Toni Morrisons Sula :: Toni Morrison Sula Essays

Toni Morrisons Sula In the book Sula by Toni Morrison, Morrisons ambiguous link between good, diabolical, and guilt, she is able to show that these equipment casualty argon relative to each separate and often occur mutually. In her comparison of good and evil, Sula states that Being good to somebody is precisely like being mean to somebody. Risky. You dont get nothing for it (145). Good and evil are being compared as if they are equal and that is how the book is structured. For instance, Evas burn of Plum is a complex conjunction of motherly love and pr doicality and cannot be depict as simply being a good act or a bad one. The killing of xanthous Little is a similarly ambiguous situation from which Sula and Nels feelings are unclear. Lastly Sula, upon her terminal bed, questions what it means to be good and suggests that it what may be considered bad could in reality be good. Both in the syncopated style of Morrisons piece of music and the morally ambiguous portrayal of ch aracters, cause the reader to question moral philosophy and think about them on a larger scale. Although on the surface, Evas ardent of Plum appears as a ghastly and un-motherly act (not to say that it isnt ghastly), with much analysis becomes a more perplexing question. When Eva pours kerosene on Plum, it is described as a sort of baptism, He opened his eyes and see what he imagined was the great wing of an bird of Jove pouring a stiff lightness over him. Some kind of baptism, some kind of tenderness he thought (47). Eva believes that she is liberating Plum from his depressed, drugged life and saving his soul. The eagle that plum imagines seeing is a symbol of liberty and the wing is a symbol for maternal love as a bird may nestle its chicks with its wing. Even when Nel later visits Eva in the nursing home, Eva approves of her liberation of Plum. She disapproves of Nel and Sulas throwing Chicken Little in the water, yet justifies killing Plum by saying, Its imposing c old in the water. Fire is warm. How did you get him in? (168). Sula and Nel are both blameful for Chicken Littles death, one for throwing him into the river and the other for watching it. No one is going to defend their actions, however whether Nel is guilty or not is a far more difficult question.