Analysis of Sula's Behavior Using Sigmund Freud's Personality Theory

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Sula by Toni Morrison
The book Sula by Toni Morrison talks about a black girl named Sula and her best friend, Nel. The main character Sula matures to adulthood in the face of adversity and distrust from the people she would have otherwise considered her family. Her black community hates her. As Sula grows, she creates a strong friendship with Nel. Based on their upbringing, the two girls are opposite. For example, Sula appears to be impulsive, independent, and daring. On the other hand, her friend Nel is a dependent woman and strictly conforms to societal expectations. However, their contradicting characters helped these girls to obtain a life balance whereby they appear to be two halves of the same person. The paper will analyze Sula's behavior throughout the book using Sigmund Freud's personality theory. 
According to Freud's personality theory, a person's mind is usually divided into three major components: Id, Ego, and Superego. Freud argued that the interaction of these components helps to create an individual's personality. The Id element in Freud's theory forms the basis of our primitive impulses. According to the theory, the Id element is purely unconscious and responsible for most of our motivations. The Id is also responsible for a person's aggressive and destructive drive. Based on the theory, it is evident that the Id element significantly influenced Sula's behaviors. It is the Id element that makes Sula unlikeable to the majority of the people in her society. 
For one, Sula had an uncontrollable desire to have sexual intercourse with different men within her society. In the story, we are told that women in the society feared Sula's presence because they were afraid that she might take their men. This is evident after the death of Sula, where women in the society claim that "They don't have to save their children from her wickedness, their husbands are safe from her sexual advances and don't need cuddling…." Sula's sexual desires also prevail when she seduces her best friend (Nel) husband (Jude) and ends up having sex with him, ruining their life-long relationship. Therefore, it is evident that one of the behaviors of Sula, as seen from the story, is that she does not have control of her sexual desires to the extent of sleeping with her best friend's husband. 
Id element of Freud's theory is also evident in Sula's character when she throws Chicken Little into the rive...