Sula by Toni Morrison: Liberation Through Isolation

Toni Morrison’s Sula implements a series of scenes that disorient the ideas of social construct. This text leaves readers questioning how societal expectations influence individuals to view the world through the same perpetual lens. Instead of these shared belief systems illuminating a morally justified way of living, they emphasize a flawed way of thinking that alienates the protagonist who has a progressive outlook. Sula Peace is the outlier that helps juxtapose conformity and enlightenment. Her refusal to give in to social order redefines the associations that come with isolation. The correlation between Sula’s transience and liberation, made within the character driven plot, reveals an emptiness that is sustained in the conventional lives that surround her.

Sula combats tradition as she grows older and her friendship with Nel becomes complicated. Through the disintegration of their relationship, Morrison exemplifies how conformity is a learned practice while autonomy is innately possessed by everyone from childhood. In their younger years, Sula and Nel’s individualized personalities is what initially draws them to each other. There is a purity that allows them to revel in each other’s differences without judgement. Sula has a carefree personality while Nel is more reserved. Their separate identities reflect what the other desires to embody. The contrast of disposition and desire reiterates how these characters exhibit no boundaries on acceptance. In their juvenile state, they demonstrate nonconformist values. This natural instinct was highlighted with Nel’s resistance towards her mother that “gave her the strength to cultivate a friend” like Sula (Morrison 29). Morrison articulates how children conjure an unwavering ability to be their true selves without interference. Nel is not concerned with seeking her mother’s approval which enables her to be content with her authentic self.

Nel’s self-sufficiency eventually diverges after the death of Chicken Little. Her previous mentality is disrupted when Chicken Little is accidentally killed after Sula playfully flings him in the air. When Sula loses her grip, both her and Nel lose the innocence that allows them to externalize their truth. Chicken Little’s funeral is the turning point in which readers notice how Sula and Nel start to gradually drift apart as “there was a space, a separateness, between them” (Morrison 64). The lines that have been drawn in this instance show how Nel is beginning to imitate the community’s critical outlook. She is on edge with worry “expect[ing] the sheriff or Reverend Deal’s pointing finger at any moment” despite thinking she has “done nothing” wrong (Morrison 64-65). Nel is deflecting all responsibility onto Sula since she technically didn’t kill Chicken Little. She does not take accountability for the fact that she was a present party and complicit in keeping what really happened a secret from everyone. Her fears revolve around how people will perceive her if they were privy to any information. The innocence that once protected Nel from such concerns is no longer applicable.

Much like the people of Medallion, Nel falls into the trap of compliance. Her inability to maintain authority over her own life leads her to marry Jude out of obligation. It’s clear that Nel is just trying to maintain a façade without truly fulfilling her own needs. Although Nel “seemed receptive” she is “hardly anxious” (Morrison 82). This proves that Nel’s unhappiness is masked by a pretense that she is fine with her confined role. In reality, she is not content with the events transpiring in her life. Married life with Jude means accepting society’s patriarchal system and losing herself in the process. The loss of Nel’s identity is emphasized in Jude’s perception of how “the two of them together would make one Jude” (Morrison 83). Nel’s existence is losing its relevance because she is perpetuating the same social conventions as everyone else. Since the entire community is essentially reflective of each other, they are being morphed into one. Additionally, the fact that Nel and Jude are being molded into Jude alone goes to show how unequal the power structures are between men and women.

Sula is unwilling to give into these social normative roles which alienates her from the rest of the community. The people of Medallion view Sula as evil because she pushes back on boundaries that have been embedded into their customs. While everyone is cautious about how they carry themselves, Sula is unapologetically different. Although Sula presents some questionable behavior, such as her affair with Nel’s husband and idly standing by as her mother burns to death, she never pretends to be something she’s not. Despite all her imperfections, she embraces them. She never takes the easy way out by running from her faults. Her isolation from the community actually enables her liberation. Meanwhile, people like Nel are confined to the spaces that have stripped away self-expression. This is why the narrator remarks on how Nel only has “a dull glow” and lost “any sparkle or splutter she had” (Morrison 83). It is easy to assume that Sula is the one suffering because of her isolation, but it is actually the opposite. Nel may be socially accepted, but that doesn’t give her any satisfaction or internal peace. It was “only with Sula” where Nel “[had] free reign” (Morrison 83). Nel only felt a sense of freedom when she was in Sula’s presence. Sula’s independence may come at a cost, but Nel’s subservience comes at an even greater one.

The order that the town is accustomed to is not only detrimental to Nel as an individual, but also the town as a whole. The way they villainize Sula as an entity proves how they are dependent on her as a unifying force. This is showcased in the way the community condemns Sula because “she was guilty of an unforgivable thing­­—the thing for which there was no understanding, no excuse, no compassion” (Morrison 112). Sula was believed to have slept with a white man. Even if it was not true, they saw the worst in her because how easily she discards the men she has been with. That is all they needed to run with the idea that Sula is disposable to society. Her actions give the community ammunition to hold against her. These strict reinforcements prove how unwilling the people of Medallion are to give Sula a break. It is as if their existence is only possible with Sula as a common enemy. The community’s hatred for Sula is the only thing they had to unify them.

This concept is reiterated in “The Orderliness of Disorder: Madness and Evil in Toni Morrison's Sula” when Cedric Gael Bryant argues that black communities in Morrison’s fiction are put to task on manifesting specific values that allow them to grow. Sula is the embodiment of these liberating traits. Adversely, the Bottom’s inability to exemplify tolerance, empathy, and liberty sends their community into an uproar. It is only with Sula where they are able to maintain order because she exposes them to a different perspective. Bryant explains how “the community's survival literally depends upon the presence of evil that forces the community to reexamine its own ideals constantly” (9). Being exposed to Sula’s transience makes it possible for the community to take her lead and change their closed mindedness. Unfortunately, they fail to take advantage of this prospect. They demonize Sula and “unconsciously use her to order and improve their relationships to one another” (Bryant 12). Sula is made an example of what the community is against which makes them refocus their attention to prevent more people from following in Sula’s path. However, what they fail to do is see the good qualities in Sula which is counter-productive to the community’s progression. They only stand against Sula, so when she dies it is impossible for them to avoid self-destruction (Bryant 9). The city of Medallion has welcomed evil and “let it run its course, fulfill itself, and never invented ways either to alter it, to annihilate it or to prevent it’s happening again” (Morrison 89-90). Having a source of evil that can be blamed for every bad thing brings the town harmony, and without Sula, that quickly dissolves.

Nel is also significantly impacted by Sula’s death because she is forced to face a truth that she avoided for so long. During their last conversation, Sula questions Nel about how she knows she was the good one (Morrison 146). Everyone has come to the same conclusion that Sula was the source of bad energy. Sula resists this judgement and acknowledges that she can possess goodness. She is not insisting that she is a saint, but she is also not going to accept Nel’s insinuation that she is inferior. This scene calls attention to Nel’s hypocrisy that begins her journey of self-awareness. After Sula passes, Eva questions Nel about Chicken Little’s death which gives readers insight into how Nel was truly feeling during that event. Nel reflects “Why didn’t I feel bad when it happened? How come it felt so good to see him fall?” (Morrison 170). After Chicken Little dies, Nel is critical of Sula and acts as if her conscious should be clear. However, all along Nel held in her own questionable thoughts. Although Sula was more visibly emotional, Nel took on an insurmountable feeling of guilt. Nel’s calmness is what preempted her to conform. Her inner thoughts about Chicken Little during that time concerned her because it greatly differed from expectation. Her unphased reaction to death shocked her back into a society that seeks approval from one another.

Nel feared losing a sense of security by being too detached from society. Ironically, she loses something of even greater importance in the process, her friendship with Sula. When Sula describes how she’s dying she sounds empowered stating, “I’m going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world” (Morrison 143). Sula actually lives her life on her own terms, unlike people like Nel. She may have been isolated, but with that isolation comes liberation. When Nel tries to dismiss the impact of Sula’s words by calling it “lonely”, Sula quips, “Yes. But my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else’s. Made by somebody else and handed to you” (Morrison 143). This powerful rebuttal proves that the conventional lives surrounding Sula are far emptier than hers. At least she is leaving behind a life that was true to herself. Sula’s death is symbolic because although she has suffered through the judgement of others, she is the one leaving them behind. Nel is left on her own and Medallion is in complete chaos without Sula as their scapegoat.

Works Cited:

Bryant, Cedric Gael. “The Orderliness of Disorder: Madness and Evil in Toni Morrisons Sula.” Black American Literature Forum, vol. 24, no. 4, 1990, p. 731.

Morrison, Toni. Sula. Vintage, 2016.

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