Sula by Toni Morrison Essay examples -- Black Community Racism Racist

Sula by Toni Morrison In the novel Sula, by Toni Morrison we follow the life of Sula Peace through out her childhood in the twenties until her death in 1941. The novel surrounds the black community in Medallion, specifically "the bottom". By reading the story of Sula’s life, and the life of the community in the bottom, Morrison shows us the important ways in which families and communities can shape a child’s identity. Sula not only portrays the way children are shaped, but also the way that a community receives an adult who challenges the very environment that molded them. Sula’s actions and much of her personality is a direct result of her childhood in the bottom. Sula’s identity contains many elements of a strong, independent feminist character. However, the people in Medallion do not see Sula in a positive light. When she returns to Medallion as an adult Sula is seen as evil and regarded with much fear. The reason Sula outcast from the community is specifically due to the fa ct that she is a woman who refuses to contain herself in the social norms set up for the town. She refuses to marry and frequently sleeps around. The characters that exist around Sula serve as a point to compare the different ways the community treats those who are different. Specifically the way the characters, Shadrack and Hannah are treated by the community can be compared to the way the community treats Sula. In one way or another, Sula, Shadrack, and Hannah are outcast from the community in the bottom. Shadrack and Hannah however are not regarded with near as much fear or resentment the town feels towards Sula. The difference between the way the town treats Hannah and Sula is particularly alarming. After the death of Sula’s father, Hannah has no real relationships with men. She sleeps only with the husbands of her friends and neighbors husbands. Although Hannah sleeps with married men the people in Medallion have a certain respect for her. "The men, surprisingly, never g ossiped about her. She was unquestionably a kind and generous woman..."(p 2013). Hannah has affairs with the same men over and over again. Because of this most often the wives of those men take it as a compliment when Hannah sleeps with them. Hannah is Sula’s mother and has indirectly taught a young Sula to view sex as a source of pleasure. "Seeing her step so easily into the pantry and emerge looking precisely ... ... views on life to any man. There is an imagination in Sula and an intelligence which can be seen in all her actions. This imagination allows her to look closely at the community surrounding her and rise above it. She sees herself not so much in the community but separate from it, and the town does make a separate place for Sula. She doesn’t take what is given to her, she doesn’t blindly accept the social norms the community has set for women. In the end of the novel, right before Sula dies, Nel, Sula’s old best friend, sums up why the whole community has viewed her as evil, a roach, a bitch and feared her so greatly. "You can’t do it all. You a woman and a colored woman at that. You can’t act like a man. You can’t be walking around all independent-like, doing whatever you like, taking what you want, leaving what you don’t." (p2057). Throughout the novel however, that is exactly what Sula does. She attempts to live her life the most free she can. Free from the social norms of a patriarchal community who sees a woman solely in relationship to a man. If a woman doesn’t have a relationship with a man and take up socially accepted responsibilities, she is seen as evil, inconceivable.

Minimum Wage Essay

In this year’s State of the Union Address to Congress, President Obama recommended raising the minimum wage to benefit workers who cannot support themselves and their families with their current salaries. The articles, Why We Need to Raise the Minimum Wage and Why We Shouldn’t Raise the Minimum Wage tell us that there were some controversies in raising the minimum wage. As an economics major, I believe it is a bad idea to raise the minimum wage because it creates more unemployment, and it will reduce entry-level jobs. Since increasing minimum wage is not the solution to the poor people, the government should rather increase the earned income tax credit than minimum wage. In the article Why We Need to Raise the Minimum Wage by Andy Stern and Carl Camden, the authors support raising of minimum wage. They argue that raising the minimum wage could reward hardworking Americans by providing basic needs such as basic medical insurance and living in secure housing. Since the low wages are not enough to get those basic needs, workers are getting paid in cash because they can avoid tax responsibilities. The authors allege that raising the minimum wage will restore dignity and value to low-wage work. Conversely, in the article Why We Shouldn’t Raise the Minimum Wage, author Kevin A. Hassett and Michael R. Strain argue that raising the minimum wage does not recover from poverty, and it is a dishonest approach to hide the true cost of the government policy. According to the authors only 11.3 percent of workers from the poor would benefit from raising the minimum wage. Many people who live in poverty do not work, and workers who earn the minimum wage are normally not the primary breadwinners in their households. Hasset and Strain assert that increasing the minimum wage is an insincere approach of the politicians because minimum wage law could provide an opportunity to score political points easily. Even though, expanding the earned income tax credit is much more efficient, the government do not want it because they do not want to use money directly out from treasury. In the economical perspective, raising the minimum wage is a bad idea because it creates more unemployment and reduces entry-level jobs. From the point of view of basic supply and demand, employers and workers adjust the quantity of supplied labor according to wages until the quantity of labor demanded equals to the quantity of labor supplied, reaching an equilibrium wage. However, the minimum wage policy ignores the market price by setting a price floor higher than the equilibrium wage. According to the law of demand, few employers will be willing to hire workers if the minimum wage is increased, and it will create unemployment. Moreover, if minimum wage increases there will be fewer entry-level jobs than before because firms will no longer hire unskilled workers at higher cost. Entry-level jobs are good for younger and unskilled workers. Eliminating these jobs makes it difficult for the low skilled and younger workers to find suitable employment. As mentioned in Hasset and Strain’s article raising the minimum wage is not the solution to poverty because workers who earn the minimum wage are generally secondary earners like an elderly parent earning some retirement income, a spouse with a part time job, or they are young people living with their parents. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in 2009, expansion of EITC lifted 3.1 million people out of poverty. In conclusion, earned income tax credit will be a more efficient tool than minimum wage policy.

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