Guillaume Williams

SulaAn Introduction to Black Culture

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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$es are teased out here
!ea"ot# a young child# falling at Sula5s house caused his mother to be a mother Before
<
Sula goes on how white men en$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 of813>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$e it all, -el# *2ou
can5t act like a man 2ou are colored and a woman, Sula# *Sto" re"eating yourselfE
Sula not worried about showing the world# she has me 8herself9, -el# *?onely ain5t it@,
Sula# *2es but lonely is mine. -el asked Sula why she took Bude She said because he
was there and she was em"ty -el asked why she did that to her# after all she was good to
Sula Sula re"lies# *Being good to others is for yourself,81;;#1;A9
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3
Sula has a dream of !he Clabber Girl Baking 4owder ?ady She beckons and turns to
"owder She felt "ain and could nothing about it She thought of water It would wash
her tired flesh always Alwaysa slee" of water always -o more "ain She was dead
!hings seemed to get better after Sula5s death But that was short li$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 3
rd

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