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Works Examined Selection List:
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The novel starts out with reminiscences of the Bottom prior to its having been demolished to make way for the Medallion City Golf Course. Only in them Bottom is National Suicide Day celebrated by its founder and possibly sole celebrant, Shadrack, a mentally "ravaged" World War I veteran. On this day (January 3rd of each year) people are encouraged to end their lives in order to confront their fears about the "unexpectedness" of death and dying. From these origins, the novel increases the layers of experiences and personalities with each character and situation introduced. There is Helene Sabat Wright, Nel's mother, who was born the daughter of a "Creole whore" in New Orleans. At an early age, Helene will attempt escaping her mother's lifestyle with a hurried marriage to her grandmother's nephew. Viewing this marriage as a way out, Helene marries Wiley Wright and moves with him to Ohio. Helene becomes an upstanding, churchgoing woman in the community. Her house will be depicted as one of order and constraint. She gives birth to their daughter, Nel, who is described as a darkermcomplexioned child. Nel is not gorgeous as the others in Helene's family but she is still attractive nonetheless. In a poignant scene following a trip to New Orleans for her great-grandmother's funeral, Nel looks into a mirror, assesses her image and states, "I'm me. I'm not their daughter. I'm not Nel. I'm me. Me." She is beginning to see herself as an individual, separate from family, and will search throughout her childhood and adult experiences for those elements that will assist her in knowing herself. Similar to Nel, Sula's heritage is based upon a lineage of women who are "manloving." Yet, in contrast to Helene's attempts to escape this heritage,the Peace women openly embrace it. Eva Peace, the grandmother owns a rather large, disorganized house that functions as the residence for both family and boarders. The house represents an eclectic collection of individuals,manloving Peace women (including Sula's mother Hannah), the three Deweys, Tar Baby, and Plum. Sula is a dark complexioned woman with a birthmark over her eye that will be interpreted differently throughout her lifetime. By 1922, Nel and Sula are entering the first stages of their quest towards womanhood. Neither white nor male "they had set about creating something else to be" (52). During their girlhood Nel and Sula will share both an interest in boys and a tragic experience which will bond them in secret to Shadrack. In their young lives, the girls will experience a communion and intimacy with nature. Inseparable during their formative years, life choices will ultimately lead them on separate paths only to be rejoined in later life. In 1927, Nel marries Jude marking the first time she will know herself without Sula. On Nel's wedding day, Sula celebrates her friends new life and departs for college, and a new life of her own. Ten years will pass from that day before the two will see each other again. During this time, Nel becomes a traditional wife and mother while Sula becomes a college educated woman, ultimately living in various towns before returning to the Bottom. Part Two of the novel begins with Sula's return to the Bottom where her arrival is anticipated by the unexpected occurrence of numerous dying birds. The towns folk have a sense of "evil" approaching their midst, "nature is inconvenienced." Nel is the sole resident appearing undisturbed by the change in nature. Upon her return and subsequently taking up residence in the Peace household once again, the town begins creating folklore about Sula. The fear of Sula strengthens relationships within families and the community. After returning, Sula commits the unconscionable act of sleeping with Jude, Nel's husband. Her friend discovers the affair and the sense of betrayal and loss severs the friendship between the women. News of Sula's actions spreads and the town considers her as requiring all three faces of God, plus a forth to confront her evil. Only Ajax, an independent man in the community, founds an attraction towards her and allows himself to participate in an on-going sexual relationship with her. For the first time, Sula finds herself capable of intimate feelings within someone since her return. The relationship will not last and eventually Ajax will move away from the Bottom. By 1940, Sula takes ill. She is alone in the Peace household having committed the ultimate transgression in the community-committing her grandmother to a nursing home. With no one to care for her, Nel returns to her life offering assistance. In the process, she confronts Sula about her affair with Jude and is disturbed by Sula's inability to understand her sense of betrayal and loss. Sula is unapologetic for her actions and eventually dies without remorse or regret for how she has lived her life. Following Sula's death, the town returns to its old ways. Relationships become distant once again. Nel mourns the loss of Sula. People no longer fear National Suicide Day and will come out to mock Shadrack during the 1941 "celebration." The novel closes with the year 1965, when Nel has made peace with the losses of Jude, Sula's death, and the death of the Bottom. She visits Eva Peace, Sula's grandmother, who is still alive and residing in the nursing home. There, she attempts to bring comfort to Eva but is confronted by what she considered Eva's confusion. Eva reminds Nel of the childhood tragedy both Nel and Sula shared in secret. Nel, at first, attempts to clarify Eva's thoughts. But Eva persists in telling Nel that the two young girls, grown women, had been one in the same and that they had been inextricably linked in their lives by their thoughts and actions. It was this bond that forever held them one to the other.
Program content by Violet Bryan,Ph.D. and Robin Vander |
