Trauma And Its Effects In Sula By Toni Morrison
When it comes to the novel, Sula by Toni Morrison, it is without question that one of the main elements and/or themes that pop up frequently is trauma. Many of the characters in the novel undergo trauma as early as birth, and are affected by it throughout their whole lives. Because of this, many of their actions and decisions made are a direct result of this trauma that that they’ve endured. This is especially true when taking a closer look at one of the main characters, Sula, who has seen many traumatic situations in her lifetime. Sula has seen death in all forms, whether it be seeing her mother burning to death or having watched a young boy drown, of which she played a part in, having accidentally thrown him into the river where he met his demise. Toni Morrison uses these traumatic effects and the decisions influenced by them to show the reader how trauma impacts our everyday lives, whether it be as dramatic as the deaths shown or as systematic as the burden society puts of people of color, shown by the citizens of the bottom.
One of Sula’s first moments in which she encounters trauma is when she accidentally lets go of Chicken Little while swinging him, and he ends up dying in the river. This moment is so pivotal, because it shows the transition from childhood to adulthood. At that moment, even though Sula was still, in physical form, a child, she had undergone something so startling that mentally disturbed the innocence a child would have. A child isn't supposed to see the dark side of life, such as death or violence. In this moment where she saw a kid die, at her hands, whether it be intentional or not, was the moment she stopped being innocent. One could argue that this moment leads to an increase or rise in further situations of trauma, most of which she reacts in the same manner; idly. “Sula also experiences many traumas throughout her eventful life. One early instance in her childhood can be tied to the escalation of these struggles.” She just watches Chicken Little drown, and it’s left up to the reader to decide whether she was starstruck at the events or if she was apathetic. This is the same question that is evoked when it applies to the second traumatic moment. In this moment, Sula watches her own mother burn. The grandmother, Eva, tries to save her daughter, Hannah, from burning to death, but her attempt fails. Lying in the hospital, suffering from a fall she had trying to save her daughter, she begins to think of the events that just transpired. As stated in the novel, “She remembered something else too, and try as she might to deny it, she knew that as she lay on the ground trying to drag herself through the sweet peas and clover to get to Hannah, she had seen Sula standing on the back porch just looking.” Sula had just been watching, while her grandmother, who was in a wheelchair, jumped up to try to save her daughter. Eva tries to rationalize why Sula stood there and didn't help in the next line. “Sula was probably struck dumb, as anybody would be who saw her own mamma burn up. Eva said yes, but inside she disagreed and remained convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested.” She came to the conclusion that maybe it was because she was shook, but in her heart, she really felt that Sula enjoyed the moment. This is a very wicked, evil thing to do, and I think Toni Morrison does this to show how trauma can sometimes make us wicked or do things that are inherently wrong. This is Sula reacting to traumatic events, and this grows to be her attitude on everything. She grows to be very apathetic, not caring about anyone, and it could be argued that she begins to not care about herself as much either.
One moment of trauma that shows how Sula begins to not care about her well-being as much or the pressures that systematic racism places upon colored people is her run in with a group of Irish boys. “When Nel recollects Sula’s fear over a child’s accidental drowning, she also remembers the moment Sula cut the tip of her finger off to avoid a fight with a group of white boys. Sula’s method of ordering chaos is simply to exchange one form of chaos and madness for another” (Bryant, 738). This outlook on life eventually destroys Sula’s relationships with everyone around her.” Sula and Nel had been experiencing bullying and name calling from a group of Irish kids, who recognized that they themselves were immigrants at first, but eventually, started acting like the natives Whites over in the bottoms. The White people over there used to make fun of them, and racially berate them, as shown in this line of the novel; “As a matter of fact, baiting them was the one activity that the white Protestant residents concurred in. In part their place in this world was secured only when they echoed the old residents’ attitude toward blacks.” The Irish learned that to be accepted by the whites, or to feel better about being racially berated, they could treat the Blacks how the Whites did. This also evinces how systematic racism can bring about trauma, or a passing on of trauma. As the Irish came over the Medallion for a better life, they were met with racism, and to feel better about this, they perpetuated that racism to the Blacks. Also, to get the bullies to stop, Sula cuts her own finger, drawing blood, which scares the Irish boys away. She deals with the situation of distress, by causing harm to herself. In her situation, she used herself as a means to deal with her trauma, which cause her more pain, which is what society forces some of us to do. When it comes to a free world, many of us envision free speech, being able to be judged by character and not by gender or skin color etc. But this is seldom the case, as, for example, many women have to hold their tongue at the office place or dress a certain way to get a raise; or African Americans women having to damage their hair to straighten it and look “professional”. People will harm themselves like Sula did, in order to deal with daily trauma.
One last moment of trauma is when Sula walks in and sees her mother sleeping with a married man at a young age. This is no doubt traumatic, but the way she deals with it is even more important. Hannah sleeps an array of married men, and their wives, knowing about it, don't do anything or say nothing to her about the matter. This, coupled with Sula walking in on it, leads her to believe that sex is no big deal. As stated in Sula, “Seeing her step so easily into the pantry and emerge looking precisely as she did when she entered, only happier, taught Sula that sex was pleasant and frequent, but otherwise unremarkable.” Sula takes this throughout her life, and sleeps with Nels husband. Sex was so meaningless to Sula, that she thought no wrong about what she did. “Her seduction of her best friend’s husband is another indication of her lack of empathy. Her responses to these traumas have also left her very impulsive. “Sula was distinctly different. Eva’s arrogance and Hannah’s self-indulgence merged in her and, with a twist that was all her own imagination, she lived out her days exploring her own thoughts and emotions, giving them full reign, feeling no obligation to please anybody unless their pleasure pleased her.” She becomes selfish, only caring about her pleasures, having to never think about how her actions could affect one's feelings. Again, the reader knows this is wrong, but in Sula’s traumatized state, she was taught that this was not wrong, as she thought sex was meaningless
In closing, trauma is detailed heavily throughout the course of the novel. Sula sees it in almost every step of her life, and her decisions are influenced by this trauma. She sees her mother sleeping with men in a way that doesnt uphold sex as an important action, but rather a frivilous activity. This results in her sleeping with people she doesn’t care about, or sleeping with her bestfreinds husband, not understanding how important sex relates to the sancity of marriage. She also sees many deaths that cause her to be apathetic such as the deaths of her mother and Chicken Little, that mold her into the person we see at the end of the novel. All the trauma in the novel is meant to teach the reader a lesson; that life holds many stressful and painful moments, but we must not forget ourselves in the process and succumb to them. One must overcome these pressures and hold ourselves to a higher standard, in order to truly live as close to a fulfied, stress free life as possible.
