Analysis of Black Women’s Trauma and Change in Sula in Light of Kiao-Iology

The aim of this paper is to analyze Sula’s life experience of recovering from traumas and searching for herself in light of the Kiao-Iology theory. With much of its concern given to the destiny of African American women, Toni Morrison’s Sula presents a variety of trauma encountered by black women on their growth path. Sula is such an independent and particular woman that she refuses to be fettered by so-called tradition, but only ends her life in tragedy. Through depicting Sula’s leaving and returning home, Morrison presents changes in her outlook and thoughts with her moving from one geographic location to another. Based on Sula’s recovery journey of mental change caused by geographic migration, this paper attempts to analyze the interactions between geographic migration and the establishment of self-awareness. Her failure in getting over her traumas shows that only if black women accept the traditional culture, stay united and bravely confront the traumas, they can step out of the shadow to discover their self-identity, achieve their self-realization, and gain their ultimate freedom.