Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts of Two Female Major Characters in Toni Morrison's 'Sula'.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………....i
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….ii
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study……………………………………………………1
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………3
Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………...3
Method of Research…………………………………………………………4
Organization of the Thesis…………………………………………………..4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER CONFLICTS OF
TWO FEMALE MAJOR CHARACTERS IN TONI MORISON’S
SULA………………………………………………………….……………………5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION…………………………………………..17
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………...21
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of SULA ………………………………………………………..23
Biography of Toni Morison …..…………………………………………...25
ii
Maranatha Christian University
ABSTRACT
Penulisan tugas akhir ini dimaksudkan untuk memenuhi persyaratan
kelulusan di jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen Maranatha
dengan menganalisis konflik sosial dan konflik di dalam diri dua karakter wanita
utama di dalam novel Sula, karya Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison adalah seorang
novelis wanita Amerika kulit hitam pertama yang mendapatkan perhargaan Nobel
di bidang kesusastraan pada tahun 1993.
Sula bercerita tentang dua tokoh wanita utama yang berkulit hitam, bernama
Sula dan Nel yang bersahabat sejak kecil. Namun, perbedaan latar belakang
keluarga mereka menjadi salah satu aspek terjadinya konflik. Sula berasal dari
keluarga bebas, yang tidak mementingkan norma dan sopan santun. Sedangkan Nel
berasal dari keluarga yang menjunjung tinggi norma-norma sosial. Persahabatan
Sula dan Nel berada di ambang kehancuran ketika Nel menemukan Sula,
sahabatnya sendiri mengkhianati dia dengan selingkuh dengan Jude, suami Nel.
Konflik sosial yang dihadapi Sula dan Nel ini adalah puncak dari semua konflik dan
menimbulkan banyak konflik di dalam diri Nel.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
Konflik-konflik yang terjadi tidak semuanya dapat diselesaikan dengan baik
oleh kedua tokoh utama wanita di dalam novel ini. Terlebih oleh Sula karena ia
meninggal sebelum melakukan perubahan dalam sikap dan dirinya.
iv
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Summary of Sula
Set in early 1900s in a small Ohio town called Medallion. Sula comes from
a controversial family. Eva, her grandmother, who cut off her own leg in order to
get insurance policy to feed her children, but she also killed her own drunken son.
Hannah, Sula’s mother, is known in Bottom for her affairs with many married men.
Sula becomes a very independent woman and wants to be different from other
common women because of it. When common women are forbidden to have a high
education, Sula dares to explore her knowledge in college. Sula has a best friend
named Nel; they become friends since they were children. Nel grows up in a
disciplined and a well-mannered family. Her politeness makes people adore Nel.
Their friendship grows stronger although they come from a different family
background.
After finishing high school, Nel chooses to get married and settles into the
conventional role of wife and mother. But Sula chooses to continue her
controversial life, including with her decision not to marry. Because Sula does not
like Nel’s choice to marry, shortly after Nel’s wedding, Sula leaves Bottom.
23
Maranatha Christian University
After the absence of ten years, Sula returns to Bottom looking like a movie
star. When Nel meets Sula, she finds that Sula has not changed. Sula still wants to
be an independent woman, who can freely choose her own way of life. But Sula
misuses Nel’s trust. One day Nel finds Sula and her husband in bed together. Nel is
very sad and disappointed. And Nel does not want to know anything about Sula
anymore. Nel leaves her husband and Sula.
Later on Sula gets sick seriously and Nel comes to see her. Nel tells her
disappointment to Sula. Nel blames Sula for loosing her husband, and she does not
agree if Sula still sticks on her individual concept. Nel tells Sula how ruined her life
is now after Sula’s having an affair with Jude. And after Sula dies, no one attends to
her funeral ceremony. Nel decides to have a new life in a new place.
24
Maranatha Christian University
Biography of Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in Lorain, Ohio on
February 18, 1931. She was the second daughter of four children of Ramah and
George Wofford. She has showed her interest in literature since she was a little girl.
Chloe changed her name since many people couldn’t pronounce her first name
correctly. She changed it into Toni, a shortened version of her middle name.
Toni Morrison graduated from Howard University in 1953 with B.A. in
English literature. She got her master’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York. After she received her master degree, she is back to Howard University,
where she met Harold Morrison, who later became her husband.
She has also worked as an editor for Random House. She was also a critic
and gave numerous public lectures, specializing in African-American literature. In
1970 her book, The Bluest Eye was published. And her second book, entitled Sula
was released in 1973. Her third novel Song of Solomon in 1977, won the National
Book Critics Circle Award and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and
Letters Award. After that, she also released her fourth novel, entitled Tar Baby in
1981. Her fifth novel, Beloved, was published in 1987 and became a bestseller. This
novel made her won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988.
25
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Every individual who lives in the world will always be familiar with
conflicts.
Conflict happens because there are two opposing forces; the two
contradictory elements will cause many situations, from war, betrayal, until
jealousy. Conflicts affect people’s life; they mainly cause the suffering to those
who experience it. Literature, which often acts as reflection of life, also raises
conflicts as one of its important elements. As conflict is one of the most important
elements in theory of literature, I am interested to analyze the conflict in one of the
literary genre; a novel, written by Toni Morrison entitled Sula.
I am interested in Toni Morrison’s work Sula. This novel deals with social
and moral issues. Besides, this novel contains a lot of social and inner conflicts.
“Conflict is the opposition of persons or forces upon which the action depends in
drama and fiction. Dramatic conflict is struggle which grows out of the interplay of
opposing forces (ideas, interests, wills). In a plot, conflict may be termed the
1
Maranatha Christian University
material from which a plot is constructed”. (Shaw, 1972:289). So the plot of the
story will be more interesting if there are conflicts inside the story. If there is no
conflict, the plot of the story will be less interesting.
I decide to take this novel because it is easy to read and understand. I like
the style of language because it is helpful for me to have a deeper understanding of
the story.
There are three types of conflicts, which are social conflict, inner conflict,
and physical conflict. Social conflict is the struggle between man and man. Inner
conflict is the struggle between desires within a person. And physical conflict is a
struggle between man and the physical world. (Shaw, 1972:91-92). Because this
novel deals with social norms and betrayal, I choose to analyze only the social and
inner conflict.
Toni Morrison is one of the great novelists who won a Pulitzer Prize in
Literature in 1988, and she is the first African-American writer who receives the
Noble Prize for literature in 1993. Her works are dominated by social issue themes,
moral issues, racism and the suppression of African-American. One of her greatest
novels entitled Beloved becomes a bestseller and is adapted to be a movie.
Morrison writes Sula in 1969. She portrays women as individuals with
fierce passions, hatred and enormous capacities for love and forgiveness. By writing
that novel, she also wants to show that black women feel the repression more than
men; the women cannot have a happy family caused by their own husband. White
communities refuse their existence.
2
Maranatha Christian University
Statement of the Problem
After reading Toni Morrison’s Sula, I would like to analyze :
1. What are the social and inner conflicts experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula ?
2. What are the causes of each conflict experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula?
3. How are the conflicts resolved?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statements of the problems above, it will be my aim to answer the
following points above :
1. To show the social and inner conflicts experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula.
2. To show the causes of each conflict experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula.
3. To show how the conflicts are resolved.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Method of Research
The method applied in this thesis is library research. I begin by reading the
primary text, Toni Morrison’s Sula. In addition, I read some reference books and
internet study guide to help me in analyzing the novel. Besides, I also get some
valuable information about the book and the biography of the author from the
internet. Finally, I draw the conclusion from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
I will present my thesis in three chapters. It begins with Chapter One, which
is preceded by the Acknowledgement and the Abstract. The first chapter is the
Introduction, that contains the Background of the Study, the Statement of the
Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization
of The Thesis. The second chapter is the Discussion of Conflicts in Toni Morrison’s
Sula. Chapter three is the Conclusion. And I will end my thesis with the
Bibliography and the Appendices, which consists of the Biography of Toni
Morrison and the Synopsis of Sula.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having discussed the social and inner conflicts in Toni Morrison’s Sula, I
would like to give the conclusion from what I have analyzed in Chapter Two. Sula
and Nel come from different family backgrounds. In Sula’s family, they are very
liberal. I also find that they are not well civilized. In contrast with Nel, she comes
from a very well behaved family. The two female major characters here are having
a close friendship. Sula likes to have a friendship with Nel because she is able to
control Nel. In other words, Sula likes to show her authority. Besides, Sula does not
get enough attention from her family since she was a child and it makes Sula
become independent and dares to express more her thinking and ideas. Nel’s
admiring Sula makes Nel enjoy being Sula’s friend.
I can see Sula’s dominant role since she was a child, in her family or in her
society. She does not want to be ruled by anyone or any norm. She escapes to
college and submerges herself in city life.
17
Maranatha Christian University
Nel is submissive in her family and society. Nel just knows to obey what her
mother’s says and advices without telling her mother whether she likes it or not.
And in the society, Nel just follows the norms and rules because her mother teaches
and tells her so. She chooses to remain in the place of her birth, to marry, and to
raise a family.
It helps Nel’s mother and the family to keep the family’s pride and not to be
separated from the society. That is the reason why Nel feels unhappy; she is locked
by the rules.
From the explanation in the paragraphs above, I find Sula experiences more
social conflicts than Nel because Sula dares to challenge the family and social
environment. The social conflicts are experience by Sula and her society; between
Sula and Nel; between Sula and Eva, her own grandmother; also between Sula and
Ajax, the man who loves her seriously. The social conflicts above, which are mostly
experienced by Sula, are not well resolved because of Sula’s death. Sula dies,
without anybody comes to her funeral ceremony, except Nel. I think if Sula would
respect the social norms a little bit, the resolution of the conflicts will not be that
tragic.
I also notice that Nel faces a lot of inner conflicts. It happens because she
generally does not dare to challenge the family and social environment. Nel comes
from a well mannered family and locked by the norms; she is also having a
friendship with Sula, who comes from a not well civilized family. I conclude that
their different family backgrounds are one of the sources of their conflicts. When
18
Maranatha Christian University
Nel meets Sula for the first time, Nel seems to have found a new picture of herself
in Sula. Yet, Nel’s mother forbids Nel to have a friendship with Sula. This conflict
is solved with Nel keeping in Sula by her side. Sula’s having an affair with her
husband makes a dilemma for her. But the inner conflicts resolved by Nel end-up
her friendship with Sula and she is divorced from Jude, her husband. I like Nel’s
way of solving the problems. In my point of view, Nel’s decision to solve the
problems without any violence and harassment is much honorable.
Nel cannot take her own decision before. After she experiences the conflicts
above, I can see that the conflicts have shaped Nel. She becomes tougher, dares to
have her own decisions and voices it. She also thinks more maturely than she used
to be. Nel blames Sula for nothing even she is disappointed with what Sula has
done to her.
I notice Toni Morrison, who is a feminist writer, dares to explore the
feminism and racist issues of black society at that time. Through the two female
major characters in this novel, Morrison wants to show the readers that there are
two kinds of people with different characteristics in facing the life. First example is
Sula. I categorize her to be a pessimistic person. She lives in a broken family. Her
father leaves her mother a few years after she had born. Therefore, she thinks that
every man will do the same as her father does to her mother. It shapes her not to
depend on man, and change her principles not to be bound in a settle relationship
with any man. It is the reason why she behaves radically in this story. In contrast
with Nel, she is optimistic in facing her future life. She does not know how her
19
Maranatha Christian University
future life will be, but her dream to have a happy family was not changing at all.
She has a faith that she will have a wonderful life after. Her dream becomes real by
marrying Jude, yet she has to accept a bitter reality because of Jude’s betrayal. Even
though she faces such reality, she keeps her positive thinking that she will have a
better life afterward.
Black cultures that are common to happen at the time are unbeneficial for
women. The men are not responsible to their family. They will go home only if they
have a need; such as having sexual intercourse with their wives. After their need is
fulfilled by their wives, they just leave their wives at home.
Through the main character, Sula, Morrison shows how to face with racist
situations; some people has to plead to whites simply to get by, as Helene does on a
train heading through the South. And she also wants the readers to be inspired and
motivated to find jobs against whites’ population; value their independence.
Besides, I believe that Toni Morrison wants to encourage the readers, especially the
women, surviving to get their freedom. It is good for a woman to have her own will
or ambition, but it has to deal with the norms too.
For me, this story gives me a new point a view about independence,
freedom, and the struggle of life more. I take this as a mirror to make a correction of
my attitudes and behavior to my daily life.
20
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text
•
Morrison, Toni. Sula. London: Picador, 1991.
References
•
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Mc Draw hill Book
Company, 1972.
Internet sites
•
“Biography of Toni Morrison”. October 6th, 2006.
•
Toni Morrison Essays and Biography. October 11th, 2006.
•
Penguin Reading Guides / The books of Toni Morrison. November 22nd,
2007.
•
Sula Summary and Essays – Toni Morrison. October 20th, 2006.
•
African-American Issues_Black Males. November 25th, 2007.
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•
Sula – Introduction. October 28th, 2006.
22
Maranatha Christian University
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………....i
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….ii
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study……………………………………………………1
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………3
Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………...3
Method of Research…………………………………………………………4
Organization of the Thesis…………………………………………………..4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER CONFLICTS OF
TWO FEMALE MAJOR CHARACTERS IN TONI MORISON’S
SULA………………………………………………………….……………………5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION…………………………………………..17
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………...21
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of SULA ………………………………………………………..23
Biography of Toni Morison …..…………………………………………...25
ii
Maranatha Christian University
ABSTRACT
Penulisan tugas akhir ini dimaksudkan untuk memenuhi persyaratan
kelulusan di jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen Maranatha
dengan menganalisis konflik sosial dan konflik di dalam diri dua karakter wanita
utama di dalam novel Sula, karya Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison adalah seorang
novelis wanita Amerika kulit hitam pertama yang mendapatkan perhargaan Nobel
di bidang kesusastraan pada tahun 1993.
Sula bercerita tentang dua tokoh wanita utama yang berkulit hitam, bernama
Sula dan Nel yang bersahabat sejak kecil. Namun, perbedaan latar belakang
keluarga mereka menjadi salah satu aspek terjadinya konflik. Sula berasal dari
keluarga bebas, yang tidak mementingkan norma dan sopan santun. Sedangkan Nel
berasal dari keluarga yang menjunjung tinggi norma-norma sosial. Persahabatan
Sula dan Nel berada di ambang kehancuran ketika Nel menemukan Sula,
sahabatnya sendiri mengkhianati dia dengan selingkuh dengan Jude, suami Nel.
Konflik sosial yang dihadapi Sula dan Nel ini adalah puncak dari semua konflik dan
menimbulkan banyak konflik di dalam diri Nel.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
Konflik-konflik yang terjadi tidak semuanya dapat diselesaikan dengan baik
oleh kedua tokoh utama wanita di dalam novel ini. Terlebih oleh Sula karena ia
meninggal sebelum melakukan perubahan dalam sikap dan dirinya.
iv
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Summary of Sula
Set in early 1900s in a small Ohio town called Medallion. Sula comes from
a controversial family. Eva, her grandmother, who cut off her own leg in order to
get insurance policy to feed her children, but she also killed her own drunken son.
Hannah, Sula’s mother, is known in Bottom for her affairs with many married men.
Sula becomes a very independent woman and wants to be different from other
common women because of it. When common women are forbidden to have a high
education, Sula dares to explore her knowledge in college. Sula has a best friend
named Nel; they become friends since they were children. Nel grows up in a
disciplined and a well-mannered family. Her politeness makes people adore Nel.
Their friendship grows stronger although they come from a different family
background.
After finishing high school, Nel chooses to get married and settles into the
conventional role of wife and mother. But Sula chooses to continue her
controversial life, including with her decision not to marry. Because Sula does not
like Nel’s choice to marry, shortly after Nel’s wedding, Sula leaves Bottom.
23
Maranatha Christian University
After the absence of ten years, Sula returns to Bottom looking like a movie
star. When Nel meets Sula, she finds that Sula has not changed. Sula still wants to
be an independent woman, who can freely choose her own way of life. But Sula
misuses Nel’s trust. One day Nel finds Sula and her husband in bed together. Nel is
very sad and disappointed. And Nel does not want to know anything about Sula
anymore. Nel leaves her husband and Sula.
Later on Sula gets sick seriously and Nel comes to see her. Nel tells her
disappointment to Sula. Nel blames Sula for loosing her husband, and she does not
agree if Sula still sticks on her individual concept. Nel tells Sula how ruined her life
is now after Sula’s having an affair with Jude. And after Sula dies, no one attends to
her funeral ceremony. Nel decides to have a new life in a new place.
24
Maranatha Christian University
Biography of Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in Lorain, Ohio on
February 18, 1931. She was the second daughter of four children of Ramah and
George Wofford. She has showed her interest in literature since she was a little girl.
Chloe changed her name since many people couldn’t pronounce her first name
correctly. She changed it into Toni, a shortened version of her middle name.
Toni Morrison graduated from Howard University in 1953 with B.A. in
English literature. She got her master’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York. After she received her master degree, she is back to Howard University,
where she met Harold Morrison, who later became her husband.
She has also worked as an editor for Random House. She was also a critic
and gave numerous public lectures, specializing in African-American literature. In
1970 her book, The Bluest Eye was published. And her second book, entitled Sula
was released in 1973. Her third novel Song of Solomon in 1977, won the National
Book Critics Circle Award and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and
Letters Award. After that, she also released her fourth novel, entitled Tar Baby in
1981. Her fifth novel, Beloved, was published in 1987 and became a bestseller. This
novel made her won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988.
25
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Every individual who lives in the world will always be familiar with
conflicts.
Conflict happens because there are two opposing forces; the two
contradictory elements will cause many situations, from war, betrayal, until
jealousy. Conflicts affect people’s life; they mainly cause the suffering to those
who experience it. Literature, which often acts as reflection of life, also raises
conflicts as one of its important elements. As conflict is one of the most important
elements in theory of literature, I am interested to analyze the conflict in one of the
literary genre; a novel, written by Toni Morrison entitled Sula.
I am interested in Toni Morrison’s work Sula. This novel deals with social
and moral issues. Besides, this novel contains a lot of social and inner conflicts.
“Conflict is the opposition of persons or forces upon which the action depends in
drama and fiction. Dramatic conflict is struggle which grows out of the interplay of
opposing forces (ideas, interests, wills). In a plot, conflict may be termed the
1
Maranatha Christian University
material from which a plot is constructed”. (Shaw, 1972:289). So the plot of the
story will be more interesting if there are conflicts inside the story. If there is no
conflict, the plot of the story will be less interesting.
I decide to take this novel because it is easy to read and understand. I like
the style of language because it is helpful for me to have a deeper understanding of
the story.
There are three types of conflicts, which are social conflict, inner conflict,
and physical conflict. Social conflict is the struggle between man and man. Inner
conflict is the struggle between desires within a person. And physical conflict is a
struggle between man and the physical world. (Shaw, 1972:91-92). Because this
novel deals with social norms and betrayal, I choose to analyze only the social and
inner conflict.
Toni Morrison is one of the great novelists who won a Pulitzer Prize in
Literature in 1988, and she is the first African-American writer who receives the
Noble Prize for literature in 1993. Her works are dominated by social issue themes,
moral issues, racism and the suppression of African-American. One of her greatest
novels entitled Beloved becomes a bestseller and is adapted to be a movie.
Morrison writes Sula in 1969. She portrays women as individuals with
fierce passions, hatred and enormous capacities for love and forgiveness. By writing
that novel, she also wants to show that black women feel the repression more than
men; the women cannot have a happy family caused by their own husband. White
communities refuse their existence.
2
Maranatha Christian University
Statement of the Problem
After reading Toni Morrison’s Sula, I would like to analyze :
1. What are the social and inner conflicts experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula ?
2. What are the causes of each conflict experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula?
3. How are the conflicts resolved?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statements of the problems above, it will be my aim to answer the
following points above :
1. To show the social and inner conflicts experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula.
2. To show the causes of each conflict experienced by the two female
major characters in Toni Morrison’s Sula.
3. To show how the conflicts are resolved.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Method of Research
The method applied in this thesis is library research. I begin by reading the
primary text, Toni Morrison’s Sula. In addition, I read some reference books and
internet study guide to help me in analyzing the novel. Besides, I also get some
valuable information about the book and the biography of the author from the
internet. Finally, I draw the conclusion from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
I will present my thesis in three chapters. It begins with Chapter One, which
is preceded by the Acknowledgement and the Abstract. The first chapter is the
Introduction, that contains the Background of the Study, the Statement of the
Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization
of The Thesis. The second chapter is the Discussion of Conflicts in Toni Morrison’s
Sula. Chapter three is the Conclusion. And I will end my thesis with the
Bibliography and the Appendices, which consists of the Biography of Toni
Morrison and the Synopsis of Sula.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having discussed the social and inner conflicts in Toni Morrison’s Sula, I
would like to give the conclusion from what I have analyzed in Chapter Two. Sula
and Nel come from different family backgrounds. In Sula’s family, they are very
liberal. I also find that they are not well civilized. In contrast with Nel, she comes
from a very well behaved family. The two female major characters here are having
a close friendship. Sula likes to have a friendship with Nel because she is able to
control Nel. In other words, Sula likes to show her authority. Besides, Sula does not
get enough attention from her family since she was a child and it makes Sula
become independent and dares to express more her thinking and ideas. Nel’s
admiring Sula makes Nel enjoy being Sula’s friend.
I can see Sula’s dominant role since she was a child, in her family or in her
society. She does not want to be ruled by anyone or any norm. She escapes to
college and submerges herself in city life.
17
Maranatha Christian University
Nel is submissive in her family and society. Nel just knows to obey what her
mother’s says and advices without telling her mother whether she likes it or not.
And in the society, Nel just follows the norms and rules because her mother teaches
and tells her so. She chooses to remain in the place of her birth, to marry, and to
raise a family.
It helps Nel’s mother and the family to keep the family’s pride and not to be
separated from the society. That is the reason why Nel feels unhappy; she is locked
by the rules.
From the explanation in the paragraphs above, I find Sula experiences more
social conflicts than Nel because Sula dares to challenge the family and social
environment. The social conflicts are experience by Sula and her society; between
Sula and Nel; between Sula and Eva, her own grandmother; also between Sula and
Ajax, the man who loves her seriously. The social conflicts above, which are mostly
experienced by Sula, are not well resolved because of Sula’s death. Sula dies,
without anybody comes to her funeral ceremony, except Nel. I think if Sula would
respect the social norms a little bit, the resolution of the conflicts will not be that
tragic.
I also notice that Nel faces a lot of inner conflicts. It happens because she
generally does not dare to challenge the family and social environment. Nel comes
from a well mannered family and locked by the norms; she is also having a
friendship with Sula, who comes from a not well civilized family. I conclude that
their different family backgrounds are one of the sources of their conflicts. When
18
Maranatha Christian University
Nel meets Sula for the first time, Nel seems to have found a new picture of herself
in Sula. Yet, Nel’s mother forbids Nel to have a friendship with Sula. This conflict
is solved with Nel keeping in Sula by her side. Sula’s having an affair with her
husband makes a dilemma for her. But the inner conflicts resolved by Nel end-up
her friendship with Sula and she is divorced from Jude, her husband. I like Nel’s
way of solving the problems. In my point of view, Nel’s decision to solve the
problems without any violence and harassment is much honorable.
Nel cannot take her own decision before. After she experiences the conflicts
above, I can see that the conflicts have shaped Nel. She becomes tougher, dares to
have her own decisions and voices it. She also thinks more maturely than she used
to be. Nel blames Sula for nothing even she is disappointed with what Sula has
done to her.
I notice Toni Morrison, who is a feminist writer, dares to explore the
feminism and racist issues of black society at that time. Through the two female
major characters in this novel, Morrison wants to show the readers that there are
two kinds of people with different characteristics in facing the life. First example is
Sula. I categorize her to be a pessimistic person. She lives in a broken family. Her
father leaves her mother a few years after she had born. Therefore, she thinks that
every man will do the same as her father does to her mother. It shapes her not to
depend on man, and change her principles not to be bound in a settle relationship
with any man. It is the reason why she behaves radically in this story. In contrast
with Nel, she is optimistic in facing her future life. She does not know how her
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future life will be, but her dream to have a happy family was not changing at all.
She has a faith that she will have a wonderful life after. Her dream becomes real by
marrying Jude, yet she has to accept a bitter reality because of Jude’s betrayal. Even
though she faces such reality, she keeps her positive thinking that she will have a
better life afterward.
Black cultures that are common to happen at the time are unbeneficial for
women. The men are not responsible to their family. They will go home only if they
have a need; such as having sexual intercourse with their wives. After their need is
fulfilled by their wives, they just leave their wives at home.
Through the main character, Sula, Morrison shows how to face with racist
situations; some people has to plead to whites simply to get by, as Helene does on a
train heading through the South. And she also wants the readers to be inspired and
motivated to find jobs against whites’ population; value their independence.
Besides, I believe that Toni Morrison wants to encourage the readers, especially the
women, surviving to get their freedom. It is good for a woman to have her own will
or ambition, but it has to deal with the norms too.
For me, this story gives me a new point a view about independence,
freedom, and the struggle of life more. I take this as a mirror to make a correction of
my attitudes and behavior to my daily life.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text
•
Morrison, Toni. Sula. London: Picador, 1991.
References
•
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Mc Draw hill Book
Company, 1972.
Internet sites
•
“Biography of Toni Morrison”. October 6th, 2006.
•
Toni Morrison Essays and Biography. October 11th, 2006.
•
Penguin Reading Guides / The books of Toni Morrison. November 22nd,
2007.
•
Sula Summary and Essays – Toni Morrison. October 20th, 2006.
•
African-American Issues_Black Males. November 25th, 2007.
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•
Sula – Introduction. October 28th, 2006.
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