Toni Morrison’s Sula

In whatever way the term can be viewed, “evil” is used heavily and often and fulfills many different roles in Toni Morrison’s Sula. This concept of “evil” can be looked at in numerous ways. It can be seen as the objectionable or diabolic behavior a person exhibits. It can be used to describe that person them self. Evil can be used to describe the presence of the devil, or the lack of God. It can also be a label given to something or someone by a community to give meaning or definition to themselves. Evil can even be used as an abstract term to label something that does not fit in with the norm, something that is in resistance to the standards of society. All these aspects of evil can be found within Toni Morrison’s fictional town of the Bottom.

Morrison opens the book with a commentary about how the old neighborhood of the Bottom once was; how once upon a time it was a close, tight-knit community, but is now on its way to becoming a golf course. What held this community together and made it tight-knit was the “evil” that was prevalent within the town, particularly within Miss Sula Mae Peace. “[She’s the] Devil all right” is what the people would say about her (Morrison 117). Sula was indeed portrayed as evil by the community, but it was her incarnation of evil that defined and united the people of the Bottom, bringing them together against a common antagonist. When Sula dies, the community soon thereafter dies as well.

Sula was not always viewed as evil within the Bottom. Growing up with her best friend Nel, Sula is portrayed as an innocent child. Through various actions and symbolism however, there is a clear transition from the innocent child Sula once was to the depraved adult she becomes. The turning point that would mark the early stages of this forthcoming evil in Sula would be the drowning of Chicken Little. From then on, the sinister side of Sula is more and more revealed.

As a child, Sula was not the incarnation of evil that she grew up to be. The scene where she and Nel are in the grass playing with twigs exemplifies this. Both Sula and Nel take a twig and with their hands strip it down to a “smooth, creamy innocence.” (Morrison 58) They then dig a hole with their twigs until the twigs break, when they then throw each of their twigs into the hole and bury them in a “grave uprooted with grass.” (Morrison 59) They do not speak a word to each other while doing this. The twig in this scene is representative of Sula’s life. At this point in her life, she, like the twig, is full of innocence. This innocence lasts until there is a “break” in the twig. The break in the twig and the “grave uprooted with grass” are both representative of the death of Chicken Little.

Chicken Little’s drowning is the defining moment in Sula’s character. This is her “break in the twig”; her loss of innocence. When Chicken Little is put into the grave during his funeral, again Sula and Nel do not speak a word to each other. What his death shows is one of the early instances of the inherent darker side of Sula seeping into the community. The choir has never needed to sing for a funeral until now; “the first time their voices had presided at a real-life event.” (Morrison 64) The choir singing their first song at a funeral shows that little by little the atmosphere in the town is changing, and is further testament of the turning point towards evil in the Bottom.

From this point on there are increasingly more events that show Sula’s wicked side. The scene where Sula’s mother, Hannah, burns to death is an example. When Hannah goes up in flames, Eva selflessly throws herself from out of a window to try to save her daughter. While Eva risks her life to save Hannah’s, Sula stands and watches, not moving a muscle in an attempt to help her mother; she only stares. Eva never tells anyone, but inside she is convinced that