A Study of Alienation in Toni Morrison’s Sula: Passive Patriarchy, Marriage and Female Friendship

Abstract

This paper discusses the theme of alienation and female friendship in black women in Toni Morrison’s fiction. The female bonding is a possible way to deal with alienation which is caused by various factors as racial and social discriminations. This female bonding provides back women necessary support for mutual growth and assists them in combating various social pressures. However, it is argued here that this female friendship of black women in Morrison suffers from alienation in the long run. While foregrounding the healing power of female bonding which may allow women to survive under exploitation of various kinds, this paper brings for an argument that this female companionship nevertheless is corrupted by the power of explicit or implicit patriarchal forces working under the umbrella of social institutions of class and marriage. Hence the black women need to be on guard against all those forces which endanger the consistency of their mutual companionship.