Sula Essay

A perfect example is Sula's grandmother Eva. Early in the story, Eva leaves town for eighteen months and then returns missing a leg and doesn't tell anyone what happened. Although she never said what happened, most people had a good idea. "Somebody said Eva stuck it under a train and made them pay off. Another said she sold it to a hospital for $10,000- (31). All the theories revolved around self-mutilation for money. Society looks down on self-mutilation for money and thinks it's the wrong solution, but Eva had a good reason. At the time she had three children to care for alone because her husband left her and left her without any money. This was the only way for her to get money to feed her family. If she didn't cutoff her leg for money, her children would have starved. Another act performed by Eva that is obviously evil is killing her son. After her only son returns home from the war, Eva burned him alive, but just like before, she had a good reason. "Look like he didn't even want to be born After all that carryin" on, just getting" him out and keepin" him alive, he wanted to crawl back in my womb and well I ain't got the room no more even if he could do it" (71). After her son returned from the war, he was only a shell of what he used to be. He would spend days in bed and when he did get up, he would steal from the rest of the family. He also became addicted to drugs. Eva knew this was no way for someone to live and did the humane thing and put an end to his misery. The story then takes a twist. To prove that Eva isn't evil, despite all her evil acts, she performs one act of pure heroism in the story. "She (Eva) rolled up to the window and it was then she saw Hannah (her daughter) burning Eva knew there was time for nothing in this world other than the time it took to get there and cover her daughter's body with her own. She lifted her heavy frame up on her good leg, and with fists and arms smashed the windowpane.