Motherhood and Fatherhood Roles in Sula by Toni Morrison

The novel, Sula, by Toni Morrison reflects on the relationship between parents and children to the point their life surrounds them. Parents are the foundation of creating the personalities and goals of their children, however, in the novel, one of the female leading characters, Nel, has different aspirations. While Nel tries to go against what society and her mother expects of her, Sula creates a name for her own, but somehow follows in her mother's footsteps through life and death. 

The father figures presented in the novel are shown as distant and disconnected from their families. This creates a closer bond between the mother and their children as the fathers presented novel repeatedly leave their families. This is shown through the Peace family as Eva married a man named BoyBoy and after having three children together, BoyBoy left. Despite the appearance of the loving family, BoyBoy spent the five years of their marriage being “preoccupied with other women” and was most known for his “womanizing” behavior, “drinking second, and abusing Eva third.” (Morrison 32). The lack of a father figure in the children’s lives caused the children to rely solely on their mother, Eva. This can be further examined as Eva chose not to rely on her anger and resentment towards her unfaithful and abusive husband, but instead took care of her children. 

This dysfunctional family had to rely on each other, but being a single mother was difficult during these times for the Peace family. Eva had to ask and beg her neighbors for food and milk in order to provide for her children. This is shown as Eva had to “scrounge around and beg through the winter,” and later on as her son Plum stopped having bowel movements Eva would stay up late to massage his stomach and handle his tantrums due to the pain (33). Despite the hardships, Eva took care of her children and eventually had to leave for a while in order to better herself and save up in order to support her children. This is significant as it shows how far Eva, as a mother, would go to care for her children. Even during her son’s final moments, Eva cared for him and put him out of his misery by dousing him with fire as he thought, “Everything is going to be alright,” because he knew his mother would take care of him (47).

In contrast to the Peace family, the Wright family held a different appearance in society and played different roles with each other. The mother, Helene, was described as a woman that loves to manipulate her daughter and her husband, while Wiley, the father, was the provider and was solely there for appearances (18). Thus, their daughter, Nel, had to maintain this reputation that her parents created, as an obedient and loving daughter. The forced expectations on Nel is shown through Helene controlling Nel’s life to the point she prevented Nel from associating with Sula, from the Peace family. Nel idolized the Peace family, considering the description of Hannah as a mother who “never scolded or gave directions (29). This description of Hannah, Sula’s mother is significant as it shows the resentment Nel has towards her mother to the point she idolizes a mother from another family because she “regarded the oppressive neatness of her home with dread,” (29). 

Nel and Helene’s distant relationship is developed further during their encounter with some fellow men on a train. As Helene holds a sophisticated view of society, Nel wants to stand against her mother and create her own name. Nel, “felt pleased...that these men… were bubbling with a hatred for her mother” as opposed to what other men and her father view Helene as in their town (22). This quote is significant because it shows how Nel detests the facade Helene places in front of society, but behind closed doors, Nel holds resentment towards her to the point she becomes excited at the idea of other people holding a hatred for her mother. 

In conclusion, the two main mother figures, Eva and Helene hold opposing views in the novel, Sula, by Toni Morrison. As the Peace family holds a dysfunctional place in society, their love for each other is more significant as they take care of each other despite the difficult circumstances. While the Wright family contrasts the Peace family with the perfect image, but yet the daughter wishes to create a name for her own and go against her mother wishes of hanging out with the Peace family. These two families build up on the idea that the mother’s play a role in how society views their children and how essentially the children themselves grow to create a name of their own.