Social Expectation Of Gender Roles In Sula, By Toni Morrison

The major difference between Sula and Nel in their adulthood is that: “Nel is a law-abiding woman. Nel knows and believes in all the laws of the community. She believes in its values. Sula does not. She does not believe in any of those laws and breaks them all or ignores them. Nel accepts the role which is expected from her as a woman and she likes the role. Whereas Sula, on the other hand, is not willing to accept this role. Toni Morrison mentions that, Sula ia masculine character and she really behave like a man. The most terrifying thing Sula can imagine is dying like an African American woman: “I know what every colored woman in this country is doing. Dying. Just like me. But the difference is they are dying like a stump. Me, I’m going …show more content…
African American women’s familiarity with the main stream gender roles effects African Americans’ private lives in the sense that African Americans usually accept these views of a role of a woman. The lives of the women in the novel are largely shaped by men who consequently leave them to improve their own position in the society. Women need the presence of other women to deal with the troubles of their lives; they also need each other’s protection when the male protection is missing. Women’s bonds are crucial for women’s survival in the community, but the female characters in Sula do not value their friendships with women. They commit the mistake when they submit to the social conditioning of marriage and motherhood and they do not cultivate women’s bond. If the women in Sula do not cling to what the society expects from them, they would lead more fulfilling …show more content…
Through the dilemmas of its characters, Sula asks the reader to consider the roles and responsibilities of motherhood. Rather than foregrounding a patriarch as the head of a family group, Sula exposes the particular dilemma of Eva, a single mother struggling to raise her children alone without resources. Although the exact nature of her sacrifice is not detailed, in her desperation, Eva abandons her children to the care of a generous neighbor. After some time, Eva returns to her children with money, but no leg. Eva’s sacrifice obviously comes at great personal cost, but the ultimate value of her willing mutilation comes into question as her children become adults. Although they have material security, Eva’s children have emotional and psychological