Sula And Mama Day Analysis

The Influence of an Outsider in Society in Sula and Mama Day

In every society, there are certain rules about how one should act, think, and say in any given situation that are perpetuated and must be upheld. If one strays from those rules, those ways of being, they are considered outsiders. The idea that outsiders do not follow the conventional rules of social behavior that are set in place by a society are prominent in Toni Morrison’s Sula and Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day. Morrison looks at an individual who understand the norms but decides to go against it. Naylor predominantly examines the effects of one person against an entire group when they ignore the history of the community, and the concept of magic. Unlike Naylor, Morrison delves deeper into the outsider theme and looks at the effects of an entire group being …show more content…
As a result, said individuals are now seen as outsiders in the society. Morrison calls attention to the hypocrisy that is seen in a community when it finds an outsider. In Sula, Morrison describes how the norms of the town of Bottom, such as National Suicide Day, the sexual promiscuity of women, and taking care of family are greatly valued. She expresses that Sula acts completely different from a usual member of the Bottom, leading to her isolation. Using the members of the Bottom, Morrison attempts to question the validity of societal norms by revealing the hypocrisy in the Bottom. When Sula’s actions are revealed to the people in the Bottom, Morrison states that “...they forgot about Hannah’s easy ways (or their own) and said she was a bitch” (112). This directly shows how easy it is to forget one’s own wrongdoing when there is someone else to blame. Shifting the blame allows a community to ignore problems by shunning an individual who openly opposes the standards that have to be