National Suicide Day

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National Suicide Day is a fictional annual observance in Toni Morrison’s novel "Sula," created by the traumatized veteran Shadrack as a ritualized day for contemplating or committing suicide.

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Statements (34)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional observance
literary concept
appearsInWork Sula NERFINISHED
appearsInWorkBy Toni Morrison NERFINISHED
countryOfPublicationContext United States NERFINISHED
createdBy Shadrack NERFINISHED
hasFictionalUniverse Bottom, Ohio NERFINISHED
hasFirstPublicationContext Sula NERFINISHED
hasFirstPublicationYear 1973
hasFrequency annual
hasFunctionInNarrative expresses Shadrack’s attempt to control fear of death
foregrounds the community’s relationship to mortality
symbolizes communal confrontation with death
hasInterpretation allegory of constrained freedom
commentary on Black communal life in the United States
critique of social neglect of veterans
hasMedium novel
hasMotivationInFiction Shadrack’s psychological trauma from World War I
hasNarrativeRole catalyst for climactic events
recurring structural marker in the novel
hasRitualElement procession through the town
public announcement by Shadrack
hasTheme community
death
madness
ritual
suicide
trauma
war trauma
isAssociatedWithCharacter Nel Wright NERFINISHED
Shadrack NERFINISHED
Sula Peace NERFINISHED
isObservedByFictionalGroup residents of Bottom
languageOfWork English

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Shadrack associatedWith National Suicide Day
Shadrack founderOf National Suicide Day