Toni Morrison's Sula

The second novel that was assigned for my independent study was Sula. This novel was a bit of a departure from The Bluest Eye, but in many ways the title character, Sula, reminds me of what could have happened to Pecola if she had not gone mad following the rapes and the miscarriage of her own father's child. Rather than turn her anger and angst inward at the small slights hoisted upon her, Sula lashes out at the world through her reckless behavior, she becomes a traveling prostitute of sorts after recieving a "college education", but her reckless behavior cost her one of the things she held most dear, her childhood friend Nell. Sula and Nell are like two halves of the same person, they share everything, until Sula sleeps with Nell's husband and is caught in the act. Sula seemed to think that because she and Nell had shared every else in their lives, right down to the guilt of having accidentally drowning a local youngster called Chicken Litte, that this would be one more thing that they would share. Sula also becomes, like Pecola, a scapegoat for the community, anything that goes wrong can be blamed on her, absolving the rest from having to solve their problems. Pecola is blamed for bringing the unwanted attention from her father, and Sula is blamed for every accident, injury, or misfortune that occurs. With her death, and the accident at the tunnel on National Suicide Day, the community must look for other outlets for their blame, or else blame themselves.