Guillaume Williams SulaAn Introduction to Black Culture1 Sula is set in a story of two black girls from quite different

homes who become friends !he story sets u" their families# how they interact within themsel$es and with others It deli$ers a narrati$e o$er the course most of the twentieth century from World War I to the middle of the si%ties Sula takes "lace in a small town in &hio which is somewhat a strange "lace to focus the "articulars of this story as many no$els on black culture take "lace in the South or big cities !he book was originally "ublished in 1'(1 !he country had )ust hit the "eak of much of the effects of the si%ties and race riots or threats of race riots were abounding If you ha$e read *!he Confederacy of +unces, which was written a cou"le of years before this you might find a similarity in style and sub)ect matter I belie$e the author is telling this story to bring some knowledge and understanding of blacks to white America and gi$e some humor to black American who li$ed and li$es it out We begin at the end of the story where the Bottom# a "re$iously "redominant -egro area of town is being transformed into a rich white area of town .rom this "oint we are flashed back to the beginning of the story of a -egro man who is the one of the foci at the end of the book A black soldier comes home from World War I as damaged goods /is name is Shadrack /e starts -ational Suicide +ay It is a day that starts rather unner$ing but is e$entually absorbed into the culture of the town It is how he co"es with life /elen is introduced She is a mani"ulator of husband and daughter# a dominant black woman She re"resents all black women who taken on this role !his dominance is
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0orrison# !oni Sula 1no"f -ew 2ork 1'(3 4rint

cast down as she boards a train through a white only car and is chastised by the conductor She is headed to -ew &rleans for her grandmother5s funeral with her daughter -el -el is disa""ointed in her mother5s reaction to the conductor watching her turn to custard -el is a watcher It is how she "artici"ates in life to some e%tent It is at this time she makes friends with Sula 4eace 6$a 4eace is then introduced She is one legged but she makes the most of her one leg dressing it u" She had a husband BoyBoy who left her She had a hatred for him She had left her children for 17 months and came back with money but missing a leg !here is some debate if the missing leg has something to do with her money She would li$e on that She also took in boarders to make due She also took in the stragglers of the world 1ids without "arents# a drug addict 8!ar Baby9 who was not black but that did not seem to matter and she would rename the kids !hree of them were all named +ewey !hey looked different# at first# but o$er time they all resembled one another 4eace women lo$ed men !hey did it in different ways though 6$a brought out the best in men She would battle with them and they lo$ed it /anna# her widowed daughter# oo:ed se% and would take any man and they a""reciated her because she acce"ted them as they were# but they were all day lo$ers .rom her mother# Sula learned that se% was *"leasant# frequent but unremarkable ,8;;9 With the story taking "lace initially in the 1'<=5s and ending in the >=5s being written in the early (=5s the se%ual re$olution is being teased out here Beside /anna# 6$a had 4lum who also was a $eteran like !ar Baby and also was an addict /e was something different though because he was her son She "oured

kerosene on him one night after hugging him for a good while and then lit him on fire We would not find out why until much later ?ater one day /annah asked 6$a# *+id you e$er lo$e us,@ *-o# not the way you5re thinking#, was her re"ly 8>(9 6$a talks about all she did for them /annah wants to know if she e$er "layed them 6$a seems "erturbed She was )ust trying to raise them ali$e /annah finally asked# *What did you kill 4lum for,@ 6$a goes on how she could fit 4lum into her womb again She was afraid of 4lum trying to return to the womb and would try doing it She could not gi$e birth to him a second time /e had to die as a man 6$a was )ust trying to sur$i$e and ha$e her family sur$i$e !his theme would be more e%"licitly said later when the story talks about how black culture deals with e$il Sula and -el had become friends !hey had dreams in common and they had *set out creating something else to be before they knew they were not white# male and that freedom and trium"h were forbidden them , 8A<9 Sula a""ears tough# to us# when she and -el were threatened by some Irish boys She sits down# takes a knife and cuts her finger She tells them# *If I can do that to myself# what do you su""ose I5ll do to you,@ 8A;#AA9 -el though does not think much of what Sula did we find out in their last con$ersation While they are "laying one day they accidently kill a boy named Chicken Sula was swinging him and he was en)oying it She let go of him and he fell in the ri$er where he was swallowed u" /ad anyone seen them@ 4erha"s Shadrack across the ri$er saw it Sula went to go to Shadrack to confront him She e$entually sees him in the doorway and all he says is *Always , What does this mean@ She runs away lea$ing her belt behind ?ittle did she know that Shadrack was trying to comfort her as we would find out in "art two of the no$el /e wanted to con$ey to her nothing e$er changes# e$erything is

stable In some sense this is true but on the other hand e$erything in this story is constantly changing 4erha"s change is "ermament A white bargeman would later find Chicken /e thinks black "eo"le are cra:y to killing their kids and thinks animals treat their kids better Because the boy is black the body does not get back to the Bottom for three days We e%"erience the funeral of black culture where the women feel the loss of their own sons and wail to and at God !he funeral "uts s"ace between the two girls but the gra$e reunites them as they remember his bubbly laughter and the "ressing of his hands We e%"erience two things here /ow white "eo"le $iewed blacks and how blacks $iewed themsel$es or saw their role in death As 4lum died with kerosene 8something wet9 and then fire !he re$erse of this is for /annah /annah has a dream of a red wedding dress +reams mean something for them She goes out and burns the trash and ends u" catching on fire 6$a breaks the window and )um"s out of it to hel" her daughter while Sula )ust watches the whole thing Some neighbors doing some canning throw their water on /annah# "ut out the fire# but the boiling water ends u" doing more damage and kills her 6$a ends u" going to the hos"ital also but is ignored until an orderly sees that she is bleeding all o$er the "lace 6$a says that Sula watched /annah and did not hel" because *she was interested , We see here that both girls ha$e this fascination with watching In watching they "artici"ate in life -el5s wedding was a big one It was held at church and then a "arty at home 6$eryone was ti"sy !here was talk of a bridge to connect two ri$er towns for better commerce !his is what was stirring u" the "eo"le Bude# the groom# wanted to work on the road /e was "assed o$er for work for white men# Irish# Greeks and Italians !his

being "assed o$er for work was endemic to the work "lace en$ironment of the times /ow can blacks be called la:y if they go to get work but they are "assed by when they show u" for )obs@ Such was their "redicament /e wanted to get married to ha$e a woman care for him and about him -el was attracted to Bude5s "ain !his attraction to his "ain is much along the same lines as watching e$il &f what "ur"ose is it though@ In "art two we are reintroduced to how blacks dealt with e$il Blacks took e$il as it comes It sim"ly had to be sur$i$ed Cobins had infested the town and were dying Sula was back in town and the sign of the robins# 6$a saw it "ointed to her return 4erha"s )ust watching it is how Sula and -el dealt with e$il and sur$i$ed it !hey became s"ectators to it &$erall though *the "resence of e$il was something to be first recogni:ed# then dealt with# sur$i$ed# out willed and trium"hed o$er ,81179 -el noticed a "eculiar quality of the 0ay following the birds It was due to Sula5s return Sula ne$er com"eted with anyone She sim"ly hel"ed other define themsel$es 8'A9 Sula5s reasoning of why black men ought to be ha""y was interesting < All the reasons why we would think they should not be ha""y she things they should be ha""y In the midst of Sula hel"ing "eo"le define themsel$es# she hel"ed -el and Bude accom"lish this -el caught Bude and Sula necked Bude left and left his tie -el understood now why black women raged at funerals It was the one of the ways the dealt with e$il in the world !he two would not talk again until Sula became ill &ther instances of Sula hel"ing "eo"le define themsel$es are teased out here !ea"ot# a young child# falling at Sula5s house caused his mother to be a mother Before

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Sula goes on how white men en$y the "ri$ate "arts of black men and want to cut them off !hey s"end so much time worrying about them they forget their own White women fear them and think of ra"e when they see them If they do not see them they scream ra"e )ust in case Colored women worry themsel$es trying to ca"ture one and they lo$e hanging around together 1=;# 1=A

this she "ractically ignored her son Sula5s use of men caused wi$es to cherish their husbands more Sula made "eo"le recogni:ed what good they had Sula found that -el had turned into other women She thought she was abo$e that Sula was looking for misery and the ability to feel dee" sorrow# something she found in se% -el too would become like other women It ha""ened this way A)a% $isited Sula and brought her gifts /e brought all women gifts It was how he was with his mother Sula was like his mother /er life was her own She was not interested in nailing him She at this moment was not like other women But Sula disco$ers what "ossessi$e is# not lo$e but a desire She wondered if A)a% would by that morning She starts to want to *nail, A)a% After discussing !arDBaby# A)a% reali:es he had entered a nest A clean house# table made and he had a momentary regret /e made lo$e to her and left /e was gone and Sula ne$er knew his real nameAlbert Backs It was )ust as well A)a% left Sula would ha$e cut him u" to fulfill her curiosity to see what he was made of 813>9 Sula becomes sick and -el $isited Sula in her sickness "retending to not be angry It was sickbed con$ersation and then became "ersonal We get a series of e%changes between the two of them -el# *2ou need hel" , Sula# *I can ha$e it all , -el# *2ou can5t act like a man 2ou are colored and a woman , Sula# *Sto" re"eating yourselfE Sula not worried about showing the world# she has me 8herself9 , -el# *?onely ain5t it@, Sula# *2es but lonely is mine. -el asked Sula why she took Bude She said because he was there and she was em"ty -el asked why she did that to her# after all she was good to Sula Sula re"lies# *Being good to others is for yourself ,81;;#1;A93
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Sula has a dream of !he Clabber Girl Baking 4owder ?ady She beckons and turns to "owder She felt "ain and could nothing about it She thought of water It would wash her tired flesh always Alwaysa slee" of water always -o more "ain She was dead

!hings seemed to get better after Sula5s death But that was short li$ed It was the beginning of trouble !ea"ot5s mother beat him again Affection of mothers for others sank into a flaccid disre"air without Sula Sula was the focus of "eo"le5s e$il and comfort and desire for each other She was no longer there to hel" them to define themsel$es !he story now begins to com"lete the circle Shadrack a""eared on Banuary 3rd for -ational Suicide +ay /e had forgotten World War I by now and started to feel lonely /e had said *Always, to comfort Sula so she would not be afraid of change Since Sula died# he had no "assion in for the day /e did not care 4eo"le laughed and )oined Shadrack5s "arade this year instead of closing their doors and gathering their children It was "robably because it was a sunny day in the midst of a terrible ice storm and "eo"le )ust needed to do something different It ended at the tunnel they were not allowed to build and started to kill it !he tunnel started to colla"se with water and dragged e$en "eo"le away who were trying to hel" Shadrack )ust watched ringing his bell !he Bottom colla"sed -egros who made money mo$ed closer to the $alley White "eo"le mo$ed all o$er and the Bottom started to be $aluable !he community# the "lace seemed to ha$e disa""eared When -el $isited 6$a# in the nursing home# 6$a questioned her how she got the boy into the ri$er 6$a ke"t calling her Sula She was at first $ery u"set with this and she left 6$a u"set But as she thought about it -el had felt good about Chicken dying in the ri$er She had )oyful stimulation She was like Sula#

It didn5t hurt *Wait till I tell -el ,81;'9

curiosity -el $isited the cemetery Sula@ She reali:ed the "art missing in her was not Bude but Sula and she had a good cry about it *Sula, "resents to us an insight into black culture which "erha"s white culture may not be able to relate to e$en if they are e%"osed to it But "erha"s this book would at least gi$e some "eo"le who ha$e no e%"erience with it a sym"athetic ear ha$ing read it Issues that may rise for a "astor in this book are how "eo"le do deal with e$il in their li$es /ow can we )udge what others are doing if we ha$e no understanding of where they are coming from and what they are undergoing@ 0oti$ation for actions which we find ob)ectionable may ne$ertheless ha$e some logic behind them# e$en if they are wrong !here was the issue of se%ual immorality which is certainly ram"ant in our own day It would seem there are "lenty of "eo"le out there regardless of race who in our churches much less outside the church who do not use their GodDgi$en se%uality in a God "leasing way !he book is im"ortant in an historical sense as it co$ers a time "eriod from 1'<= to 1'>A 0uch of what is included is most likely historically correct as far as attitudes# beliefs and actions of different grou"s during this time It is im"ortant to reali:e there are still many "eo"le ali$e today who ha$e e%"erienced this life "resented in this book and who may not share the same world $iew we who ha$e grown u" in a different age 6$en those who are younger who were raised by these "eo"le will ha$e taken in some their "arents or grand"arents world$iews to some e%tent