Shadrack Case

Jawanza Barron

English composition 150-013

Professor Barnwell Ph.D.

9 December 2013

Breaking Borders

        “When Shadrack opened his eyes he was propped up in a small bed. Before him on a tray was a large tin plate divided into three triangles. In one triangle was rice, in another meat, and in the third stewed tomatoes……Shadrack stared at the soft colors that filled these triangles:  the lumpy whiteness of rice, the quivering blood tomatoes, the grayish-brown meat.  All their repugnance was contained in the neat balance of the triangles--a balance that soothed him, transferred some of its equilibrium to him.  Thus reassured that the white, the red, and the brown would stay where they were—would not explode or burst forth from their restricted zones…” (Morrison 17)  This quote shows how entrenched, prominent and paramount the theme of borders and boundaries is in Toni Morrison’s Sula. Something as seemingly insignificant as, how food was arranged and separated on a hospital lunch tray, had a significant impact on the entire mental state of one of the novel’s main characters “Shadrack” and actually, impacted him positively by offering some small form of comfort in the way that all three food items were separated and neatly situated. Morrison simultaneously paints a vivid but grim picture of the complete disarray Shadrack’s mind was in, while also asserting the theme of borders and, in this case, a mental boundary by suggesting that, had the food dividers not existed, the rice, tomatoes and meat would somehow move or explode on the tray and cause Shadrack some manner of distress.  Throughout history, borders and boundaries have been widely accepted by popular culture to compartmentalize everyday life.  They vary in form from physical, to psychological and emotional and these boundaries can create tranquility or breed contempt among the entities that they separate. Setting psychological boundaries is a necessary self-preservation and defense mechanism as healthy boundaries must be set to govern your inter-personal relationships. This sets clear lines and acceptable forms of interaction between yourself and others.  Psychological boundaries, are what allow one to have a sense of self.  This means that through these boundaries one knows that they are an individual, they know where they begin and where they end and also where another person begins and ends.  From here one is aware of their thoughts, feeling, perceptions, behaviors and sensations. And as a consequence of understanding this, they can come to know what is not theirs and what belongs to another person.  This person feels safe and comfortable in expressing who they are. Physical borders are set to delineate geographic limits of legal jurisdictions or political entities, such as federal and sovereign states, governments and other national entities. A surveyor creates land boundary lines. These created lines, which are separate and distinct from property lines, are determined by legal principals and law. Land boundaries can be marked by hedges, fences, monuments, word of mouth that has been passed down through the generations or not at all. The presence of borders and boundaries many times foster conflicts and anomalies between the adjoining states. This is evident by the constant border conflicts and “mini wars” that occur in the Middle East, Africa and other warring nations. In Sula by Toni Morrison there are many psychological and physical borders, marking lines of an area we should not cross. However, Sula also expresses that borders will inevitably be crossed to keep the natural order of things.  This essay will analyze Sula’s setting of an all Black community in Medallion, Ohio called the Bottom and explain further how borders and boundaries must be crossed in order to progress the natural order of a community and the world.

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