Transcendence and Transgression in Toni Morrison's Sula

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Recommended: Analysis of sula by toni morrison

The Black women writers like Alice Walker, Paule Marshall, Toni Cade Banbara and Toni Morrison have always propagated the black feminist consciousness through their works. By giving voice to the voiceless, these writers renounce all the negative stereotypical images of black women. Morrison is an important writer among the league who has always startled her readers with her creative powers by giving her work such a finesse that one feels engulfed in her storyline. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993, her novels are replete with African American cultural aura : myths, symbols, festivals and the name that she assigns to her characters. Sula (1973) is the second novel of Toni Morrison which is set in her Medallion, Ohio. The novel involved a lot of critical attention as far as her depiction of Sula is concerned. Sula, the protagonist of this eponymous novel, is unlike the other female protagonists for the way she attains her personal identity is quite unusual. She is not a conventional woman who accepts the societal laws and norms wholeheartedly but her heroism lies in her way of abrogating such societal pressures. She challenges all such patriarchal paradigms that aim at belittling black women. The birth of the community “Bottom” directs us to the notions of racism prevalent in America. The name Bottom is ironic in the sense that it is high up the hills and hence believed to be a “nigger joke”. The master outwits his slave by offering him such land where the living was tiresome.
Black female is considered as a butt of ridicule for both White and Black males. All the confinements and rules are for her and she ought to obey them without raising her eyebrows. She is more like a machine than a human being bound to perform all the chores ...

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...rooteness to dissolution and power from powerlessness. As Morrison puts it
Hers was an experimental life – she had no centre, no speck around which to grow. 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)

Primary Source:
Morrison, Toni. Sula (1973). U.K. : Vintage, 2005.

Secondary Sources:
Peach, Linden. Toni Morrison. U.S.A : St. Martins Press, 2000.
Christian, Barbara. Black Feminist Criticism: Perspectives on Black Women Writers.New York : Teachers College Press. 1997.
Arya, Kavita. Blackhole in the Dust: The Novels of Toni Morrison. New Delhi: Adhyayan Publishers. 2010.
Dhanavel, S.P.. Critical Perspectives on American Literature. New Delhi : Sarup & Sons.2008.

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