Sula: A Needed ‘evil’

Sula: A Needed ‘Evil’

“Their conviction of Sula’s evil changed them in accountable yet mysterious ways. Once the source of their personal misfortune was identified, they had leave to protect and love one another. They began to cherish their husbands and wives, protect their children, repair their homes and in general band together against the devil in their midst…There was no creature so ungodly as to make them destroy it. They could kill easily if provoked to anger, but not by design, which explained why they could not “mob kill” anyone. To do so was not only unnatural, it was undignified. The presence of evil was something to be first recognized, then dealt with, survived, outwitted, triumphed over.” (pp. 117-118)

Upon Sula’s return to Medallion, there was certain speculation about why she had come back. When she returned, a plague of robins came with her which hints to the reader to keep an open mind about Sula being connected with bad things. Here, Morrison uses the power of foreshadowing to subtly suggest what bad things may lay ahead. After Sula sent Eva away to the facility, people in the town really began to talk about Sula maliciously. Also, Sula had relations with her best friend Nel’s husband Jude,