African and African American female writers often focus on presenting and discussing the aspects of black women’s life within different societies. In spite of the fact that the ethnic and social background of the female protagonists can be different, the problems of racial prejudice, social inequality, and gender discrimination are reflected in many works.
Thus, the topics are often similar, but the authors’ writing styles differ significantly, depending on the female writers’ approaches to representing the issues. From this point, it is important to compare and contrast the female authors’ writing styles with references to Toni Morrison’s Sula (1973) and Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood (1979).
Although both Morrison and Emecheta provide the life stories of black women and discuss the problem of social choices for them in the novels, the authors’ writing styles differ significantly because Morrison concentrates on irony and realism when Emecheta focuses on the sympathetic tone and delicate descriptions.
Morrison and Emecheta’s novels are similar not only about the focus on discussing the aspects of the black woman’s life in society but also about the certain features of the writing styles. Thus, the authors choose to provide realistic descriptions of their female characters, their feelings, and inclinations.
Morrison and Emecheta are inclined to accentuate the intimate aspects of the female characters’ life and emphasize their feelings, which can be obvious or hidden. The authors use simple sentence constructions and avoid figurative language to provide realistic descriptions and pictures, and the imagery is rather limited.
It is important to note that the authors’ writing styles presented in Sula and The Joys of Motherhood have more differences than similarities.
Depicting Sula, Morrison states that she “lived out her days exploring her thoughts and emotions, giving them full reign, feeling no obligation to please anybody unless their pleasure pleased her” (Morrison 118). The author accentuates the aspects of the female antagonist’s character with the help of realistic and rather strict and vivid descriptions.
On the contrary, Emecheta’s descriptions of Nnu Ego are simple but delicate, necessary to emphasize the author’s sympathy for the character. Thus, Emecheta states that “Nnu Ego’s relationship with the other women in the Amatokwu compound was amicable” (Emecheta 33). The author uses an indirect description of the character’s positive qualities.
Moreover, Emecheta represents her sympathy for Nnu Ego stating that she “realized that part of the pride of motherhood was to look a little unfashionable and be able to draw with joy: “I can’t afford another outfit, because I am nursing him” (Emecheta 80).
However, in spite of differences in introducing and describing the characters, both the authors are effective to make readers sympathize for their characters because these women suffer from developed social prejudice.
Morrison and Emecheta also discuss ethical questions in their novels, which are associated with women’s gender roles. Nevertheless, if Morrison depicts the tragedy of Sula’s life and the public’s perception of her behavior with the help of satirical and ironical remarks, Emecheta describes the unjust relations within Nnu Ego’s family choosing the delicate and confident tone. It seems that Emecheta wants to protect Nnu Ego’s privacy.
The particular features of Toni Morrison and Buchi Emecheta’s writing styles can be discussed with the focus on differences and similarities because the authors’ novels Sula and The Joys of Motherhood seem to discuss similar topics with the help of using different words and approaches.
Works Cited
Emecheta, Buchi. The Joys of Motherhood. USA: Heinemann, 1994. Print.
Morrison, Toni. Sula. USA: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2004. Print.