A Renaissance for Sula

Jazz, art, and a cultural revolution: the very essence of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance brought novel ideas expressed through the works of artists such as Langston Hughes. The lyric styles of Langston Hughes and the discussion of topics such as cultural identity, equality, civil rights, and beauty were key topics in the works of Hughes. These very topics continue presently. The lyric messages and struggles presented by Langston Hughes during the Harlem Renaissance resonate through Toni Morrison's Sula.

Toni Morrison had an interesting view towards Langston Hughes. On one end, she felt he was a sell out, conforming to the white literary form. Langston Hughes was more popular in Latin America than in the United States (Mullen). The idea of a person conforming to a culture is not a bad thing; America is known as a melting pot. The problem is maintaining cultural identity. Dr. Curtis Morgan, a professor of History at Lord Fairfax Community College, noted during a discussion that America is less like a melting pot, but should be thought of as a salad. The American people want to hold on to their uniqueness, yet be considered equal. A melting pot creates a new mixture; in America, everyone strives to remain unique and just reside in the same bowl.

Toni Morrison knew that the conformity to the white idea could have been a way that Hughes sold out, but she respects him for the use of history in works. When discussing how the Harlem Renaissance was important for the incorporation of history into art as a form of remembrance, Toni Morrison said:

That this remarkable concert of Black subject, Black poet, Black photographer and Black artist focuses on the dead is significant for it is true what Africans say: "The Ancestor lives as long as there are those who remember." ... The Harlem Book of the Dead, conceived and nurtured by Camille Billops, cherishes that remembrance and enlightens us as only memeory can (What Moves in the Margin 134).

Morrison extrapolates this idea of history, heritage, and culture into her work Sula.

Walking down the street, Sula and Nel experience the joys of growing into womanhood, being noticed by men, and starting to get attention. The men tip their hats and even pass on compliments like "pig meat" (Sula 2214). Sula and Nel are showing that looks are important. In Hughes's Young Gal Blues, the woman in the story would hope that when she is ugly that people will still care enough to come and see her. Later, she says that she would rather be dead than to be ugly and old (1805). This emphasis on beauty as a mode of acceptance is what Hughes discussed. The notion that death is reprieve from the horror of being ugly and alive shows how important beauty truly is in society.

The driving force of the Harlem Renaissance is that of dreams. Nel and Sula both shared intoxicating dreams of what their ideas for what their life should be like and for what they were to become (Morrison 2215). Hughes taught that dreams are best when they are acted upon as quickly as possible. Dream Boogie puts urgency towards listening to dreams. Enjoy a dream's revelations and try to not suppress the messages dreams bring; for they will only get louder (Hughes 1807). The problems of deferring a dream and not taking action are shown in Harlem. Most people would think that a dream will pass, but a true dream will continue to grow and fester until the dream is so much a part of the being that it explodes and takes over (Hughes 1808).

The two girls also compliment to each other (Morrison 2215). Hughes also knows the importance of not just history, but the connectedness of the human soul between people. The bonds that people share are what draws and grows together the human soul. Hughes expressed this idea as rivers running through various countries throughout time, but the idea of two rivers running near each other would be the situation for Sula and Nel (Hughes 1804-1805). Rivers that run close to each other will erode away the soil and connect together. For Nel and Sula, their relationship represents not just the erosion of soil, but the erosion of social stigmas and inhibitions. The two girls were so close their rivers merged and they became a united force in the world. Sula and Nel are like a river, ever changing and continually heading to a delta, the delta being a place to flood out into a united body. Where there are not individual streams, but a collective soul.

The united body would be that of freedom and being part of the melting pot dream that is supposed to exist in America, the collectiveness of being American. For Hughes, the kitchen is a place for those of a lesser race, but then society comes to realization and becomes proud of their darker brother (Hughes 1806). Race is an important element to understanding Sula and Nel. Nel is a lighter brown woman; Sula is a heavy brown color (Morrison 2215). Nel's mother wants her to be whiter by making her clip her clip her nose to shape it into a smaller, whiter, nose (Morrison 2216-2217). Hughes expressed that the racial problem is one sided, and that the darker brother is constantly being neglected by those who are lighter in color. Morrison points out that the conformity works both ways. White people are not totally to blame since the pressure to blend-in was coming from those of the same race, Nel's mother.

Immigrants should understand the conformity to a culture. Sula and Nel are attacked and beaten by Irish boys. The Irish boys, later, try to attack Sula and Nel. Sula pulls out a knife. Instead of cutting the boys, she removes a hunk of her own skin (Morrison 2215-2216). The problem noticed from this portion of the paper is that there is a juxtaposition of two groups, both outsiders, being abusive towards each other. The girls understand that the Irish are different, and then the boys are against the girls because of their race. The hardest part to this understanding is that it is not just a race problem; there are cultural problems as well. The boys represent an oppressive power and the girls fighting back are the rebellion. The removal of skin shows that below color, all people bleed red. The girls are not waiting for someone to stand up and fight for them; they have taken charge of their lives and made the most of it.

It is difficult to make the most of life when there is not support. For Sula, there was no support from her mother. When entering the kitchen, Sula overhears her mother saying that she does not like Sula, but she does love her (Morrison 2217). Maternal love is very important. For the women to be in the kitchen is very powerful symbol. The kitchen is the gathering place, and a place for tradition. Women pass on family knowledge, history, and tradition in the kitchen. Hughes knew that there is one thing that stopped problems and sadness--love. Young Gal's Blues concludes with the words, "When love is gone what/ Can a young gal do?/ When love is gone, O,/ What can a young gal do?/ Keep on a-lovin' me, daddy,/ Cause I don't want to be blue" (Hughes 1805).

After hearing the conversation Sula and Nel go to the river and begin to dig. The girls are digging a hole deeply and when the crafted stick broke it was thrown into the hole and the hole was filled in disgust (Morrison 2218). Why did Morrison choose a hole and disgust? For the girls, the hole was a representation of the challenges in life, and the stick is the endurance of the human soul. When the stick breaks, there is nothing left to do but cover the hole and forget all the effort put into getting to that point. For Hughes, this action is failing on a dream somehow fills the holes in life. Instead of finding another way, the girls gave up and let all outside problems cave in over their broken dreams.

The problem is, someone witnessed the dreams, Chicken Little. Chicken Little was down by the river. The girls made fun of him, but they choose to play along. Sula began to swing Chicken Little, in good fun, but he slipped and drowned (Morrison 2219-2220). When looking at a dream that appears shattered, Sula and Nel did not want anyone to know. Chicken Little was the outsider who saw the effort and could have continued the dream. In Harlem, Hughes ponders what happens to the dream when left alone. Chicken Little could have made the hole better, deeper, and provided better way to dig. The problem is, the girls were not ready to accept this opportunity. In letting Chicken Little die, the girls were able to finally experience a release from their efforts. Their dreams were allowed to drown in the river, along with the opportunity to make those dreams a reality.

The body of Chicken Little floated and bobbed down the river until it was found by a bargeman. He knew there were not any colored people in his county, so he returned the boy in a bag, to the proper authority. Chicken was given a proper service. The body had decomposed, so the service was closed casket (Morrison 2220-2221). The problem with deferring dreams is that dreams fester and return, as seen in Harlem. The girls are unable to ignore a dream that has been back. The bargeman returned the body, and the girls worried that they were going to get caught. The boy was buried. This is symbolic representation of the endurance of the human soul and the persistence of dreams. The boy is now a larger representation of the stick and hole by the river. Rivers, as stated before, are the connector of heritage and the soul. Eventually, the river will flood and pick up the contents of the hole and carry it to the delta and eventually this universal body that exists. The smallest dreams can be swept away and become part of the universal being.

As the boy is buried, the two girls notice the butterflies leaving a bush and ponder what happens to butterflies in winter (Morrison 2222)? Butterflies are unique in their ability to transform from something simple and ugly into a beautiful creature. The butterfly had flown away. The butterflies are beautiful but cannot survive the harsh winter conditions without migrating. For this reason, Sula and Nel will never experience true humanity until they are able to grow from their ugly past and let their beauty grow and fly away for all to notice. If they do not allow for this growth and change, they will wither away in the winter.

Morrison closes "Sula" with the image of two girls walking, hand in hand, woven tightly, like two close girlfriends (2222). This may have been the interconnected point for Hughes and Morrison. Hughes was about the cultural acceptance of races, Morrison on that message. The story is about a lesbian relationship. To be so close is more than a social taboo; it is a cultural problem for the time. The dream was not for material possession, wealth, or even knowledge. For Nel and Sula, the dream is for a society that will accept more than two black girls, but for society to accept same-sex love.

Hughes is respected for developing the style of writing that encompasses both history and culture (Mullen). It is understandable that Morrison placed the setting early in the 20th century to better develop a historical world surrounded by cultural problems to better make the reader understand what is truly happening and reflect on their own culture.

The idea of personal catastrophe is what created the blues. The blues is a chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed lyrically (Patterson 205). The Harlem Renaissance gave birth to the blues, and for the story of Sula there is nothing but personal problems and struggles and the connection between love, dreams, and the human spirit. Toni Morrison used "Sula" as a way to combine a dream for acceptance of love to the girls, Sula and Nel.

Toni Morrison and Langston Hughes both accomplished expressed remarkable messages during their time. Morrison is able to convey deeper messages that amplify the renaissance song of Langston Hughes. The common themes resonate throughout Sula and though Morrison's understanding of history, culture, and life. During an interview with Time, Morrison emphasized this idea by saying, "I'm interested in the way in which the past affects the present and I think that if we understand a good deal more about history, we automatically understand a great more about contemporary life" ("Toni Morrison Quotes"). Morrison has take Hughes and made his works real and his message new.

Works Cited

McMichael, George and James S. Leonard, ed. Concise Anthology of American Literature. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Prentice Hall, 2006.

Hughes, Langston. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." McMichael 1804-1805.

--. "Young Gal's Blues." McMichael 1805.

--. "I, Too." McMichael 1806.

--. "Note on Commercial Theatre." McMichael 1805-1807.

--. "Dream Boogie." McMichael 1807.

--. "Harlem." McMichael 1807-1808

Morrison, Toni. "Sula." McMichael 2212-2222.

--. What Moves at the Margin. Ed. Carolyn C. Denard.

Mullen, Edward J. "Langston Hughes and the Development of Afro-Hispanic Literature: Diasporan Connections." Black Scholar 26.2 (2006):7-10.

Patterson, Anita. "Jazz, Realism, and the Modernist Lyric: The Poetry of Langston Hughes." Bloom's Modern Critical Views African American-American Poets. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002.

"Toni Morrison Quotes." Notable Quotes. 19 Jul. 2008 .