"Sula"

Paper Summary:

An attempted character analysis of this very evasive character of the book. Even though the book is named for her, the character only appears a third of the way through the book. A look at many critical evaluations of this complex character with heavy emotional baggage and a disturbed family history. Sula's character lets us see both the realities of a black woman's life and reflections of the possibilities of the meanings of divinity that exist within all our lives.

From the Paper:

"Toni Morrison does not give us easy answers as we attempt to analyze the character of Sula. Sula is the title character in the novel Sula and yet she only appears in about the middle third of the book. Sula is a black woman, very much a character who is aware of her self and her own process, which is continually in motion. It is perhaps easier to say what she isn't than what she is. She is not a static predictable character. She does not meet with the approval of the community and she does not care. She cannot be called a good, or caring or giving person. Sula is neither passive nor innocent. She is active, involved in life and though she is amoral, she doesn't fit into dualistic categories of good or evil. In fact her contradictions make us realize that we must look beyond our dualistic perceptions to understand her. She is much more concerned about her self than about anybody else, yet she is very much aware of herself in relation, or more often non-relation, to others. As others analyze her character, she serves as a catalyst for leading her fellow humans, both inside and outside the novel to analyze themselves."

More papers on "Sula":

• Analytical Essay # 68460 : "Toni Morrison's "Sula"
• Book Review # 147903 : "Inversion in "Sula"
• Analytical Essay # 68100 : "Sula"
• Analytical Essay # 7134 : "An Analysis of "Sula" by Toni Morrison"

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