Friday, March 23, 2012
Gender Inequities
Although Sula contains several male characters, the book is, in many ways, a novel that celebrates women. Sula looms so large in the reader's mind because Morrison strips away the power traditionally given to men. Examine the deficiencies of two male characters that suggest contrasting strengths in female characters.
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Literary norms state men should be strong, heroic, and authoritative, while women become damsels in distress, weak-willed and requiring the aid of others to rescue them from any given situation. Morrison reverses these clichés with the characters of Shadrack and Helen Wright. Shadrack, a soldier, is portrayed as weak and somewhat deranged, a presence the other inhabitants of Medallion have come to accept with trepidation. As Morrison depicts the circumstances that led to Shadrack’s creation of National Suicide Day and his experience in the war, she portrays him as terrified, shell-shocked, and helpless. However, Helen is described as “a woman who won all social battles with presence and a conviction of the legitimacy of her authority” (Morrison 18). Helen takes on the role of the fearless leader typically reserved for men while Shadrack takes on the role of the follower typically reserved for women. In this way, Morrison is stating that gender does not determine one’s role in society, rather one’s own actions and mentality.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that Helene is portrayed stronger and more dignified than women in most novels, Shaddrack is also presented as a strong force. Though the town os well aware of Shaddrack's madness, they also know that "that did not mean that he didn't have any sense or, even more important, that he had no power" (15). His presence still affects the town even through his lunacy, displaying how influential he is. Helene on the other hand has to work so hard for her authority, displaying only the purest manners and upright attitude. If she were to slip up, she would lose the sway she held in town. Helene is impressive, "at least in Medallion" (18), but once she leaves the town her authority is diminished. People treat her like anyone else; "not a man moved" (22) to help her with her bags and when she asked for the restroom, she was directed towards "gray-green trees leaning over tangled grass" (23). Helene's power is delicate and faint while Shaddrack's is unfaltering and undeniably present. The fact that he holds this power even with his delusion and that Helene must tightly grasp her prestige at all times displays how men are still portrayed above women.
ReplyDeleteI disagree the claim that Shadrack has power superior to that of Helene. During his hospital stay and his journey home he exhibited fear and incapability to process information sanely and perform common tasks. He required assistance in feeding, untying shoelaces and even getting back to his hometown even though it was "only twenty-two miles"(14) away. He even felt relief when power was exerted over him like when "[the hospital staff bounded]Shadrack in a straitjacket"(9) or when his headache subsided while studying "a command to go f*** himself"(13). Thus, Shadrack is similar to Helene: authority is drained from both characters when they are away form Medallion. Just as a sense of fear gripped Helene when the white conductor called her "gal"(20), Shadracked "was frightened of the voice in the apple-green suit"(9).
ReplyDeleteHelene is a more impressive character because she is a woman. In the context of their society Helen is proportionately more powerful than Shadrack. In a time when women were expected to depend on men for monetary and psychological support, Helene found Wiley's "long absences quite bearable"(17). She "held sway"(18) socially over Medallion through her dignified bearings and self-made authority in a time when AMerican society was predominantly patriarchal. Her unnatural independence and social power put her well above Shadrack whose power may very well stem from the community's fear of his lunacy, booming voice, and "stingingly personal"(15) insults.
Throughout the past, men have always been portrayed as a symbol of power, while women played a much more passive role. In the book Sula, Toni Morrison does just the opposite. “Helene Wright was an impressive woman… A woman who won all social battles with a presence and a conviction of the legitimacy of her authority” (18). Normally, women would not speak out of their place and keep to themselves, but Helene expresses her opinion in everything she does. She fights for what she believes in, portraying the power of authority that men usually have, establishing a leadership role. Shadrack is a World War I veteran who was gravely injured from war. After his release from the hospital, he has an immediate break down, displaying the lack of power that Morrison has stripped away. His lack of power is conveyed through his fear of dying unexpectedly. In response, “he instituted National Suicide Day” (14). This portrays Shadrack’s fear because he creates a “holiday” in order to cope with the fears of death he has himself by instilling it into the minds of others around him, depicting him as weak and powerless.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Llyke's statement, because after Shadrack returns from war, he institutes the National Suicide Day, and people accept it. While not participating themselves, they "absorbed it into their thoughts, into their language, into their lives" (Morrison 15). Shadrack is accepted into Medallion and has some power, as stated by the frightened people, because "they knew Shadrack was crazy but that did not mean that he didn't have any sense or, even more important, that he had no power" (Morrison 15).
ReplyDeleteLikewise, Helene holds more power than her expected role as a woman in society. While women were expected to rely on their husbands, Helene only sees hers three out of sixteen days. She feels that "his long absences [are] quite bearable for [her], especially when, after some nine years of marriage, her daughter is born" (Morrison 17). By her living conditions alone, Helene demonstrates her personal independence, and she goes on to raise her daughter almost unhindered by her husband "until she drove her daughter's imagination underground" (Morrison 18).
Oops! I didn't get Desmond's reply until I had posted mine. This is Evan by the way
DeleteIn her novel, Sula, Toni Morrison subverts the image of the quintessential woman, who is submissive and wholly dependent on her husband or, if she lacks a husband, lacks the independent spirit necessary to survive by her own merit. In order to break this gender stereotype, Morrison juxtaposes the nature of two male characters with that of one of the female characters, Helene. The first introduced character is Shadrack, a black American soldier who is sent to the Western Front in the Great War and eventually leaves the war suffering from severe shell shock. With a wrecked mind and conscience blown, he institutes Suicide Day, a day on which people are declared to commit suicide or murder other people. Another male character, Wiley Wright, is described to be an ineffectual husband and father. As a result, his wife, Helene, raises her daughter single-handedly. Her influence on her daughter, Nel, is so profound to such an extent that, “Any enthusiasms that Little Nel showed were calmed by her mother until she drove her daughter’s imagination underground” (Morrison 18). In contrasting Shadrack and Wiley Wright and Helene, the former two are of lesser mental and moral composure than Helene. Also, power, being drawn from influence, is greater in Helene, for he is able to raise her daughter without the assistance of her husband.
ReplyDeleteBuilding on Natalie’s response, I agree that Morrison reverses the cliché that disparages women by proving their strength, independence, and reliance on other women rather than being ruled by men. One example is when Helene and Nel enter the train and is confronted by the conductor. While the conductor tries to intimidate her, Nel notices “the bright and blazing light of her mother’s smile” (21) at the end of the conversation. Instead of bowing in fear, Helene casually accepts the fact that she makes a mistake and reveals a sense of accomplishment by smiling at her mistake. In addition, while on the train, Helene carries a powerful persona while being surrounded by black soldiers and men. After unloaded her suitcases without any help, Morrison writes “That no midnight eyes or marbled flesh would ever accost her and turn her into jelly” (22). While both the conductor, soldiers and men all try to permeate fear into Helene, their actions exemplify Helene’s strong will. Also, the fact that this section takes place in the 1920s after the 19th amendment support Helene’s rebellious characteristic towards men.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Shadrack is influential in that he creates National Suicide Day, Morrison portrays him as physically and mentally inferior to Helene. He exists in Medallion, but serves as no real use to anybody. Eventually Shadrack becomes part of the crowd, just another person, when he is fit “into the scheme of things” (15) as the town’s lunatic. On the other hand, Helene is an “impressive woman,” (18) as Llyke stated, by the time period’s standards. Although she is basically just another woman in the town because she is a church-going, child raising woman like many other women in that period, she differs from Shadrack because she knows her role well. Her presence is powerfully exerted onto her community and her daughter. Morrison even goes on to say that she “only lost one battle – the pronunciation of her name.” Helene takes care of her daughter, Nel, while her husband is always away, working. Nel becomes more powerful than Helene when she gains individuality and character after seeing her mother being treated as a laughing stock by other blacks on the train. And with an even stronger presence is Sula, who is different from the general community of Medallion and retains character in that she has no restrictions even in the restrictive time period.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, men have always been played the powerful role, while women were more subservient. In Sula, Toni Morrison switches the “expected roles” of men and women. Boyboy, Eva’s husband, stayed with Eva until “after five years of sad and disgruntled marriage Boyboy took off” (32). Traditionally, it is man’s duty to support their wife and children, but Boyboy is portrayed as a cheater and a coward. He runs off to cheat on his wife, showing his lack of power to be able to not only hold back his cheating tendencies, but also the ability to support his family. His lack of power and authority is also contrasted by Eva’s sense of power and independence. She had a sense of power that “[everyone] had the impression that they were looking up to her, up into the open distances of her eyes, up into the soft black of her nostrils and up at the crest of her chin” (31). Eva’s sense of authority in her neighborhood exudes the aura of power that a man would typically have. Everyone looks up to her, even when she is physically lower than them. Her presence graced other males, who were delighted to even play a game of chess with her. Her great sense of power highlights Boyboy’s lack of power. Another character whose power is diminished to the sense of a women’s “role” is Plum. After returning from World War I, “His hair had been neither cut nor combed in months, his clothes were pointless and he had no socks” (45). For a man to be the symbol of power, they he must keep up his image to reflect his sense of authority. Plum had neither the will, nor power to assert his well being and is lazy at home. His physical appearance reflects his status of power, as he is low enough to steal from his family to buy cheap alcohol. He was nothing but a nuisance and his lack of power, which men typically had, reflected on that. It was shortly after he arrived that Eva, his mother who is portrayed as strong, beautiful, and influential, takes initiative and burns him.
ReplyDeleteMorrison, throughout the book, portrays women with power, having the ability to live in independence, by providing for their children and themselves as well. For instance, Eva supplies her children and even the ones she adopts, with food and shelter, despite her physical restrictions, after having Boyboy leave her and the family. Continuing on, Hannah and Nel also showed power from the vast amount of time to move on and keep going even after their husbands either left or died. Hannah quickly moves back under her mother's roof and takes care of the house and Nel continues to work and raise her kids without the support of Jude or any other person. However, in the chapter 1939, Morrison uses Sula to contradict this "power" that the other women character's attain. As Sula finally meets a man, named Ajax, who she can actually have a conversation with, she becomes attached to the ability to love him yet still have the opportunity to communicate with one another. Going forward, as one day approaches and Sula finds Ajax gone, she finds "it was difficult for her to understand how she had ever endured, without falling dead or being consumed, his magnificent presence" (Morrison 134). Through this, Morrison conveys Sula with a sense of weakness for Ajax's absence "was everywhere, stinging everything", emphasizing the impact and dependence of Sula's happiness on Ajax's presence, contradicting the role or women shown previously in the book.
ReplyDeleteJude plays a reversed role in the book. Even though he had the sense of want for doing hard labor, he was also searching for a sense of being needed by someone, “he wanted someone to care”(82). This can usually be seen in the role of a stereotypical woman, the idea of feeling important to someone. Jude also displays the characteristics of a woman by going on about marriage, “the more he thought about marriage, the more attractive it became” (83). Whereas usually, a woman would be caught up in the idea of marriage and would be fantasizing about it instead of a male character. In the clichéd definition, a man should be heroic and chivalrous, whereas in the reading, he had left Sula once he found that their relationship was getting too serious. But in contrast with the ideas of being rough and careless with as to how others feel, Ajax also displays feelings of those of a woman, feeling the need to “come regularly then, bearing gifts” (125).
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