The novel ‘Sula’ focuses on the lives of blacks soon after they were freed from slavery. They formed a community, The Bottom, and tried to lead normal lives, struggling to meet their daily needs. The novel focuses on various themes such as black-white relations, the fear of death, deceit, slavery, financial success, unity, communal norms and practices, and morality among others. The author skillfully uses different characters to explain what the black community was going through soon after the end of slavery in the United States. In this literary analysis, the researcher specifically focuses on morality as one of the primary themes that come out in this novel.
The concept of morality refers to the differentiation of one’s intention as being good or bad when making a decision and taking an action. Every community has its moral principles that are expected to guide actions and decisions that one takes. Two characters, Sula and her best friend Nel are used to epitomize the concept of morality. The two were very close when growing up even though the background of their families were different in many ways. Morrison says, “In the safe harbor of each other’s company they could afford to abandon the ways of other people and concentrate on their own perceptions of things” (36). They felt that they had no obligation to follow strict principles set by their community. However, family pressure forces Nel to embrace morality as defined by the Bottom community (Nissen and Morrison 272). Although she tried to remain loyal to her best friend and kept the secret of accidental death caused by Sula, she decided to embrace community practices. She settles down with a husband to become a loyal wife.
On the other hand, Sula rejects these communal standards. She rejects moral standards that her community has set and does what they define as being bad. For instance, she gets a white boyfriend, disregarding the social gad and indifference that the two communities have towards each other. She is described as being promiscuous because of her inability to settle down with one man, as her friend Nel did. Morrison says that “She was completely free of ambition, with no affection for money, property or things, no greed, no desire to command attention or compliments- no ego” (44). She had no desire for financial and social success as was expected of her by the community.
The immorality of Sula is finally demonstrated when she had an affair with Nel’s husband. She succeeds in snatching the husband of her best friend, and this act finally destroys their relationship. Just like her mother before her, she is seen as a rebel, an outcast, and a person who is socially unfit for the community. However, the irony of her case was that her actions demonstrated to the community that they did not have to stick to archaic principles that defined morality (Stein 146). They had to realize that as time was changing, they had the responsibility of redefining morality in society.
The novel ends with the death of Sula, the main character. The fact that the author kills this main character, in the end, demonstrates her commitment and respect for her community’s norms. Although Sula’s actions were revolutionary and enabled the community to rethink its norms and practices, she failed her community in many ways by her reckless and carefree behavior. The author felt that she was not a good role model to the community, and as such, had to die. It was a warning to others that in the end, one has to pay for their immoral actions.
Works Cited
Morrison, Toni. Sula. Vintage Classics, 2020.
Nissen, Axel, and Toni Morrison. “Toni Morrison’s ‘Sula’ and the Ethics of Narrative.” Contemporary Literature, vol. 40, no. 2, 1999, pp. 263-285.
Stein, Karen. “Toni Morrison’s Sula: A Black Woman’s Epic.” Black American Literature Forum, vol. 18, no. 4, 1984, pp. 146-150.