The Life of Choice and Freedom: The Protagonist’s Existential living In Toni Morrison’s Sula

Abstract

Sula is a novel by Toni Morrison which portrays the effort of a young black female, Sula, to live the life of existential freedom with the choices and freedom of her own. The story of Sula focuses on how Sula, the central character, fights for her existential freedom, despite the hopelessness, suffering, alienation, social humiliation and hindrances she comes across as she grows up. This study has tried to explore the protagonist's view towards life, love, society, family, good and evil and many other things in the light of existential perspectives. In the initial chapter, this study has presented the introduction to the title, life of the writer Toni Morrison and the identification of existentialism in the novel using the reviews of literature. In the second chapter, this study has emphasized on the historical background of existentialism, its main contributors and theory itself. Similarly, in the third chapter, the study has analyzed the novel critically and analytically. In the final chapter, it has presented the legacy created by Sula on the basis of its textual analysis and presents the final view on it. It has also concluded the needs of existential freedom in life to live holistically.