The Selfless Acts of Eva Peace: Analysis Journal

“They found her on her stomach by the Forsythia bushes calling Hannah’s name and dragging her body though the sweet peas and clover…” (77). Toni Morison’s novel "Sula" is anything but straightforward. She has many parallels between love and motherhood. Morison creates characters in "Sula" for the reader to take a closer look at and decide what they really represent. Eva Peace is a character that Morison wants the reader to pay special attention to. From the surface Eva may seem like a horrible mother but she is a character that strongly represents a good mother and a selfless person.

Eva Peace is everything but selfish. She is constantly caring for many people other than herself, “…Who sat in a wagon on the third floor directing the lives of her children, friends, strays, and a constant stream of boarders” (30). Eva takes in many different people into her home from all ages. She embraces and feeds them like her own children. In that way Eva is the ultimate symbol of a good mother; she is a natural caregiver and one prime example of her generosity is when “She sent off for children she had seen from the balcony of her bedroom or whose circumstances she heard about from the gossipy old men…” (37). She takes in three boys and names them Dewey assuming the role of their mother. Eva’s generosity makes her house the lively spot in town and the center of attention in Morison’s novel.

Eva’s acts are selfless and she is willing to do anything for her children. When Eva ends Plum’s life it very difficult for the reader to understand. “She sat down and gathered Plum into her arms” (46). Eva seems to be comforting him in the beginning but a little later, “She rolled a bit of newspaper into a tight stick about six inches long, lit it and threw it onto the bed where the kerosene soaked Plum lay in snug delight” (47). Eva acted out of pure love for Plum and “saved” him. Plum was no happy man; he had many horrible problems of his own. After serving in WWI he came home a mess, obviously suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. “His hair had been neither cut nor combed in months, his clothes were pointless and he had no socks” (45). As we read more into the text we discover that Plum also had a serious addiction to drugs. What Eva did by killing Plum was to save him from a horrible life. She saved him from a life of suffering and turmoil due to a mental illness and drug addiction. Plum died in a quick and delirious state rather than a slow and painful life leading up to death. Eva’s courage and care for her son led her to make the ultimate decision of motherhood and end his pain.

Finally Eva shows how she is ultimately a good mother by sacrificing her own wants for the needs of her children. Eva was young and getting out of a tragic marriage, “The children needed her; she needed money, and needed to get on with her life” (32). Eva did everything she could to keep her children alive and fed, “Eva took a bucket over and Mrs. Jackson told her to come back and fill it up in the morning, because the evening milking had already been done” (32). Perhaps one of the most graphic portrayals of Eva’s selfless character is when baby Plum stops having bowl movements. Eva does what any good mother who has genuine love for her son would do, “deep in the darkness and freezing stench she squatted down, turned the baby over on her knees… she probed with her middle finger to loosen his bowels” (34). Eva is by far the best example of a loving mother in Sula.

Eva’s choices at times may seem irrational even cruel. It becomes hard for the reader to think of Eva as a good mother after she calmly ends Plum’s life but it is important to see through the incident and look at Eva’s reasons. She has a natural ability to nurture and take care of others. Morison wants us to see that she had nothing but concern for the lives of her children and others, “ …What you talkin’ ‘bout did I love you girl. I stayed alive for you…” (69) Eva exclaims to Hannah before she dies. The dedication and generosity that Eva shows in the book is a prime indication that she is a good mother.