Charles French Sula Pt. 2: I'm Confused?

Reading the second part of Sula I think I am still confused about a lot. So unfortunately I feel that this blog might contain more questions than anything.

I have several related quotes for this blog that all relate. The first comes when Sula is mistakenly blamed for hurting Teapot. Teapot's mother "just then tripping home, saw Sula bending over her son's pained face. She flew into a fit of concerned, if drunken, motherhood, and dragged Teapot home" (114). the next comes just after "Mr. Finley sat on his porch sucking chicken bones, as he had done for thirteen years, looked up, saw Sula, choked on a bone and died on the spot" (114) and then there is the explanation of how the women react to the idea that Sula might steal their men. "So the women, to justify their own judgment, cherished their men more, soothed the pride and vanity Sula had bruised" (115). and a general description of the town's actions in reaction to Sula "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" (119). All of these quotes support the idea that, although Sula acted out and caused quite a stir when she returned to the Bottom after so many years, her actions ultimately served to bring the town and it's people closer together.

In support of Sula's effect on the town is the explanation of how things were after she passed. When teapot's mother "beat him as she had not done since Sula knocked him down the steps" but she was not alone in her changing reaction "Other mothers who had defended their children from Sula's malevolence (or who had defended their positions as mothers from Sula's scorn for the role) now had nothing to rub up against"(153). There are other examples continuing from page 153 but this blog post is getting too long and extending beyond the scope and purpose of the blog.

The thing that struck me about these supporting quotes is the idea that something that is 'evil' and creates so much tension within a town is also somehow needed. I think it is very interesting how Morrison paints Sula's actions as both cementing the community together and in their absence dividing and creating havoc within the community.