Sula

by Toni Morrison

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In a word: independence

In a sentence: Sula and Nel grow into women together in the Bottom.

Synopsis: The leak of society in between two otherwise inseparable young black girls. This novel is an investigation of black female roles and rule-breaking in the 20th century.

Reactions: Any page graced by Toni Morrison’s pen is gold. Sula is the second of her published works, and is an exploration of many of the tropes for which Morrison has later become renowned. This particular novel examines different means for female liberation, whether sexual, economical, or both. All of these ideas are articulated in Morrison’s signature languid, impassioned prose.

Sula is an interesting twist on ‘othering.’ The Bottom is an impoverished minority community, struggling together to survive. It is even acknowledged that Sula is necessary to create a balance between morality and amorality in the Bottom, in some ways a personification of Suicide Day. And yet Sula is completely excommunicated from her community of ‘others,’ simply for her ‘otherness.’ This could be the true heartbreak of Nel, who adheres unquestioningly to the status quo. Sula and Nel are one and the same, and for the Bottom to have completely rejected Sula, they have also rejected her.

Read if: you crave something sorrowful and beautiful in equal measure.