Analysis Of National Suicide Day In Toni Morrison's 'Sula'

When people think of the casualties of the war, they think of the men and women who came home represented by a folded flag, the ones who came home with fewer limbs than when they left. Not the silent casualties who suffer internal, not external. In the beginning of Sula written by Toni, Morrison Shadrack is running through a field during what appears to be a battle on the field. While Shadrack is focused on the nail piercing through his boot while one of his comrades had their face blown off. There is no indication of how much time has passed since Shadrack was running on the field to when he finds himself in a little hospital bed. Upon waking up Shadrack is hesitant to look for his hands but soon discovers the little bumps under the covers …show more content…
With the small amount of background Toni Morrison has provided on Shadrack, it is safe to say that he has gone through more than has been let on to. "He knew the smell of death and was terrified of it, for he could not anticipate it". On the other hand, many would think after being surrounded by people dying who did not want to die and more than likely suffered that he would not want to encourage people to end their own life or others for that matter. But taking into consideration Shadrack's obsessive need to organize all his fears and how to overcome them. It becomes harder to decide if Shadrack's decision on how to handle his own fears manifested into something that originally had good intentions but was executed …show more content…
"he hit on the notion that if one day a year were devoted to it, everybody could get it out of the way and the rest of the year would be safe" (Morrison 20). Shadrack has found a way to escape the battlefield this way he no longer needs to be on edge, anticipating the next grenade to explode, no more unexpected enemy fire he controls in a way his own death. The community's ability to fit Shadrack into their little close-knit community says a lot more about the people of Medallion. They do not actively accept National Suicide day, no one kills themselves when Shadrack rings his cowbell and preaches to the people they can kill themselves or someone else today. But they accept him and tolerate him, allowing National Suicide day into their language. Deep down the people of Medallion keep National Suicide day in their back pockets, most of the characters in the book have deep seeded mental issues. Unknowingly Shadrack provides them a guilt-free way of escaping their issues. The picture provided down below is representing the ticking time bomb that was going off in Shadrack's head after experiencing the horrors of