Survival Ethics in Toni Morrison’s Novel Sula

Abstract

Sula is a novel written by the Nobel prize-winning American writer Toni Morrison. Taking the friendship of the protagonist Sula with her close friend Nel, and the growth experience of Sula as the main storyline, this novel describes the living conditions and vicissitude of the Bottom, a legendary and magical black community in Medellin. Previous studies of the novel deal with rich content and explore the multiple themes, such as racial discrimination, the self-growth of black women, friendship, sex and marriage, life and death, good and evil, conflict of tradition and modernity. However, there are still some details that need to be explained from the perspective of survival ethics. Taking survival ethics as a breakthrough point, this thesis tends to analyze three black women’s attitudes towards survival, and further explores the factors that influence their choices of attitudes towards survival.

This thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is mainly about a brief introduction of Toni Morrison, Sula, as well as survival ethics. The second part is comprised of three black women’s attitudes towards survival: Nel’s choice between survival and dream; Sula’s option between survival and freedom; Eva’s choice between survival and dignity. The third part analyzes the reasons of characters’ attitudes towards survival in Sula, including the living environment in late 19th century and the influence of feminism on black women. Through this analysis, readers can better understand the attitudes and causes of black women’s choices of survival ethics, and further penetrate into the inner world of black women.

Key words: Toni Morrison; Sula; survival ethics