Extended Journal - Sula

For my extended journal, I decided to focus on how the different elements (fire, water and earth) represented the three most important characters in the book (Eva, Sula, and Shadrack). I drew a picture that illustrated this and then included quotes to support my reasoning. Two of them were obvious: Eva represents fire and Sula represents water, but for Shadrack I was able to come up with an explanation as to why earth should represent his character as opposed to water. It took me about two hours total to draw and find research/quotes to back up my logic.

The Significance of Death

Death is a topic most people don’t want to discuss very often. In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, and Toni Morrison’s, Sula, this subject is embraced fully and shows as a main theme in both books.

Death is usually something that comes abruptly and without warning. That is the very thing that makes it so frightening. To Shadrack, “it was not death or dying that frightened him, but the unexpectedness of both” (Morrison 14). He feared this aspect so much; in fact, that he institutes something called National Suicide Day, in which it was everyone’s “one chance to kill or commit suicide” (Morrison 14). From The Things They Carried, Ted Lavender is also prepared to reduce such uncertainty. He carries extra ammo, and tranquilizers in hopes of ensuring his own survival.

With the unexpectedness comes irony. In Sula, the townspeople have high hopes that they will get the opportunity to help build the tunnel that the “thin armed Virginia boys, the bull-necked Greeks and the knife-faced men” (Morrison 162) got to build instead. On National Suicide Day they decide to march through this tunnel that they were kept from building and end up being crumpled by the rocks above. There is a similarly ironic death in The Things They Carried, when Kiowa sinks into the Earth. Being one of the favored characters, it is interesting that he was killed in the most grotesque way: drowning in a field of shit. Both authors seem to have the wish to get the message across about death’s erratic ways. It can come for anyone at anytime and there is no way to prepare for it. Even the most liked characters can die, and not necessarily in an honorable way.

“They did not believe that death was accidental—life might be, but death was deliberate” (Morrison 90). Clearly, death is sometimes intentional. Suicide is apparent with Norman Bowker in The Things They Carried, and with Hannah in Sula. In both instances, it is only after a feeling of unworthiness or unloving comes about inside them. Hannah, after feeling that her mother doesn’t love her (or at least like her) lights herself on fire and burns to death. Unfortunately, Eva jumps out the window almost dying herself to save her daughter, but it is in vain as Hannah dies anyway. Somewhat similarly, Norman hangs himself years after the war because he is consumed with loneliness and unworthiness. He is missed by his friends because in their eyes, he had no reason to feel unloved or guilty. Everyone needs to feel love; sometimes it becomes a tormenting factor. In both stories, the need for love drives people to take their own life because they feel that they lack affection in one way or another. The power of this emotion is apparent in both books.

Surprisingly, death does not always spring emotions in people; they become indifferent to it. When Chicken Little drowns in the river, a bargeman finds him: “He would have left him there but noticed that it was a child…He dumped Chicken Little into a burlap sack and tossed him next to some egg crates…”(Morrison 63). The boy is basically dehumanized by this act. In The Things They Carried, there is so much death every day that the men form immunity, “they kicked corpses. They cut off thumbs. They talked grunt lingo” (O’Brien 20). They authors could be trying to get reaction out of the reader; they want us to feel angered and ask ourselves, how could death be so ineffective in someone?

There are many deaths in both books. Sometimes it is ironic, sometimes it is deliberate, and sometimes it seems to be something trivial and repetitive. Tim O’Brien and Toni Morrison find ways to show the different sides of death and how it affects people. Readers can open their eyes to the suffering of the characters and realize that anything can happen.

Sula - Reader Response

My initial reaction after reading Sula, was that it was confusing. It wasn’t confusing in the sense that I didn’t understand the plot; I couldn’t figure out what a lot of the meanings were. This is a very different book that has a lot of interesting events and characters. The main themes seem to deal with two things: death and sex. I am hoping that I will further understand this book after more analysis and through class discussion.

I was intrigued by the whole concept of “the Bottom”. It is described as, “the bottom of Heaven” (5), which I thought was an interesting way to describe the town. This place seems to be very preoccupied with death. I found it a little bit uncanny how so many characters were killed in harsh ways. Eva kills her own son, Plum, by dousing him with kerosene and then lighting him on fire, “the smoke of which was in her hair for years” (32). The incident follows her and haunts her as her daughter, Hannah, asks her mother why she killed Plum. After doing so, Hannah lit herself on fire, causing her own death. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of grief coming from these deaths, especially from Sula; Eva was “…convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested” (78). When Sula kills Chicken by accidentally throwing him into the river, there appears to be little remorse. This bothers me because the value of life is almost belittled by the characters. In the book, it claims that “they did not believe death was accidental—life might be, but death was deliberate” (90). This made me notice that there was someone behind everyone’s death except for Sula’s: Eva burned Plum, Sula threw Chicken into the river, and Hannah burned herself only after talking to Eva. No one came to her aid until it was too late, and, as mentioned before, Sula watched her mother burn without doing anything about it.

The character Shadrack is an amusing person that relates to death as well. He invents National Suicide Day in which it was “their only chance to kill themselves or each other” (14). On his supposedly last celebration of Suicide Day, Shadrack was joined by many members of the town. Ironically, most of them were killed in the tunnel that they had dreamed of being able to help create. I am curious as to why they were killed off in such a way. I found myself questioning what the actual purpose of Shadrack’s character is. Besides his National Suicide Day, I think his most important role is where he tells Sula the word, “always” (62). I am unsure of the real meaning of this quote; however I think that it relates to when Nel is describing Hell. Sula had said to her, “Hell ain’t things lasting forever. Hell is change” (108). Later in the book Shadrack thinks about the incident and how it was permanency is what he was trying to assure the little girl of. In that respect, he could have said “always” to tell Sula that Chicken’s death wasn’t going to cause a big change in her life; things were going to be okay.

The Peace women always seemed to want “man love,” yet none of them hold onto a man. For that matter, many of the other women in the book can’t hold onto their men either. It began with Eva constantly having men over. She was married to BoyBoy, but he left after only five years. Hannah, Eva’s daughter, ended up being a woman that the others despised. She seduced many of the other women’s husbands, and, like her mother, had many male visitors. She was against commitment, however. In the book it is described how she only was a lover during the daytime because it was more like “love” when it was at night. In turn, Sula ends up the same way as her mother and grandmother. Not only does she also have many lovers, but she gets involved with her best friend’s husband, Jude. I was wondering why these women seem to need this type of attention so much, yet they don’t want it for the long run. It is evident that for Sula, what she wanted was someone to confide in. This is why Ajax held so much importance to her. All of the Peace women are very independent. I think my favorite quote in the whole book is when Sula is lying in bed talking to Nel and she says: “But my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else’s. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain’t that something? A secondhand lonely” (143). Sula didn’t even exactly understand why Nel was so upset by her relations with Jude. She claimed that if they were such good friends, it shouldn’t matter. Sula had never really known what marriage was, exactly, because of the environment she had grown up in.

I am interested to understand many of these meanings more clearly. I thought this book was very unique, but it left me with a bad feeling. I felt sad about everything that had happened in the book and I didn’t feel a good sense of closure.

GGRW - is Lionel self actualized

Lionel Red Dog is a fascinating character in Green Grass, Running Water. His life choices and motivations are sometimes questionable, even though his intentions are good. The main focuses on Lionel throughout the book are on his attempts to better his life and his ties to his Indian background. In examining this character through a psychological lens, his motives can be seen more clearly.

“First, he would resign his position at Bursum’s….the second thing he planned to do was return to the University and get a degree….third, he wanted to talk to Alberta about his new life, about commitments, about babies….last, he wanted to go to the reserve and spend more time with his mother and father” (306-308). It is clear that Lionel has very good intentions, but he doesn’t seem to have a lot of motivation. Looking at Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are suggestions as to why this is so. Each person strives to become “self actualized.” This is defined by Maslow as: a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." Clearly, Lionel does not feel that he was born to work at Bursum’s for his entire life, yet he does not seem to step away from it. Self actualization, however, cannot be achieved until physicological needs, needs for safety, belongingness and esteem are fulfilled. This character seems to have made it past the stage of ‘belongingness’ and is stuck in the level of the need for esteem. On his 40th birthday, Lionel feels a new sense of optimism. He makes his four goals and plans to become a new person. This, in itself, should not only make him feel better about himself and his life, but it would bring him closer to being a self-actualized person. If Lionel had achieved these goals, he would be well on his way. However, there is the question as to whether any were met.

Lionel isn’t a very assertive person in regards to his lifestyle. He knows that he would be able to respect himself more by getting a degree, just like Charlie, Eli, and Alberta, but there is confusion as to whether or not he does. At the end of the book he says, “well, maybe when the cabin is finished, I’ll live in it for a while…. Of course, I should probably go back to school…maybe that’s what I’ll do” (464). It can possibly be assumed that he goes back to the University, but Lionel doesn’t give the reader a definite answer. It seems more like another empty ambition, something he will think about, but never actually accomplish. It seems that Lionel might be actually be happy where he is, but feels that he has to do more in order to get respect from other people. He may feel that he has to go to school just because everyone else did. On another note, working at Bursum’s makes him feel inferior and un-accomplished, and he never actually tells Bursum of his plans to quit. This is not a sign of a self actualized person.

Lionel seems to be a man confused about what he wants to be: Indian or white. Although of Indian descent, he makes many efforts to be “white”: “Your uncle wanted to be a white man, just like you” (36). Some more evidence of this comes from his desire to be like John Wayne: “The John Wayne who saved stage coaches and wagon trains from Indian attacks” (265). This quote really shows his interpretation of Indians. He wants to be the man that saves white people from Indian attacks, as if Indians are always the enemy. This view changes slightly, however, at the end of the book. This is where the reader can begin to see more visible progressions through the level of esteem needs and towards self actualization. He starts to accept his culture more by going to Sun Dance and spending time with his family. He even speaks of staying in the cabin after it is rebuilt; the cabin that his mother had built. Another point is that he seems to have a better chance at a life with Alberta. Even though she usually seems declined towards marriage, Charlie had left to Los Angeles, leaving more time for Lionel to talk to Alberta about the things he had been wanting to.

There are varying views on whether or not Lionel became self actualized by the end of the book. The strongest interpretation, however, is that he failed. He created many goals, but he did not pursue them with confidence. He lacks the real motivation to accomplish his dreams and advance in life. Lionel is likely to spend his life working at Bursum’s selling televisions. One good thing that he achieved, is embracing his Indian culture to a farther degree. His appearance at the Sun Dance is a positive sign that at least in one aspect of his life, he is becoming who he was “born to be.”