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Saturday, March 31, 2012
Religion in Sula
Throughout Sula, Morrison refers to religion through biblical allusions. How does the significance of religion contribute to the characters’ personalities and actions as a whole?
The first Biblical reference in Sula is Shadrack's name, which refers to the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In the Bible, King Nebuchadnezar had the three Jewish men thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down in worship of a golden image. To the King and the court's astonishment, four forms appeared in the midst of the fire and all three men who had been cast into the flames emerged perfectly whole. After witnessing their God's power (the fourth form being "like the Son of God" [Daniel 4:25]) Nebuchadnezar made a law severely punishing anyone who spoke a word against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's God. Knowing the entirety of the Biblical story is vital to the understanding of Morrison's Shadrach because his experiences coincide with that of the Biblical Shadrach. Morrison's Shadrach's fiery furnace is his seeming insanity, or intensely severe PTSD. Just as the flames engulfed the air all around Biblical Shadrach, Morrison's is plagued with a world that is dangerous and perilous to him in his own mind. Morrison's Shadrach is not safe in his own body or his own mind, leaving room for the question of what his symbolic fourth form is. Thus, this allusion also represents a self-fulfilling prophesy, or a foreshadowing of what is to come for Morrison's Shadrach, since he follows the path of Biblical Shadrach in more than name already.
Throughout the beginning chapters of Sula, Toni Morrison incorporates dialogue with religious connotations into her writing. For example, after returning home from visiting Cecile, Helene expresses "Lord, I've never been so glad to see this place... Lord, i never thought I'd get back here safe and sound... Praise his name" (Morrison 27). Morrison giving her characters dialogue that heavily involves religious connotations displays the significant role that religion plays in the characters' lives. Religion affects the characters in Sula in the way that their speech is heavily influenced by it, resulting in constant references to the "Lord" and praising his name.
Besides the namesake of Shadrack and the influence of God in Helene's life, the Reverend's take on Suicide Day should be noted. Reverend Deal says that "the same folks who had the senses to avoid Shadrack's call were the ones drinking themselves to death...'may's well go on...and save the lamb the trouble of redemption'" (morrison 16). I'm not sure if I read this right, but this is how I took it. The Reverend is saying that those who wave off Shadrack's call to suicide, are people who are drunkards and whores. Thus, if they just followed Shadrack's advice they would save God time in trying to redeem them. From looking at this Reverend's, leader of their church, point of view, one can infer the kind of messages he is spreading to his congregation. The words that he speaks influences everyone who attends his church. Therefore the opinion of Reverend Deal, influences the opinions of Helene, Nel, and all of the other towns people.
Again this is how I read it so I'm not entirely sure if that was what this passage meant.
Religion within Sula most definitely impacts the characters within the novel. These references such as where Rochelle put her “hair up from her neck back into its halo-like roll” put emphasis on how the character is perceived and the expected actions of the character (Morrison 27). This angelic representation of the grandmother is reinforced through how she is introduced to Nel by having the “softness and glare of a canary”, this divine aurora reflects to the interactions with Rochelle and other characters (Morrison 25). Also religion plays into the characters sense of hope just as how Nel speaks to the divine saying, “Oh, Jesus, make me wonderful.”(Morrison 27). When Nel has a burst of confidence of how she is not what her mother wants her to be but a person of her own choices and morals, she turns to the heavens for support in her new decision of who she is. The divine will play into the characters by influencing their morals and or choices; these choices that the characters make could be crucial decisions that may impact how the characters function within the novel.
The connection between religion and character development in Sula is extremely strong. Morrison's allusions and references to religion portray a variety of traits towards any character she is referring to. For example, given that Shadrack's namesake is itself a biblical reference, Shadrack is a character who will forever live with religion being a part of him as a person, whether or not he accepts it. It is his name and therefore is identified with religion. In contrast, Helene was raised with strict religious expectations and beliefs and therefore was also instilled with a religious basis. this is shown through her speech "Lord, I've never been"(pg27),and her daily practices "Since there was no catholic church in Medallion then, she joined the most conservative black church"(pg18). This idea of being naturally compelled to religion seems to be a focus of Morrison in the novel. Although, these two characters share a root through religion, they have developed separately. Shadrack was involved in war and became crazed, where as Helene became a respectable person who is probably only unaccepted due to her ethnicity in her social class rank. All in all, Morrison's effective use of a religious grasp on characters demonstrates the effects of religion on various people's development causing them to alter their lifestyle or abide by certain moral beliefs.
The inclusion of biblical allusions help emphasize the characters' traits and personalities. As Dominic previously stated, the presence of religion plays a significant role in the charactes' lives by affecting the way certain characters speak. However, similarly to Kris' response, religion also adds emphasis on "how the character is percieved". Upon the arrival of Helene and Nel into Cecile Sabat's house, they are quick to notice a "woman in a yellow dress (who had) come out of the garden" (Morrison 25). The notion of Rochelle exiting the garden in an angelic fashion alludes to the Adam and Eve story in the beginning events of the Bible. Adam and Eve are depicted as perfect human beings, who eventually succumb to their sexual desires. This highlights the fact that even though Rochelle demonstrates an angelic quality to her character, she is not without flaws. This particular scene demonstrates how Morrison portrays some of her characters through biblical allusions.
So far, the most substantial biblical allusion that I have come across is the one brought up by the incredible and beautiful Allison Kephart. For the most part, I would like to agree with her that the biblical Shadarach's experiences coincide with those of Toni Morrison's Shadarack, but how they do so is a bit different in my interpretation. Along with descending into insanity, Morrison's Shadarack plunges into society after so much time being kept in captivity. He is completely lost and "thrown into the fire" when policeman arrest him and put him in jail. This not only correlates to the biblical Shadarach, but the fact that Morrison's Shadarack is black portrays how abhorred his people are in society; detained and oppressed by people "like paper" (11), that hold no connection to themselves. When he is released, however, he invents his own holiday, National Suicide Day, in which the people of Medallion can actually expect death to happen. At first, many people were frightened of such a holiday, but they could not ignore the fact that Shadarack's voice was still "full of authority"(15), which led to the holiday becoming "absorbed into their thoughts, into their language, and into their lives" (15). In the end, Shadarack's beliefs could not be disregarded and they are eventually accepted into society. Because of Shadarack's connection to the Bible, the message he carries is strengthened; both Shadarachs represent the impossibility of ignoring the beliefs of a certain group of people.
Religion plays an ostentatious role with Sula. Morrison uses religion as a basis for the development of Shadrack and Helene as well. Religion contributes heavily on each character's personality and actions through incorporation of it at an early age such as Helene or the inescapable meaning of Shadrack's name. Shadrack was one of the 3 men that were thrown into a pit of fire for not bowing down to a king. Jesus protected them from the fire and saved them. Both character's however did not have a choice in accepting whether religion should be a part of their lives and each had different outcomes. Helen, at a young age, was raised with strong core religious values and this shows in her thoughts as she says, "Jesus, make me wonderful" (Sula 29) or "Lord, I've never been so glad..." (Sula 27). This thus shows how strongly Helene values religion as it has become incorporated in the social aspects of her life. However, unlike Shadrack who struggled to find meaning to his life and his religious name, Helene became a venerable self righteous individual through her Aunt Cecile's teachings and her religious background. Through religion, Morrison is able to contrast the effect religion has in altering a character's personality and actions. Not only does religion shaped Helene into a respectful caring individual but also effects Helene's actions as she constantly tries to mold Nel into the image of herself. In the end, the significance of religion plays a role in shaping the personality and actions of both Helene and Shadrack as Morrison allows two different perspectives of religion effecting characters.
Justin Labrado Biblical allusions are seen throughout Sula and they convey the personalities and actions of the characters in various ways. However, I noticed in the assigned reading that symbolism is used to convey these things by comparing characters of Sula to people found in the bible. One symbol that stood out was the Virgin Marry, or rather Virgin Marries. She is pluralized because she symbolizes multiple characters in the book, these characters are Helene, Nel, Rochelle, and Helene's deceased grandmother; Cecile. As Helene and Nel walk into Cecile's home, they noticed that "The virgin marry clasped her hands in front of her neck three times in the front room and once in the bedroom where Cecile's body lay... In that house that held four virgin Marries." (Morrison 25) The Virgin Marries give insight into the personalities and actions of the four characters by showing readers what their life is like. Meaning that the characters have grown up without men playing a significant role in their lives, just as the Virgin Marry (I am aware of her husband Joseph, but he is not a very significant person in the Bible). For example: Rochelle raised Helene on her own as a single parent, and Helene's husband, who is also Nel's father is only home for three days out of every sixteen. The symbolism is further supported by the fact that each of the woman (minus Nel, of course) raised fatherless children just as the Virgin Marry raised a fatherless Jesus. (That's not to say Nel symbolizes Christ, but it would be interesting t see someone argue that) This fact contributes to the actions and personalities of these characters by making them strong and independent, and Morrison shows this by comparing them to the Virgin Marry.
In Sula, there are many religious and cultural references. When Helene goes to see her deceased grandmother, Morrison refers to the "Elysian Fields"(Morrison 24). The Elysian Fields was the concept of an afterlife, where according to Greek mythology, the souls of the good rest in prosperity for eternity. In Helene's eyes, her grandmother Cecile was a good soul, especially after caring for and raising her most of her life. Another religious aspect is that Helene is quite a strong religious person. Her strength in faithfulness towards her beliefs is not only shown by Helene joining "the most conservative black church"(Morrison 18), but also shown in the remarks she makes with religious references, as Li stated previously. Religion not only plays as a belief to Helene, but it also takes part in her personality and whole being. Morrision incorporates religion onto the characters personalities to give us a better sense of the importance of belief throughout the novel.
There is a litany of ways that Morrison manipulates religion to convey a deeper meaning into the characters' personalities and actions.I would like to delve deeper into the religious connotations of Morrison's Shadrack because Allison, Jing, and Graham have inspired and added some new thoughts into some ideas I had about him. I would like to zero in on three points that Graham and Allison brought up, that is, the fact that in the story Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were saved by God,the connection that this has with Graham's quote, and Shadrack's PTSD. In the first chapter Morrison introduces us to Shadrack, a man returning from war who witnessed, "the body of a headless soldier running on with energy and grace ignoring altogether the drip and slide of brain tissue down his back"(Morrison 8). This image alone is enough to surmise Shadrack's consequent PTSD. Morrison confirms his PTSD with the delusion of his growing hands, which can symbolize the uncertainty of what to do with freedom, or possibly guilt from deeds done during the war.This psychological trauma sparks an immediate solution through National Suicide Day. Now how does this relate to religion at all? Well in Christianity there is a motif of freedom through death. This is illustrated through Morrison's novel when National Suicide Day is introduced. When Reverend Deal says,"Mays well go on with Shad an save the Lamb the trouble of redemption"(Morrison 16). Jesus is often referred to as the "Lamb" in the Bible, this name signifies his death as the perfect lamb or sacrifice. This explains Shadrack's actions because I suspect that Shadrack wants everyone to kill themselves because of the inevitable end of death and the suffering and imperfection in the world, which was accentuated through his experience of the war. Perhaps he believes that everyone deserves to die because the imperfection of the world is because of the imperfections in human nature such as malice or greed because," the same folks who had sense enough to avoid Shadrack's call were the ones ho insisted on drinking themselves to death or womanizing themselves to death" (Morrison 16). In addition, in the Bible Christ's sacrifice symbolizes freedom.So from these observations, I believe that Morrison not only sheds light on a part of black culture, which is religion and superstition, but also creatively and beautifully sheds light on issues of human liberation. I would also like to to note that more often than not death is affiliated with religion because many religions offer an answer to the issue of an after life. So in this way religion relates to the motif of death in Morrison's novel.
Although her story is not an exact match of the biblical story of the origin of mankind, Eva is an allusion to Eve, the mother of humanity. The similarity in names is difficult to ignore by itself. When she "let Boyboy haul her away...[to Medallion]," it is as if she has left Eden, the forbidden fruit being marriage. Marriage has condemned her to the pain of childbirth and subordination to men, the punishment Eve received for eating the forbidden fruit. Even after BoyBoy leaves her for another woman, "it was hating [BoyBoy] that kept her alive and happy"(37). Even after divorce her happiness still depended on him. Also, she houses not only her own children but also "the children she took in"(37) and "a constant stream of boarders"(30). She provides a motherly or feminine role by taking care of and welcoming all sorts of men who "felt it was they who won something"(41) in her presence. Her embracing nature and welcome to alloy makes her a possible allusion to Eve, mother of humanity.
When Jude sees Sulu for the first time in 10 years he notices “a copperhead over her eye” (103), instead of a rose, a possible allusion to the deceptive Serpent who tricks Eve into eating the fruit in the Tree of Knowledge. Like the copperhead, or snake, Sula allures Jude into committing adultery with her. She “stirred a man’s mind” and “not his body” (104) meaning that her words were what convinced men to do what she asked of them. After researching, I read that there have been debates where some have perceived the Serpent to be Satan in disguise. If so then Sula is harboring evil within her. Throughout the years, from childhood to adulthood, the birthmark grew “darker,” from “the same shade as her gold-flecked eyes…steady and clean as rain” (53). During those years, Sula witnesses the death of three people and overhears that she is not liked by her mother, which could have caused her birthmark to grow darker. Also, in another translation of the Book of Genesis, in which this story derives from, the Serpent represents sexual desire, foreshadowing the love affair between Sula and Jude. The birthmark could represent the evil within Sula, which has kept growing increasing powerful throughout her life.
I wasn't sure whether this should be in allusions or evil.
There is a strong biblical allusion within the chapter 1939. The snake of Adam and Eve makes an appearance, by having it being compared to the actual town of the Bottom. The snake in the original tale, talked to Eve and here the “snake’s breath” is what makes a person join the conformity of the town just as the snake made Eve eat the forbidden fruit. This is another part of Morrison’s ironic writing as usually it is Sula who gets compared to a snake, the copper head, and in Sula’s head it is actually the town she lives in. She hates the town, it took her only friend as she sees it, “She had given herself over to them, and the flick of their tongues would drive her back into her little dry corner…” (120). How the town in Sula’s mind claims people into sinning, just as the snake does gives more look on the contempt that Sula has for her home town. This is how perspective is very important to the story, if it this part was told in third person perspective then the town might have not seen so evil. This also gives Sula the impression of herself as a higher being, perhaps Adam or God, just because she doesn’t allow herself to act like the others in the town. She is very condensing as she explains that it “saddened her a good deal” to have Nel seek comfort in the people in the town. This could mean that later on she thinks to have all the answers and get a dose of reality that she is only human, perhaps allowing herself to also seek comfort in the simple ways of the Bottom.
The first Biblical reference in Sula is Shadrack's name, which refers to the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In the Bible, King Nebuchadnezar had the three Jewish men thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down in worship of a golden image. To the King and the court's astonishment, four forms appeared in the midst of the fire and all three men who had been cast into the flames emerged perfectly whole. After witnessing their God's power (the fourth form being "like the Son of God" [Daniel 4:25]) Nebuchadnezar made a law severely punishing anyone who spoke a word against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's God. Knowing the entirety of the Biblical story is vital to the understanding of Morrison's Shadrach because his experiences coincide with that of the Biblical Shadrach. Morrison's Shadrach's fiery furnace is his seeming insanity, or intensely severe PTSD. Just as the flames engulfed the air all around Biblical Shadrach, Morrison's is plagued with a world that is dangerous and perilous to him in his own mind. Morrison's Shadrach is not safe in his own body or his own mind, leaving room for the question of what his symbolic fourth form is. Thus, this allusion also represents a self-fulfilling prophesy, or a foreshadowing of what is to come for Morrison's Shadrach, since he follows the path of Biblical Shadrach in more than name already.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the beginning chapters of Sula, Toni Morrison incorporates dialogue with religious connotations into her writing. For example, after returning home from visiting Cecile, Helene expresses "Lord, I've never been so glad to see this place... Lord, i never thought I'd get back here safe and sound... Praise his name" (Morrison 27). Morrison giving her characters dialogue that heavily involves religious connotations displays the significant role that religion plays in the characters' lives. Religion affects the characters in Sula in the way that their speech is heavily influenced by it, resulting in constant references to the "Lord" and praising his name.
ReplyDeleteBesides the namesake of Shadrack and the influence of God in Helene's life, the Reverend's take on Suicide Day should be noted. Reverend Deal says that "the same folks who had the senses to avoid Shadrack's call were the ones drinking themselves to death...'may's well go on...and save the lamb the trouble of redemption'" (morrison 16). I'm not sure if I read this right, but this is how I took it. The Reverend is saying that those who wave off Shadrack's call to suicide, are people who are drunkards and whores. Thus, if they just followed Shadrack's advice they would save God time in trying to redeem them. From looking at this Reverend's, leader of their church, point of view, one can infer the kind of messages he is spreading to his congregation. The words that he speaks influences everyone who attends his church. Therefore the opinion of Reverend Deal, influences the opinions of Helene, Nel, and all of the other towns people.
ReplyDeleteAgain this is how I read it so I'm not entirely sure if that was what this passage meant.
Religion within Sula most definitely impacts the characters within the novel. These references such as where Rochelle put her “hair up from her neck back into its halo-like roll” put emphasis on how the character is perceived and the expected actions of the character (Morrison 27). This angelic representation of the grandmother is reinforced through how she is introduced to Nel by having the “softness and glare of a canary”, this divine aurora reflects to the interactions with Rochelle and other characters (Morrison 25). Also religion plays into the characters sense of hope just as how Nel speaks to the divine saying, “Oh, Jesus, make me wonderful.”(Morrison 27). When Nel has a burst of confidence of how she is not what her mother wants her to be but a person of her own choices and morals, she turns to the heavens for support in her new decision of who she is. The divine will play into the characters by influencing their morals and or choices; these choices that the characters make could be crucial decisions that may impact how the characters function within the novel.
ReplyDeleteThe connection between religion and character development in Sula is extremely strong. Morrison's allusions and references to religion portray a variety of traits towards any character she is referring to. For example, given that Shadrack's namesake is itself a biblical reference, Shadrack is a character who will forever live with religion being a part of him as a person, whether or not he accepts it. It is his name and therefore is identified with religion. In contrast, Helene was raised with strict religious expectations and beliefs and therefore was also instilled with a religious basis. this is shown through her speech "Lord, I've never been"(pg27),and her daily practices "Since there was no catholic church in Medallion then, she joined the most conservative black church"(pg18). This idea of being naturally compelled to religion seems to be a focus of Morrison in the novel. Although, these two characters share a root through religion, they have developed separately. Shadrack was involved in war and became crazed, where as Helene became a respectable person who is probably only unaccepted due to her ethnicity in her social class rank. All in all, Morrison's effective use of a religious grasp on characters demonstrates the effects of religion on various people's development causing them to alter their lifestyle or abide by certain moral beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThe inclusion of biblical allusions help emphasize the characters' traits and personalities. As Dominic previously stated, the presence of religion plays a significant role in the charactes' lives by affecting the way certain characters speak. However, similarly to Kris' response, religion also adds emphasis on "how the character is percieved". Upon the arrival of Helene and Nel into Cecile Sabat's house, they are quick to notice a "woman in a yellow dress (who had) come out of the garden" (Morrison 25). The notion of Rochelle exiting the garden in an angelic fashion alludes to the Adam and Eve story in the beginning events of the Bible. Adam and Eve are depicted as perfect human beings, who eventually succumb to their sexual desires. This highlights the fact that even though Rochelle demonstrates an angelic quality to her character, she is not without flaws. This particular scene demonstrates how Morrison portrays some of her characters through biblical allusions.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the most substantial biblical allusion that I have come across is the one brought up by the incredible and beautiful Allison Kephart. For the most part, I would like to agree with her that the biblical Shadarach's experiences coincide with those of Toni Morrison's Shadarack, but how they do so is a bit different in my interpretation. Along with descending into insanity, Morrison's Shadarack plunges into society after so much time being kept in captivity. He is completely lost and "thrown into the fire" when policeman arrest him and put him in jail. This not only correlates to the biblical Shadarach, but the fact that Morrison's Shadarack is black portrays how abhorred his people are in society; detained and oppressed by people "like paper" (11), that hold no connection to themselves. When he is released, however, he invents his own holiday, National Suicide Day, in which the people of Medallion can actually expect death to happen. At first, many people were frightened of such a holiday, but they could not ignore the fact that Shadarack's voice was still "full of authority"(15), which led to the holiday becoming "absorbed into their thoughts, into their language, and into their lives" (15). In the end, Shadarack's beliefs could not be disregarded and they are eventually accepted into society. Because of Shadarack's connection to the Bible, the message he carries is strengthened; both Shadarachs represent the impossibility of ignoring the beliefs of a certain group of people.
ReplyDeleteReligion plays an ostentatious role with Sula. Morrison uses religion as a basis for the development of Shadrack and Helene as well. Religion contributes heavily on each character's personality and actions through incorporation of it at an early age such as Helene or the inescapable meaning of Shadrack's name. Shadrack was one of the 3 men that were thrown into a pit of fire for not bowing down to a king. Jesus protected them from the fire and saved them. Both character's however did not have a choice in accepting whether religion should be a part of their lives and each had different outcomes. Helen, at a young age, was raised with strong core religious values and this shows in her thoughts as she says, "Jesus, make me wonderful" (Sula 29) or "Lord, I've never been so glad..." (Sula 27). This thus shows how strongly Helene values religion as it has become incorporated in the social aspects of her life. However, unlike Shadrack who struggled to find meaning to his life and his religious name, Helene became a venerable self righteous individual through her Aunt Cecile's teachings and her religious background. Through religion, Morrison is able to contrast the effect religion has in altering a character's personality and actions. Not only does religion shaped Helene into a respectful caring individual but also effects Helene's actions as she constantly tries to mold Nel into the image of herself. In the end, the significance of religion plays a role in shaping the personality and actions of both Helene and Shadrack as Morrison allows two different perspectives of religion effecting characters.
ReplyDelete- Li Zhao
Justin Labrado
ReplyDeleteBiblical allusions are seen throughout Sula and they convey the personalities and actions of the characters in various ways. However, I noticed in the assigned reading that symbolism is used to convey these things by comparing characters of Sula to people found in the bible. One symbol that stood out was the Virgin Marry, or rather Virgin Marries. She is pluralized because she symbolizes multiple characters in the book, these characters are Helene, Nel, Rochelle, and Helene's deceased grandmother; Cecile. As Helene and Nel walk into Cecile's home, they noticed that "The virgin marry clasped her hands in front of her neck three times in the front room and once in the bedroom where Cecile's body lay... In that house that held four virgin Marries." (Morrison 25) The Virgin Marries give insight into the personalities and actions of the four characters by showing readers what their life is like. Meaning that the characters have grown up without men playing a significant role in their lives, just as the Virgin Marry (I am aware of her husband Joseph, but he is not a very significant person in the Bible). For example: Rochelle raised Helene on her own as a single parent, and Helene's husband, who is also Nel's father is only home for three days out of every sixteen. The symbolism is further supported by the fact that each of the woman (minus Nel, of course) raised fatherless children just as the Virgin Marry raised a fatherless Jesus. (That's not to say Nel symbolizes Christ, but it would be interesting t see someone argue that) This fact contributes to the actions and personalities of these characters by making them strong and independent, and Morrison shows this by comparing them to the Virgin Marry.
Jasmine Quesadilla
ReplyDeleteIn Sula, there are many religious and cultural references. When Helene goes to see her deceased grandmother, Morrison refers to the "Elysian Fields"(Morrison 24). The Elysian Fields was the concept of an afterlife, where according to Greek mythology, the souls of the good rest in prosperity for eternity. In Helene's eyes, her grandmother Cecile was a good soul, especially after caring for and raising her most of her life. Another religious aspect is that Helene is quite a strong religious person. Her strength in faithfulness towards her beliefs is not only shown by Helene joining "the most conservative black church"(Morrison 18), but also shown in the remarks she makes with religious references, as Li stated previously. Religion not only plays as a belief to Helene, but it also takes part in her personality and whole being. Morrision incorporates religion onto the characters personalities to give us a better sense of the importance of belief throughout the novel.
There is a litany of ways that Morrison manipulates religion to convey a deeper meaning into the characters' personalities and actions.I would like to delve deeper into the religious connotations of Morrison's Shadrack because Allison, Jing, and Graham have inspired and added some new thoughts into some ideas I had about him. I would like to zero in on three points that Graham and Allison brought up, that is, the fact that in the story Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were saved by God,the connection that this has with Graham's quote, and Shadrack's PTSD. In the first chapter Morrison introduces us to Shadrack, a man returning from war who witnessed, "the body of a headless soldier running on with energy and grace ignoring altogether the drip and slide of brain tissue down his back"(Morrison 8). This image alone is enough to surmise Shadrack's consequent PTSD. Morrison confirms his PTSD with the delusion of his growing hands, which can symbolize the uncertainty of what to do with freedom, or possibly guilt from deeds done during the war.This psychological trauma sparks an immediate solution through National Suicide Day. Now how does this relate to religion at all? Well in Christianity there is a motif of freedom through death. This is illustrated through Morrison's novel when National Suicide Day is introduced. When Reverend Deal says,"Mays well go on with Shad an save the Lamb the trouble of redemption"(Morrison 16). Jesus is often referred to as the "Lamb" in the Bible, this name signifies his death as the perfect lamb or sacrifice. This explains Shadrack's actions because I suspect that Shadrack wants everyone to kill themselves because of the inevitable end of death and the suffering and imperfection in the world, which was accentuated through his experience of the war. Perhaps he believes that everyone deserves to die because the imperfection of the world is because of the imperfections in human nature such as malice or greed because," the same folks who had sense enough to avoid Shadrack's call were the ones ho insisted on drinking themselves to death or womanizing themselves to death" (Morrison 16). In addition, in the Bible Christ's sacrifice symbolizes freedom.So from these observations, I believe that Morrison not only sheds light on a part of black culture, which is religion and superstition, but also creatively and beautifully sheds light on issues of human liberation.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to to note that more often than not death is affiliated with religion because many religions offer an answer to the issue of an after life. So in this way religion relates to the motif of death in Morrison's novel.
Although her story is not an exact match of the biblical story of the origin of mankind, Eva is an allusion to Eve, the mother of humanity. The similarity in names is difficult to ignore by itself. When she "let Boyboy haul her away...[to Medallion]," it is as if she has left Eden, the forbidden fruit being marriage. Marriage has condemned her to the pain of childbirth and subordination to men, the punishment Eve received for eating the forbidden fruit. Even after BoyBoy leaves her for another woman, "it was hating [BoyBoy] that kept her alive and happy"(37). Even after divorce her happiness still depended on him. Also, she houses not only her own children but also "the children she took in"(37) and "a constant stream of boarders"(30). She provides a motherly or feminine role by taking care of and welcoming all sorts of men who "felt it was they who won something"(41) in her presence. Her embracing nature and welcome to alloy makes her a possible allusion to Eve, mother of humanity.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jude sees Sulu for the first time in 10 years he notices “a copperhead over her eye” (103), instead of a rose, a possible allusion to the deceptive Serpent who tricks Eve into eating the fruit in the Tree of Knowledge. Like the copperhead, or snake, Sula allures Jude into committing adultery with her. She “stirred a man’s mind” and “not his body” (104) meaning that her words were what convinced men to do what she asked of them.
ReplyDeleteAfter researching, I read that there have been debates where some have perceived the Serpent to be Satan in disguise. If so then Sula is harboring evil within her. Throughout the years, from childhood to adulthood, the birthmark grew “darker,” from “the same shade as her gold-flecked eyes…steady and clean as rain” (53). During those years, Sula witnesses the death of three people and overhears that she is not liked by her mother, which could have caused her birthmark to grow darker.
Also, in another translation of the Book of Genesis, in which this story derives from, the Serpent represents sexual desire, foreshadowing the love affair between Sula and Jude.
The birthmark could represent the evil within Sula, which has kept growing increasing powerful throughout her life.
I wasn't sure whether this should be in allusions or evil.
There is a strong biblical allusion within the chapter 1939. The snake of Adam and Eve makes an appearance, by having it being compared to the actual town of the Bottom. The snake in the original tale, talked to Eve and here the “snake’s breath” is what makes a person join the conformity of the town just as the snake made Eve eat the forbidden fruit. This is another part of Morrison’s ironic writing as usually it is Sula who gets compared to a snake, the copper head, and in Sula’s head it is actually the town she lives in. She hates the town, it took her only friend as she sees it, “She had given herself over to them, and the flick of their tongues would drive her back into her little dry corner…” (120). How the town in Sula’s mind claims people into sinning, just as the snake does gives more look on the contempt that Sula has for her home town. This is how perspective is very important to the story, if it this part was told in third person perspective then the town might have not seen so evil. This also gives Sula the impression of herself as a higher being, perhaps Adam or God, just because she doesn’t allow herself to act like the others in the town. She is very condensing as she explains that it “saddened her a good deal” to have Nel seek comfort in the people in the town. This could mean that later on she thinks to have all the answers and get a dose of reality that she is only human, perhaps allowing herself to also seek comfort in the simple ways of the Bottom.
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