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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Medallion/Bottom
What impact does the Bottom have on the major characters of the story? Why do people feel drawn to return to it? Would the characters consider it "home"? Why or why not?
As a once lively community comprised of blacks, the Bottom serves as a developer and possibly representation of Sula. It appears that Sula and the Bottom have a symbiotic relationship between them for Sula's sporadic death (which was initially perceived as a positive aspect) channeled down a wave of catastrophe and a "restless irritability "(153). The community needs Sula to maintain balance just as Sula needs the community to satisfy her needs and discover her own identity. Similar to the historical background of the Bottom, Sula is repudiated and then eventually needed by the blacks of the community. Moreover, she is also able to surpass the societal restrictions on her gender and background as depicted by her actions and self-perception-- just as the Bottom was able to prove its infertility and unworthiness wrong. Hence, through its power to surpass boundaries and restrictions supported by its history and its community, Sula is able to evolve to an independent woman, unorthodox to societal norms. Because of its representation as an entity of proving societal associations and past perceptions wrong and its historical background and roots, people are inclined to return to this land (the blacks-- only before the community's collapse, and the whites after the community's collapse) and the characters (chiefly Sula, Nel, Eva, and Shadrack) consider this area as a home.
Sula refers to the citizens as “spiders”, making the bottom their “web” (120). A spider does not feel inclined to stay in its web because it is “homey”, but because it is a necessity, and that is what I think the Bottom is to its citizens. When Nel first left her home to the south, she grew a taste for adventure, and “leaving Medallion would be her goal” (29); however, her mother Helene’s righteousness dimmed her fire and induced her settlement in the Bottom. She no longer felt the desire to adventure, but that to take a man and raise a family. Sula, even when having taken the opportunity to leave for college, returns for Nel because subconsciously she was craving for the “other half of her equation” (121). The people of the Bottom felt drawn to it because they felt the desire for community. Just like the people of the town rose against Sula as a common enemy, and united again with Shadrack’s final National Suicide Day, its citizens felt comfort in having common the same struggles and desires of their neighbors. They tried to make a community but instead made a web “their eyes intent on the wayward stranger who trips in their net” (120) they fed off each others’ presence.
For most of the community the Bottom is simply a place above Medallion, but for some it is a place of departure. Despite going out and discovering a larger world, Sula and Shadrack come back to the Bottom. It may be that Morrison made these characters drawn back to the Bottom since it is the "bottom of heaven"; the Bottom is their gateway to heaven (5). The Bottom can be considered as a trial towards heaven, where there are obstacles that keep the community astray "from their God" such as Sula's promiscuous behavior or Shadrack's National Suicide Day (150). Furthermore, as a gateway to heaven, the Bottom often encounters death. It is a resting place from the larger world, a small comfortable community in its own little bubble. The people of the Bottom may not be ready to depart towards heaven, but it is a place where someone like Sula would be ready to find peace in death.
The Bottom is the consistency the major characters can always depend on, a place where they believe things will stay same. It is the home where Sula returns after ten years of adventure to find her “good friend” (145 Morrison), Nel, as a way to fill the void she has. The Bottom is their one place of peace, the “home” they, the community, will always feel comfortable in. Sula is comforted by Shadrack’s phrase “’always’ to convince her, assure her, of permanency” (157 Morrison), showing her cupidity for stability, something she tried to achieve but failed. Thus, the Bottom changed as a “Peace” was disturbed from their stability, showing that with peace gone there is chaos. As such, Medallion is their “home” since it is what they turn back to when things change however, when that “home” ,itself, is gone they are left to leave the place, or from the world.
I agree with Winnie, that the bottom was not just a place but a community, and that it had a "symbiotic"(Winnie) relationship with Sula. About 25 years after Sula's death, it seems that the "Bottom" has died too; black people was "anxious" to moved to the valley while people started to occupy the hills (Morrison 166). The bottom used to be a community back when Sula was alive. Like how Sula played a role in the the wives loving their husbands and children with a passion, the Bottom kept families together too. "It took a lot for black people" to put the elderly into a old folks home back when Sula was alive (Morrison 164). People were always "dropping by" and helping each other watch the "floor" and doing the "cooking," now everyone lived "separate" lives (Morrison 164, 166). The bottom was a place where the neighbors cared about to each other, and everyone was like family; after Sula's death, the ties were broken and the community fell apart. The communal ties shaped the major characters of the book "Sula"; it has been their home in the beginning, and the memories keep the characters bound to the place know as the Bottom.
As a once lively community comprised of blacks, the Bottom serves as a developer and possibly representation of Sula. It appears that Sula and the Bottom have a symbiotic relationship between them for Sula's sporadic death (which was initially perceived as a positive aspect) channeled down a wave of catastrophe and a "restless irritability "(153). The community needs Sula to maintain balance just as Sula needs the community to satisfy her needs and discover her own identity. Similar to the historical background of the Bottom, Sula is repudiated and then eventually needed by the blacks of the community. Moreover, she is also able to surpass the societal restrictions on her gender and background as depicted by her actions and self-perception-- just as the Bottom was able to prove its infertility and unworthiness wrong. Hence, through its power to surpass boundaries and restrictions supported by its history and its community, Sula is able to evolve to an independent woman, unorthodox to societal norms. Because of its representation as an entity of proving societal associations and past perceptions wrong and its historical background and roots, people are inclined to return to this land (the blacks-- only before the community's collapse, and the whites after the community's collapse) and the characters (chiefly Sula, Nel, Eva, and Shadrack) consider this area as a home.
ReplyDeleteSula refers to the citizens as “spiders”, making the bottom their “web” (120). A spider does not feel inclined to stay in its web because it is “homey”, but because it is a necessity, and that is what I think the Bottom is to its citizens. When Nel first left her home to the south, she grew a taste for adventure, and “leaving Medallion would be her goal” (29); however, her mother Helene’s righteousness dimmed her fire and induced her settlement in the Bottom. She no longer felt the desire to adventure, but that to take a man and raise a family. Sula, even when having taken the opportunity to leave for college, returns for Nel because subconsciously she was craving for the “other half of her equation” (121). The people of the Bottom felt drawn to it because they felt the desire for community. Just like the people of the town rose against Sula as a common enemy, and united again with Shadrack’s final National Suicide Day, its citizens felt comfort in having common the same struggles and desires of their neighbors. They tried to make a community but instead made a web “their eyes intent on the wayward stranger who trips in their net” (120) they fed off each others’ presence.
ReplyDeleteFor most of the community the Bottom is simply a place above Medallion, but for some it is a place of departure. Despite going out and discovering a larger world, Sula and Shadrack come back to the Bottom. It may be that Morrison made these characters drawn back to the Bottom since it is the "bottom of heaven"; the Bottom is their gateway to heaven (5). The Bottom can be considered as a trial towards heaven, where there are obstacles that keep the community astray "from their God" such as Sula's promiscuous behavior or Shadrack's National Suicide Day (150). Furthermore, as a gateway to heaven, the Bottom often encounters death. It is a resting place from the larger world, a small comfortable community in its own little bubble. The people of the Bottom may not be ready to depart towards heaven, but it is a place where someone like Sula would be ready to find peace in death.
ReplyDeleteThe Bottom is the consistency the major characters can always depend on, a place where they believe things will stay same. It is the home where Sula returns after ten years of adventure to find her “good friend” (145 Morrison), Nel, as a way to fill the void she has. The Bottom is their one place of peace, the “home” they, the community, will always feel comfortable in. Sula is comforted by Shadrack’s phrase “’always’ to convince her, assure her, of permanency” (157 Morrison), showing her cupidity for stability, something she tried to achieve but failed. Thus, the Bottom changed as a “Peace” was disturbed from their stability, showing that with peace gone there is chaos. As such, Medallion is their “home” since it is what they turn back to when things change however, when that “home” ,itself, is gone they are left to leave the place, or from the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Winnie, that the bottom was not just a place but a community, and that it had a "symbiotic"(Winnie) relationship with Sula. About 25 years after Sula's death, it seems that the "Bottom" has died too; black people was "anxious" to moved to the valley while people started to occupy the hills (Morrison 166). The bottom used to be a community back when Sula was alive. Like how Sula played a role in the the wives loving their husbands and children with a passion, the Bottom kept families together too. "It took a lot for black people" to put the elderly into a old folks home back when Sula was alive (Morrison 164). People were always "dropping by" and helping each other watch the "floor" and doing the "cooking," now everyone lived "separate" lives (Morrison 164, 166). The bottom was a place where the neighbors cared about to each other, and everyone was like family; after Sula's death, the ties were broken and the community fell apart. The communal ties shaped the major characters of the book "Sula"; it has been their home in the beginning, and the memories keep the characters bound to the place know as the Bottom.
ReplyDelete--sincerely, Shahrier Hussain. Ap-lit.