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Giang Ngo

Ms. White

AP Literature and Composition

10 August 2020

“Sula”​ ​by Toni Morrison: Notes

Interesting Language

: “‘I’m going, Plum,’ she said. . . She rolled a bit of newspaper into a tight stick about six

inches long, lit it and threw it onto the bed where the kerosene-soaked Plum lay in snug

delight. ” (47)

Toni Morrison often employs the use of juxtaposition in ​Sula​, to surprise the reader and give the

events in the story more weight due to the unexpectedness. Here, after holding and loving Plum,

Eva leaves the room. Toni Morrison then proceeds to describe the sensations that Plum is

feeling. She describes him in a state of content and the whimsical description ends with Plum

going to sleep knowing that it was going to be all right. However, in the next paragraph, Toni

Morrison reveals that the warm, wet light Plum was feeling was kerosene, in preparation for Eva

setting Plum on fire. Though Eva’s crying in the previous scene set the reader on edge and gave

them a clue as to what would occur next, Plum’s imagination pulled the reader back in. Highly

descriptive imagery is often expected in literature so as to attract readers but in this passage, Toni

Morrison expertly draws the reader in through describing vague thoughts and concepts rather

than concrete scenarios. The event then becomes more subject to the reader’s interpretation than

a highly descriptive scene would. The reader imagines what a warm wet light feels like and the

word “blessing” guides the reader to imagine a state of contentment alongside Plum. After
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pulling the reader in, Toni Morrison switches the tone suddenly and leaves an impact on the

reader’s mind.

: “The second strange thing was Hannah’s coming into her mother’s room . . . But before

the second strange thing, there had been the wind, which was the first.” (67-73)

Toni Morrison also enjoys introducing sudden concepts and events into her story. Rather than

more direct methods of telling a story, Morrison plays around with concepts that cause the reader

to guess, and piece together the story. In this passage, Morrison starts off a chapter with “The

second strange thing was . . . ” This phrase leads the reader to question two things: What was the

first strange thing and why are strange things being listed? This particular entrance into a chapter

builds up anticipation from the reader, as the counting of strange things must be the

foreshadowing to a peculiar event. Starting off from the second strange thing also messes with

the predictability of the story and keeps the reader more entertained.

: “And what am I supposed to do with these old thighs now . . . O my sweet Jesus what

kind of cross is that?” (111)

This passage is the second of the only two times in the book where the narration switches from a

third person perspective to a first person perspective. Nel is lamenting over the loss of her

husband and therefore the loss of the functionality of her thighs. The first person perspective in

the book is used to characterize Nel. Her thoughts become truly known for the first time and it

lays the groundwork for her characterization. This passage is also, for the most part, a run-on

sentence. It shows that during this period of turmoil for Nel, she is thinking about many things

and is almost spiralling. Morrison uses this to emphasize how much Sula’s actions have

impacted Nel and without a husband, Nel feels lost.

Characterization

: “Their friendship was as intense as it was sudden. They found relief in each other’s

personality. Although both were unshaped, formless things, Nel seemed stronger and

more consistent than Sula, who could hardly be counted on to sustain any emotion for

more than three minutes. Yet there was one time when that was not true, when she held

on to a mood for weeks, but even that was in defense of Nel.” (53)

This quote characterizes Sula as an inconsistent person with a turbulent personality. It also

depicts Sula and Nel as dependent on each other in a way. They complimented one another’s

personality well and were very protective over each other.

: “Sula squatted down in the dirt road and put everything down on the ground: her

lunchpail, her reader, her mittens, her slate. Holding the knife in her right hand, she

pulled the slate toward her and pressed her left forefinger down hard on its edge. Her aim

was determined but inaccurate. She slashed off only the tip of her finger. The four boys

stared open-mouthed at the wound and the scrap of flesh, like a button mushroom, curling

in the cherry blood that ran into the corners of the slate.

Sula raised her eyes to them, Her voice was quiet. ‘If I can do that to myself, what

you suppose I’ll do to you?’” (55)

Sula’s actions while standing up to bullies characterize her as brave and perhaps reckless. To be

able to injure one’s self can be seen as an impressive feat or almost even psychopathic. Nel

comments on this later on in the story, and seemed to not find it impressive though it was done to

protect her.
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: “Nel put the iron on the stove. The situation was clear to her now. Sula, like always, was

incapable of making any but the most trivial decisions. When it came to matters of grave

importance, she behaved emotionally and irresponsibly and left it to others to straighten

out. And when fear struck her, she did unbelievable things. Like that time with her finger.

Whatever those hunkies did, it wouldn’t have been as bad as what she did to herself. But

Sula was so scared she had mutilated herself, to protect herself.” (101)

Though this is biased from Nel’s perspective, it also has a lot of weight, as Nel was very close

friends with Sula. Nel believes that Sula has not changed much since she was a child. She views

Sula as childish and reckless.

: “Sula was distinctly different. Eva’s arrogance and Hannah’s self-indulgence merged in

her and, with a twist that was all her own imagination, she lived out her days exploring

her own thoughts and emotions, giving them full reign, feeling no obligation to please

anybody unless their pleasure pleased her. As willing to feel pain as to give pain, to feel

pleasure as to give pleasure, hers was an experimental life . . . 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. For that reason she felt no compulsion to

verify herself—be consistent with herself.” (118-119)

From an omniscient view, it can be assumed that the narrator is describing Sula without bias or

that this is perhaps how Sula views herself. Here, she is characterized as both arrogant and

self-indulgent. She doesn’t believe that she has an obligation to how society thinks that she

should behave and she acts purely according to what she wants and expects. She wants adventure

rather than stability and conformity, yet doesn’t seem to make a big deal out of it.
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: “‘That’s the same sun I looked at when I was twelve, the same pear trees. If I live a

hundred years my urine will flow the same way, my armpits and breath will smell the

same. My hair will grow from the same holes. I didn’t mean anything. I never meant

anything. I stood there watching her burn and was thrilled. I wanted her to keep on

jerking like that, to keep on dancing.’” (147)

Directly from Sula’s mouth, Sula expresses that she is tired of consistency and that she struggles

to find meaning in her own life. She experiments with her life because she is bored. Her words

also seem to characterize her as a bit psychopathic, to enjoy watching her mother burn.

Literary Devices

: “He left his tie . . . And then you walked past me saying, ‘I’ll be back for my things.’

And you did but you left your tie.” (104-106)

In the previous scene, Sula had visited Nel, where Jude had just remarked that Sula stirred a

man’s mind, but did not stir his body. In the paragraph directly after, however, the narrative

switches to Nel’s first-person perspective, and a flashback, where she recalls seeing Jude cheat

on her with Sula. The flashback from Nel’s first-person perspective is one of the biggest turning

points in the book, emphasized by the fact that it is the first of the only two occurrences of

first-person perspective in the book. By using first-person perspective and a flashback to play out

the scene, the reader experiences Nel’s inner thoughts first hand and after the fact. The reader is

able to read what Nel first thought as well as what she thinks after she is given time to think

about it.
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: “‘But what about Plum? What’d you kill Plum for, Mamma? . . . [Hannah] dreamed of a

wedding in a red bridal gown until Sula came in and woke her . . .Before she trundled her

wagon over to the dresser to get her comb, Eva looked out the window and saw Hannah

bending to light the yard fire. And that was the fifth (or fourth, if you didn’t count Sula’s

craziness) strange thing. She couldn’t find her comb.” (70-75)

In this chapter, Morrison uses foreshadowing as the main literary device to portray Hannah’s

death. Aside from the list of strange things, Hannah first asks about Plum’s death and asks if Eva

loved him. Hannah is on edge, as the event of one’s mother killing one’s brother would do to

someone. There is a sense of something being amiss throughout the whole chapter, culminating

in Hannah’s death where Eva tries desperately to save her.

: “​I will water your soil, keep it rich and moist. But How much? How much water to keep

the loam moist? And how much loam will I need to keep my water still? And when do the

two make mud?”​ (131)

In the scene with Sula and Ajax, in between physical descriptions, Sula’s thoughts are depicted.

She imagines, with metaphors, finding out what is underneath his skin, and taking care of it. She

is starting to fall in love with Ajax, and wants to get closer to him; this is a change from previous

characterizations of Sula, where she does not want to be tied down at all.

Possible Themes and Main Ideas

-role of women through Eva, Sula, Hannah, and Nel as stated

-friendship through Nel and Sula