtually become inseparable. Three events in Sula’s life moulded her character. One of them was the death of Chicken Little. (http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmSula32.asp) One day, Sula is playing with Chicken Little, one of the neighboring children. As she swings him around, she loses her hold on him and he falls in the river and drowns. Although Sula and Nel (who was present) swore they would never tell anybody the truth about what happened, Sula always blamed herself for his death. (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sul/summary.html) ”