rah-che and hen-dayr

            Race and gender both play a big part in Sula.  The characters live in a mostly black town, and the women seem to control it.  When Nel is visiting Sula on her deathbed, after their giant fight about Jude, Nel tells Sula that she just can’t do some of the things that other people do.  This is shown by this quote:

"Why? I can do it all, why cant i have it all?"

"You cant do it all. You a woman and a colored woman at that. You cant act like a man. You cant be walking around all independant-like, doing whatever you like, taking what you want, leaving what you dont."

"You repeting yourself."

"how repeating myself?"

"You say Im a woman and colored. Aint that the same as being a man?"

"I dont think so and you wouldnt either if you had children."

What Sula means by this is that she doesnt have any cares about stereotypes, social norms or anything like that.  She is going to do what she wants to do no matter her gender or the color of her skin. 

VOH CAB UH LURRY

Solicitous – 160 – adj

-Characterized by or showing interest or concern.
-“The same hope that kept them picking beans for other farmers…kept them solicitous of white peoples children.”

-Ben was solicitous in his attempts to try and get Eli to read in his funny voice again, but Eli told him that he wouldn’t do it.

Malevolence – 161 – adj

-Having or showing a wish to do evil to others.
“…the slurred remarks and the staggering childish malevolence of their employers.”

-Ben gave Eli a death glare that showed malevolence, which was right after he told Eli that he is lazy.

Fastidious – 167 – adj

-Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail.
“She had neither iron nor clothes but did not stop her fastidious lining up of pleats…”

-Eli is fastidious about his homework.  He will not do anything that is not impeccable, no matter what other people say.

Dirge – 155 – noun

-A lament for the dead, esp. one forming part of a funeral rite.
“On January third the sun came out—and so did Shadrack with his childish dirge.”

-Ben would be very sad if he had to sing a dirge for Eli.

Unassailable – 148 – adj

-Unable to be attacked, questioned, or defeated.
“The sealed window soothed her with its sturdy termination, its unassailable finality.”

-Eli wasn’t affected by Ben’s attacks, in fact, he considered himself unassailable.

Timbre – 139 – noun

-The character or quality of a musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity.
“It gave her voice the timbre she wanted it to have…”

-Ben will probably start insulting Eli’s timbre when he does the woman’s voice again.

Ornate – 134 – adj

-Made in an intricate shape or decorated with complex patterns.  It is very fancy.
"An absence so decorative, so ornate, it was difficult for her to understand how she had ever endured…”

-If the relationship between Ben and Eli were a tangible thing, it would be very intricate and ornate.

Mercurial – 12 – adj

-Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.
“…she admires him, as though his mercurial nature, his temper, his massive dreams and little cruelties, served only as sharp reminders of the turbulent longings with him…”

-Even though he is not, Eli might seem mercurial while in Ben’s class.

Trepidation – 12 – noun

-A feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen.
“…she calls with some trepidation: Willy!”

-Eli was filled with trepidation when Ben accused him of not reading, even though he did, like he always does.

Imbue – 52 – verb

-Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality.
“That’s just the spirit I want to imbue them with!”
-Eli asking about Ben's day imbues Ben to be happy for the rest of the day.

Lovers and Haters

They hate her when She is here
They hate her when She is gone

She killed a boy
They killed her

They are happy
The evil witch is dead

Then the cold set in
No money
No happy holidays
Almost no suicide day.

She is gone
They are still in a curse.

Sula is DED

This is Sula in her fetal position, going out of this world just as she came in.

Sort of like Plum, she was going back to being a baby, and died.

Poem (to 125)

They lie together
They die together

She dies
She dies on the inside

She looks on with interest
She hates the interest

They sleep together
He leaves

She leaves

Nobody is happy
Everyone is dead.

Vocab

Repugnance – 8 – noun

Intense disgust
All their repugnance was contained in the neat balance of the triangles- a balance that soothed him, transferred some of its equilibrium to him.
I was filled with repugnance for the tattooed man beast.

Abate – 13 – verb

Of something perceived as hostile, threatening or negative
Shadrack was suffering from a blinding headache, which was not abated by the comfort he felt when the policemen pulled his hands away from what he thought was a permanent entanglement with his shoelaces.
My fear for pitbulls was not abated when the 80 year old lady pulled one off of me.

Unequivocal – 13 – adjective

Leaving no doubt, unambiguous
A black so definite, so unequivocal, it astonished him.
It was unequivocal that the crystal skull was scary.

Quell – 22 – verb

Put an end to.
. . . This tall, proud woman, this woman who was very particular about her friends, who slipped into church with unequaled elegance, who could quell a roustabout with a look . . .
The riot police quelled the riots.

Guile – 41 – noun

Sly or cunning intelligence
Her flirting was sweet, low and guileless.
I had lots of guile.  I had to be part of the ISO immediately.

 

Fastidious – 43 – adjective

Very attentive to, and concerned about accuracy and detail
he liked the last place least . . . because her love mate’s tendency was always to fall asleep afterward and Hannah was fastidious about whom she slept with.
I am fastidious about who I sleep with.

Vitriol – 45 – noun

Cruel and bitter criticism
he was unquestionably a kind and generous woman and that . . . made them defend her from any vitriol that newcomers or their wives might spill.
His vitriol was not nice.

Insouciant – 96 – noun

Casual lack of concern; indifference
Nel’s grimy intractable children looked like three wild things happily insouciant in the May shine.
I was insouciant about coming to Ben's class.

Contrive – 118 – verb

Create or bring about something by deliberate use of skill and artifice
Their evidence against Sula was contrived, but their conclusions about her were not.
The artists contrived the skulptoors.

Pariah – 122 – noun

An outcast
he was a pariah, then, and knew it. Knew that they despised her and believed that they framed their hatred as disgust for the easy way she lay with men.
Britney Spears is often considered a pariah, but I believe that she is a fine, upstanding individual.

 

70 pg. Morrison Toni by used device writing the Mimicking.

           It was a day so bright in our fair little city that the small children didn't want to lay by the pool, for fear that they would be sunburned.  They didn't want to jump in the pool, because the rays had heated it until the water was to hot to swim in.  Grown men driving themselves to work wore shades, yet still had to squint.  The wheel was so hot they had to pull their sleeves down over their hands so they wouldn't be burned.  Women in the kitchen had to step away from the windows - and take their watchful eye off of their playing children.  Men watching TV in the living room in their underwear had to get out of the lazy boy and pull down the shades, so there wouldn't be glare on the screen.