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Rebecca Miller

Senior Seminar

10/18/2010Notes and Queries #7

He trotted quickly to it and left, at last, a haven of more than a year, only eight days of which

he fully recollected (11).

1. I found this quote significant in that the hospital is called a haven when it is clearly not.

Shadrack is clearly relieved to be out, even if he doesnt know where to go or what to do.

Also, the fact that the hospital released him when he clearly was not of sound mind is

interesting. Even with overcrowding, a case of what is probably PTSD that is as severe

as Shadracks is not something that should have been dismissed as easily as it was. In a

year of staying at the hospital, Shadrack remembers around one week of it. Another

interesting aspect of this quote is that it is a part of an elaborate description of a

hallucination from Shadracks point of view. Morrisons decision to use this plot device

accomplishes several things. First, it shows the mental state of Shadrack as he is after the

war. Secondly, it engages the reader into feeling sympathy towards a man who is so

clearly not in his right mind. Telling this part of the story in this manner is much more

interesting than if Morrison had simply written in third person or from an outsiders point

of view and it serves to not only catch the readers attention, but also to help the reader to

relate to a mentally-ill Shadrack in a way that would not be possible without knowing his

hallucinations from an insiders perspective. This quote raises some serious historical

questions about the healthcare system of this time period and about the general

knowledge of PTSD that the doctors held, if any.

In fact, they had simply stopped remarking on the holiday because they had absorbed it into

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their thoughts, into their language, into their lives (15).

2. The context of this quote refers to the assimilation of National Suicide Day into the culture of

the town. This holiday is significant due to the ease with which the town accepted it. The very

concept is the absurd concoction of a mentally ill man who lives in the town. After only two or

three repetitions of the holiday, the town begins to adopt it as part of their lives. Why is it so

easy to accept this absurd ritual? Why not stop it instead of planning your social lives around it?

Are all social conventions brought about by simple acceptance after repetition and based upon

the reasoning of one person? If so, then what is that nature of convention and what importance

does convention merit?

Im me. Im not their daughter. Im not Nel. Im me. Me (28).

3. This mini-rebellion by Nel is very significant. The idea that she wants to be herself and no

one elses, even to the point of disregarding her own name shows a fierce streak of independence

that her mother has tried so hard to stamp out. Nels desire shows a disregard for social

conventions. Her attempt at resistance to outside influence is admirable and it leads her to make

a new friend, Sula. However, society affects everyone in some way, even if it is unwanted. The

concept of social convention and its influence on others is a big theme in Sula, especially when

looked at as a way to tell a good person from a bad one. Does being conventional and

respectable make someone a better person? Or are conventions and manners just empty notions

conceived by some person unknown and repeated enough to make them respectably normal?

The influence held by social customs is apparent in all of the works we have read, such as The

Bluest Eye (the quest for white beauty), The Third Life of Grange Copeland(the influence of

others upon ones person self-worth), and inFor Colored Girls (every woman has a story and it

has been effected by societies expectations).

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