Sula, Peiss 5 and 6

In reading Sula, I found some similarities, or parallels, with The Scarlett Letter. The most prominent was the description of the elaborate dress that was sown for the funeral in New Orleans, which was looked upon with mocking disdain by those living in the bottom, akin to Hester Prynn’s. The alternate connection with the dress theme was the Red Dress dream that Hannah had, which culminated in her death. Loosely interpreted, it reminded me of the theme of death in The Scarlet Letter- the death of Hester in terms of her becoming a pariah, and then later the death of that identity. I understand that perhaps those interpretations could be challenged because of their loose affiliation, but to me they made some sense. I also found a parallel in the character named Pearl, who marries at a young age and follows all the social conventions. In some ways this is diametrically opposed to the character Pearl in The Scarlet Letter, with her great reflection of sin and societal difference, but it also follows the same path of Pearl moving away at a relatively young age into some conventional to marry. Perhaps these themes were intentional, maybe not.

In connection with the other readings this week, there was a broad context given for the lives of African Americans; the complexity of social convention and familial structure can be seen in a Foucaultian (sp?) lens, given the discussion of the kinship style of the family, but also the broad definitions of family. Though these variations on the family do not follow the same time line, and in some ways are in opposition, the matriarchy-based families and polygamous relationships are a part of the entire construct. I found it interesting, that the phenomenon of the matriarch functions within a larger patriarchy. It seems to function not only as a construct to promote the individuality of women as slaves, but also in retaliation to the overall privilege of the male gender. Women who objected to and retaliated against the advances of unwanted male attention were seen as heroic; this cannot be attributed solely to the familial structure. Due to the discussion of womens inability to produce children because of the workload they endured, it cannot be assumed that sex would always produce children. This retaliation thus has larger implications- not only in terms of those discussed, as one to retain a sense of community and choice, but also to deny the assumed rights of men over women. I found this to be an interesting and under-analyzed part of life.

In conjunction with Sula, the readings form a base context in which to view the two opposing family lives described. One clearly is an example of female-headed life, and the other a more socially conventional and religiously bound home. However, the same larger rules of society apply to the two girls growing up in The Bottom- they simply react differently to said rules. Going into an analysis of the death of Chicken Little would not be of service to this point, Morrison does enough to imply the effects of the event and the context around it. However, the reaction of Sula and Nel throughout their lives, incorporating this event into it, is an exploration that is very complex. They grow up with a shared mind in some ways, however, Nel demures to what her life is “supposed” to be like, at the wishes of her mother, regardless of her true nature, though she eventually comes around after Sula’s death to that realization, while Sula lives her life in a conscious opposition to it. She, as a character and as a signifier of a cultural backlash, embodies the notion that one cannot separate themselves from the basic structure. Her participation in “a respectable life” or not is how she is viewed, regardless of the larger emotional and moral ambiguity. Her rejection of the conventional life becomes her identity and governs how she is viewed by those in different strata of her community.

For the moment I am not going to go into my analysis on the relationship between Addie and Rebecca, because it has such a large context; this lens of African American life and the surrounding construct, but also that of Victorian Era friendships between women. I would however like to discuss it in class because I think it serves as a bridge between the seemingly unrelated racial worlds.

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