Fear and its Effects in Sula
In Toni Morrison's novel, Sula (1973), the reader follows the life of Sula Peace through her childhood in the 1920's, until her death in 1941. Sula's interactions with the surrounding characters play a profound role in the constant development of their emotions. It seems that Sula's controversial relationships, especially between her grandmother Eva, her best-friend Nel, and Jude, accentuate feelings of fear, even in herself. In turn, the characters are forced to either cope with their newfound fear or find a way to control it. Throughout the story, however, the reader is expected put aside conventional expectations to enter a somewhat fictional world; a world in which evil may be good, or where murder becomes an act of love. The novel addresses the confusing mysteries of human emotions and relationships, ultimately concluding that social conventions are inadequate in explaining the characters' affairs. Sula's impact on other characters is the single most important factor in the development of their emotions, primarily their fears.At the start of the novel we are introduced to Shadrack, a character who lives in constant fear of unexpected death. Even tough he is not mentioned much after the first chapters, his struggle is the st
Consequently, the novel seems to reiterate that things are not always as they seem. In society, it is normal to fear dying; yet for Sula, death is not at all frightening. She does not regret dying because she feels that she has taken advantage of all of the experiences she can out of life. This is unlike her companion Nel, who carries the guilt of Chicken Little's death for years after the accident, always fearing an unexpected death of her own. Rita Bergenholtz, a well-known critic of Morrison's works, is accurate when she claims that; "many of the major characters struggle to extract an ordered meaning from the events in their lives...where their fear causes their own self-destruction" (5). The feelings of fear that Sula instigates, comes back to instill a certain type of fear in Sula, one of not having a purpose in life. I needed some of my appetites filled, some posture of adulthood recognized, but mostly he wanted someone to care about his hurt... a someone sweet, industrious and loyal to shore him up... without that someone, he was a waiter hanging around a kitchen like a woman... his fears lest his burst dream of road building discourage her were never realized (82-3) Lastly, Jude resembles an interesting type of fear, similar to that of Eva. Jude is so afraid that he will never find the right woman to marry, that he rushes into a dysfunctional marriage with Nel. He explains his reasoning when he says to himself that: For Sula, fear has different impacts on her life, both in childhood and when she returns to the Bottom as a grown woman. As a child, Chicken Little's accidental death places a huge burden on Sula and Nel as young children. His death further drives the loss of childhood innocence because it shows the girls how easy it is to die. They are no longer protected by a naive way of thinking that as children, they have this air of invincibility. Shadrack assumes that Sula's tear stained face is connected to her fear of change. As a grown woman, Sula experiences fear with her grandmother, Eva. Another aspect of Eva's fear is losing everyone in her family. After her husband Boy Boy left her to take care of the kids, and the choice to murder her son Plum, sh
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1476
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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