Sula Lesson Plan

How does Morrison portray war? How does she portray Shadrack’s return to everday life? What does it seem mental health services were like in the 1920s?

Morrison portrays war as traumatic, violent, and lacking dignity or nobility. Shadrack is pushed back into life as a citizen before he is mentally ready and without proper preparations, leading him to spend a night in prison. When he returns to the Bottom, he functions enough to make a living selling fish, but is viewed by others as the local lunatic. It seems there were extremely limited mental health resources available to veterans like Shadrack in the 1920s, and that few went to black veterans.

Compare Helene’s...