Clash between Individual and Society in Toni Morrison’s Sula

Abstract

This dissertation is anattempt to explore the implicit clash between an individual and a society in the text,Sula, in which society fails to position an individual in the existing order of society. Authored by a prominent Afro-American woman novelist, Toni Morrison,Sula(1973), is a reflection of the black community called the Bottom in which the individual clashes with society that is the sole objective of this task. Sula, the protagonist of the narrative, confronts with the contemporary social norms that they structure the individuals and their horizons into the social framework. The society squeezes the individual desires merely in the name of tradition and cultural logos. So, Sula radically revolts against all restrictions viz.social, cultural, moral, gender and racial. Although the rest characters are less revolutionary to interrogate the society, liberal minded Sula devalues and breaks all the pillars of society one after another. As an outcome, the rocketing angers and dissatisfactions result into the clash.