Category Archives: Blog Post Connecting Toni Morrison’s Sula to Contemporary Culture and Society

Black Girlhood in “Pieces That I Am” and “Sula”

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Toni Morrison defended writing with a focus on Black people by telling us that all the other authors she reads, wrote for white audiences and keeping the white gaze in mind. So, she wanted to “make sure that white gaze is not the dominant one,” (8:20, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am). This is what we see in
“Sula”, which was written to be among black people. She explained that everything she read about black girls were jokes, and props so she was writing a book that she wants to read. In the book “Sula” we see the main focus on black girls and the characters were no joke; they had meaning and depth and seriousness.

Toni Morrison’s perspective of literature is the value of knowing the emotion, conflict, and subtlety in the language which is illustrated in Sula when Ajax whispers “pigmeat”. On page 50 it states, “The old men looked at their stalklike legs, dwelled on the cords in the backs of their knees….Pig meat. The words were in all their minds.” (p. 50, Morrison). The men in town looked at “Sula” and Nel with desire. The conflict here is that the men were looking at their legs, back of their knees, and bodies as if they were there to satisfy them. Morrison uses the language of the word “pig meat” to give the idea that the girls are being sexualized which gives the reader the emotion of disgust because of the way these men were killing the innocence of two girls. There is a connection I see between the documentary and the novel is when Morrison’s grandmother decided to move to Ohio because “White boys are circling.” (21:50, Morrison). Here, her grandmother was afraid what would happen to her daughters who are now growing up. White boys staring at them from a distance and she knew what they had in mind. The white boys were looking at her daughter with desire and sexualizing them. We see similar things in “Sula” where old men would stare at black girls with lust. So, in both places, in the Documentary “Pieces That I Am” and in the novel “Sula”, we see how black girls are objectified at a young age. 

Documentary “Pieces That I Am”

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I don’t really watch documentaries or informative films but what a film. I related to this film a lot because I actually know a little bit about the author, which was very interesting for me because I was comfortable watching it. Moving onto the film, the film explores how Toni Morrison’s writing transformed the landscape of Black literature and challenged prevailing narratives about race and identity. It delves into Morrison’s commitment to centering the experiences of Black people in her works and her unwavering dedication to telling their stories with authenticity and depth.

The documentary highlights how Morrison’s writing elevated the voices and experiences of Black characters, providing a complex portrayal of their lives and struggles. She defied traditional literary conventions and rejected the notion that Black stories were secondary or less significant. Instead, Morrison asserted the importance of representation and the power of storytelling to illuminate the complexities of Black life.

Throughout her career, Morrison stood up for her writing by centering Black people and questioning the rules of mainstream literature. She believed in the importance of different viewpoints and challenged the dominance of white-centered stories. Her books addressed racism, identity, and cultural heritage, connecting with Black readers and sparking meaningful discussions and fresh ways of thinking. In “Sula,” one of Morrison’s best novels, her perspective on literature is illustrated through her vivid portrayal of Black characters and their diverse experiences. The novel delves into themes of friendship, identity, and the consequences of societal expectations. Through her rich storytelling and intricate character development, Morrison challenges the readers’ preconceptions and invites them to question established norms and biases.

Death and the African American

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Warning: Gruesome Images are in the video

In Sula, the death of Chicken in the chapter titled “1922” was sudden and worrisome. How his body was treated after he was found reminded me of Emmett Till and how his body was found in the Tallahassee River. For those who don’t know, Emmett Till was a 14-year-old boy brutally beaten and shot for whistling at a white woman. He was so severely beaten you couldn’t even make out his face. No one was charged for his murder. But his mother made sure to publicize what those men did to her child. If you are interested, I’ve attached a video going into more detail about his case. A movie about him came out last year called Till. I recommend watching it, as it’s heartbreaking yet powerful.

 

Going on to read about Chicken’s funeral was heartbreaking. It had me thinking about how often black Americans see and experience death. This line, in particular, stood out to me, “Or they thought of their son newly killed and remembered his legs in short pants and wondered where the bullet went in.” (65). It made me think about gun violence in this country and police murdering black children, mothers, and fathers. I think about the recent shootings in Chicago just a couple of days ago. This article by the Chicago Sun Times gives the ages, whereabouts, wounds, and conditions of people who were shot and/or killed during this year’s Fourth of July weekend. The ages of these victims range from 5-52 years old. For centuries African Americans have been closely tied to death. From slavery to lynchings during Jim Crow to gun violence and murderous police. Just imagine the cases that don’t make national news. I’m aware that death isn’t solely tied to black Americans. However, something must be said about the rate at which death occurs in the community. To the point where Toni Morrison not only has Chicken’s death but the death of Plum as well. It’s truly mind-boggling the relationship African Americans have with death, almost to the point where we’re desensitized to it or almost tiresome of these same outcomes. It’s intensified as technology and media have advanced. Will there ever be change, or will death continue to be a plague? 

Womens Freedom in Toni Morrison’s “Sula”

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Sula by Toni Morrison is a book that tackles many topics that are still relevant today but one of the reasons why this book is my favorite book of all time is because of the way it approaches gender roles and plays with what true freedom looks like for women. The novel takes place from 1919 to1965, a time when women did not have the same rights that they do today and more strict gender roles were enforced, and while the end of this book takes place 57 years ago many of these topics are still relevant today. The main character Sula is hard to pin down and maybe even a little hard to understand at times but I think that is the point. Sula defies traditional gender norms for her time and even things that are still considered proper today. Sula rejects the traditional role of a woman in her town because she refuses to accept the taboo of sex, racism, and even class definitions that are forced on many people in her community. One example of this that we see in the book is the fact that Sula is a sexually liberated woman. Her actions push back on the long-held belief that men are more sexual than women and are judged less harshly for sleeping with whoever they want to sleep with. She is arguably one of the only truly free characters in the whole book, while at times, her actions may seem selfish or detrimental to other people she’s unapologetically living for herself, something that many other women in the bottom cannot say for themselves. The women in her town do not only hate her because she sleeps with their husbands, they hate her because she is a living breathing reminder of the freedom they could have had and the traps they live in. 

“‘You think I don’t know what your life is like just because I ain’t living it? I know what every colored woman in this country is doing.’ ‘What’s that?’ ‘Dying., Just like me. But the difference is they dying like a stump. Me, I’m going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world.’ (Morrison 143).

Sula lives her life radically free because she is the only woman in the novel who consistently chooses herself. Being selfish all the time is not great, but women sometimes have to be more selfish than men because the cards that life hands us are not always fair.

In this interview Morrison asnwers the question how do we survive whole in a world where we are all victims of something? Her response gives more insight into how we can view Sula’s behavior in the novel. 

 

Selena Rodas