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Sula

Two of the main themes in Toni MorrisonÆs (1982) revolve around poverty and racism. Morrison uses racism against African Americans to demonstrate its demoralizing and crippling impact on identity, community, and upward mobility. Morrison uses poverty to show that those who are discriminated against often suffer the same impact from poverty as they do racism. SulaÆs maturity in the novel shows an African American woman break through the barriers of racism and poverty. To do so, Sula must often embody two identities in order to traverse between the community of the Bottom and among white, educated society.

The impact of racism and poverty on the African Americans living in the Bottom is significant. This impact comes not only from dominant, prejudiced white society but also from the interactions of those at Bottom as they react to its pressures. For example, Eva is abandoned by the father of her children. Jude betrays his wife Nel by having an affair. Plum is a drug addict and Eva commits a mercy killing to spare him suffering. Other characters like Ajax and Shadrack show the damage that occurs to individuals who sacrifice their lives for their country, only to return home to a life of second-class citizenship and poverty. Such individuals resort to a variety of tactics to maintain their identity and heritage. Jude always views himself in relation to his work. When he talks about his construction work, he says, ôI built that roadö (Morrison 1982, 82).

Sula attempts to escape the confines of racism and poverty through education. Nevertheless, she must traverse between the white educated world and the uneducated and oppressed world of the Bottom. Her ability to do so mandates that she maintain two identities, one for each world. She cannot be her ôblackö Bottom-self in white society, nor can she be her educated, upwardly mobile self in Bottom. However, she does traverse the two worlds. We se

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Sula. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 17:01, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1710571.html