For our next post, I'd like you to think about the function of Shadrock in the narrative. Why does Morrison include him in a novel that is ostensibly about a friendship between two black girls? In what sense can Shadrock be seen as Sula's foil?
Shadrack’s purpose in Sula is to highlight how Sula views life and death. As war veteran Shadrack is suffering from PTSD. Shadrack is constantly trying to escape his PTSD and the memories of death that haunt him. Shadrack drinks his memories away and even creates a national suicide day to deal with his fears of death. On the other hand when Sula dies she isn’t scared and she isn’t regretful of the life she lived because it belonged to her as she says, her mind was hers and her life was hers. Sula lived life to the fullest no matter how much anyone thought of how empty and lonely she must be. While both characters are lonely, Sula admits she is alone but that at least she is alone by choice. She is not afraid to die alone but every year Shadrack invites people to die around him yet he still fears death and loneliness.
Shadrack is the man in the neighborhood who came back from war and suffered severe PTSD. He is included in the story because he is like the stories voice of reason. He is the most observant person in town yet the loneliest. Shadrack is afraid to die alone whereas Sula is not and even when she dies she dies in peace. Sula and Shadrack share an endearing moment when Sula goes to visit him; his one and only visitor. She was concerned that he saw Chicken fall to his death, which he does. Shadrack knew that Sula needed some confirmation that she can count on something and that's what Shadrack does when he says "Always". This scene specifically shows the vulnerability of Sula and Shadrack seems to be able to reassure her. Shadrack may even be the calm to Sula's storm.
Shadrack is one of the important hidden characters of Sula. after returning from war he creates the National suicide Day fro anyone who wants to kill them selves because he has fear of death. Sula and Shadrack are very similar in their characteristics of defying the social norms as male and female gender roles. women's of the bottom are nothing but typical housewives- family nurthurers; however, Sula never befitted herself in those traditional southern women roles just like her grandmother or mother never did. she developed the "who-cares" attitude as she gets older.she is frowned upon in the town because of her sexuality affairs with back and white men. Shadrack, on the others hand was the manic of the town- hyterical, loud and drunk. shadrack can be representation of that things are not like what they seem to appears- he maybe a manic but he is very stable, his house is very clean to a shock to sula and when he says "Always" to her, it seems that he is reassuring her that everything will be ok- the resuurance that sula needed after chicken little died. both characters are very insightful and standout to everyone in the town.
At a preliminary glance, Shadrack is an outlier of the community. He is, at best, tolerated by the denizens of The Bottom out of a sense of pity. However, if the reader thinks about Shadrack and National Suicide Day, he seems to be an accurate representation of the community. Shadrack experiences severe trauma fighting in WWI. He returns, injured and emotionally unbalanced, to a country where he is stripped of his personhood. His instatement of National Suicide Day, then, is a way for him to gain control over his life in a way that racism and classism does not allow him to have. In a world where he is subject to the whims of white supremacy, he creates a space where he has the ultimate power to choose to end his life. While the holiday seems crazy to everyone in The Bottom, his National Suicide Day can be seen as a parallel to the community and their attempts to be respectable. In the same way that Shadrack tries to create some amount of control in his life, the community tries to feign a sense of authority in the adoption of these rules to give them a shell of protection against the oppression they face. Where the community and Shadrack try to create a sense of order in their lives, Sula creates chaos and disregards all the rules.
Shadrack’s purpose in Sula is to highlight how Sula views life and death. As war veteran Shadrack is suffering from PTSD. Shadrack is constantly trying to escape his PTSD and the memories of death that haunt him. Shadrack drinks his memories away and even creates a national suicide day to deal with his fears of death. On the other hand when Sula dies she isn’t scared and she isn’t regretful of the life she lived because it belonged to her as she says, her mind was hers and her life was hers. Sula lived life to the fullest no matter how much anyone thought of how empty and lonely she must be. While both characters are lonely, Sula admits she is alone but that at least she is alone by choice. She is not afraid to die alone but every year Shadrack invites people to die around him yet he still fears death and loneliness.
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ReplyDeleteShadrack is the man in the neighborhood who came back from war and suffered severe PTSD. He is included in the story because he is like the stories voice of reason. He is the most observant person in town yet the loneliest. Shadrack is afraid to die alone whereas Sula is not and even when she dies she dies in peace. Sula and Shadrack share an endearing moment when Sula goes to visit him; his one and only visitor. She was concerned that he saw Chicken fall to his death, which he does. Shadrack knew that Sula needed some confirmation that she can count on something and that's what Shadrack does when he says "Always". This scene specifically shows the vulnerability of Sula and Shadrack seems to be able to reassure her. Shadrack may even be the calm to Sula's storm.
ReplyDeleteShadrack is one of the important hidden characters of Sula. after returning from war he creates the National suicide Day fro anyone who wants to kill them selves because he has fear of death. Sula and Shadrack are very similar in their characteristics of defying the social norms as male and female gender roles. women's of the bottom are nothing but typical housewives- family nurthurers; however, Sula never befitted herself in those traditional southern women roles just like her grandmother or mother never did. she developed the "who-cares" attitude as she gets older.she is frowned upon in the town because of her sexuality affairs with back and white men. Shadrack, on the others hand was the manic of the town- hyterical, loud and drunk. shadrack can be representation of that things are not like what they seem to appears- he maybe a manic but he is very stable, his house is very clean to a shock to sula and when he says "Always" to her, it seems that he is reassuring her that everything will be ok- the resuurance that sula needed after chicken little died. both characters are very insightful and standout to everyone in the town.
ReplyDeleteAt a preliminary glance, Shadrack is an outlier of the community. He is, at best, tolerated by the denizens of The Bottom out of a sense of pity. However, if the reader thinks about Shadrack and National Suicide Day, he seems to be an accurate representation of the community. Shadrack experiences severe trauma fighting in WWI. He returns, injured and emotionally unbalanced, to a country where he is stripped of his personhood. His instatement of National Suicide Day, then, is a way for him to gain control over his life in a way that racism and classism does not allow him to have. In a world where he is subject to the whims of white supremacy, he creates a space where he has the ultimate power to choose to end his life. While the holiday seems crazy to everyone in The Bottom, his National Suicide Day can be seen as a parallel to the community and their attempts to be respectable. In the same way that Shadrack tries to create some amount of control in his life, the community tries to feign a sense of authority in the adoption of these rules to give them a shell of protection against the oppression they face. Where the community and Shadrack try to create a sense of order in their lives, Sula creates chaos and disregards all the rules.
ReplyDelete