Both Sula and Shadrack face ostracization because of the negativity that is attached to them. Sula and Shadrack represent the evil (or at least unacceptable) in the traditional good/evil binary that the Bottom’s community upholds. It becomes clear to the reader through the characters’ actions and thoughts, that the world, which the Bottom created for itself, is inherently contradictory as the citizens of the community struggle to maintain binary thinking. Morrison skillfully blends together gender roles with the binary opposition as she includes Biblical allusions to give clues to the characters’ personalities and future actions as they struggle against their community. However, the complexity of the tale of Sula and Nel’s lives requires analysis including all of these elements. ‘What a force her thoughts have been and how grateful we must be that they were offered to us in this extremely challenging age’ Alice Walker, Guardian BY THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF BELOVED Winner of the PEN/Saul Bellow award for achievement in American fictionĬLICK HERE TO GET BOOK Book Review of 'Sula' by Toni Morrison Description/Summary:Įssay from the year 2012 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 100, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, course: African American Literary Theory, language: English, abstract: Toni Morrison’s Sula is an extremely complex work of fiction that some argue functions as parable, satire, or Black-feminist writing. Cast as a witch by the people who resent her strength, Sula is a woman of uncompromising power, a wayward force who challenges the smallness of a world that tries to hold her down. Sula is a story of fear – the fear that traps us, justifying itself through perpetual myth and legend. Ten years later Sula returns and no one, least of all Nel, trusts her. Then Sula ran away to live her dreams and Nel got married. A howl of love and rage, playful and funny as well as hard and bitter’ New York Times As young girls, Nel and Sula shared each other's secrets and dreams in the poor black mid-West of their childhood. CLICK HERE TO GET BOOK Book Sula Description/Summary: