toni morison
Toni Morrison: The bluest eye and SulaAfrican- American folklore is arguably the basis for most African- American literature. In a country where as late as the 1860's there were laws prohibiting the teaching of slaves, it was necessary for the oral tradition to carry the values the group considered significant. Transition by the word of mouth took the place of pamphlets, poems, and novels. Themes such as the quest for freedom, the nature of evil, and the powerful verses the powerless became the themes of African- American literature. In a book called Fiction and Folklore: the novels of Toni Morrision author Trudier Harris explains that "Early folk beliefs were so powerful a force in the lives of slaves that their masters sought to co-opt that power. Slave masters used such beliefs in an attempt to control the behavior of their slaves"(Harris 2). Masters would place little black coffins outside the cabins of the slaves in a effort to restrain their movements at night; they perpetuated ghost lore and created tales of horrible supernatural animals wondering the outsides of the plantation in order to frighten slaves from escape or trans-plantation visits. Tales of slaves running to the north became
This type of town lends itself more easily to the folklore tradition because it stands for the power of dreams and a change from the harsh realities of slavery. The same acceptance of evil is also seen in The Bluest Eye. To make a story appear oral, meandering, effortless, spoken. Like characters in an oral tale their evilness is exaggerated to show what is good. My language has to have holes and spaces so the reader can come into it"(Harris 17). Without any visible markers to show that belief, they nonetheless act and react as if it were so. "It never occurs to the people of Medallion to kill Sula. It is the idea of evil, and it dominates every aspect of Sula. Sula's don't give a damn attitude makes her an easy target for tales, for she lacks the egotistical concern for reputation" (Harris 63). Sula and Shadrack's differences must be labeled so that the rest of the community can go about their business. The story is about cultural beliefs, which are the essence of folkloristic transmission. Claudia and Frieda attempt to influence Pecola's future by planting the marigolds correctly. The major issue in this book is the idea of ugliness.
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Acceptance Essays
