The first passage that I had a reaction to was on pg. 46-47: "She sat down and gathered Plum into her arms. She rolled a bit of newspaper into a tight stick about six inches long, lit it and threw it into the bed where the kerosene-soaked Plum lay in a snug delight. My reaction to this was that I thought this woman was crazy. Thoughts were running through mind trying to figure out why she we set her own son on fire. I was astonished at the thought of someone doing this. This passage relates to another Toni Morrison novel "Beloved", when the main character tried to kill her children. The woman tried to kill her children because she wanted to protect and prevent them from being sold into slavery. "Beloved" relates to "Sula" because it seems that these women would kill their children to protect them. That why I came to the conclusion that Eva was setting Plum on fire because she felt that she had to save him from himself. I felt that she was hurt in doing this because she wanted to hold her son to let him know she loves him.
The second passage that I had a reaction to was: "Because each had discovered years before they were neither white nor male, and that all freedom and triumph was forbidden to them, they had set a bout creating something else to be. I feel that my reaction to this is that being oppressed is a good reason for people to come together to form bonds. As troubled little girls Nel and Sula needed to have that friendship to get through rough times and it makes me feel relieved. This passage reminds me of the movie "The Color Purple," because two sisters who were kept away from each other their bond never diminished. The relationship between Nettie and Cely kept Cely strong form the reality of being abused by her older husband. When the girls are together they ignore everything around them because it does not matter as long as they have each other. This relates to Sula, because The color Purple shows the bond between sisters even through oppression. These two stories are similar in the way the girls handle the situations they are in.
1 comment:
Overall, my reactions/thoughts about the first half of Sula were the same as yours. Especially in the first passage-- I definitly got the feeling that she was crazy. I have never read this novel before, but I am very interested to see where it goes.
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