The deweys Character Analysis in Sula

A group of boys who are given the same name by Eva Peace when they’re born: “Dewey.” Over time, the deweys (always lowercase!) remain a tight-knit group, to the point where they refuse to do anything alone. Despite the fact that the deweys are all different ages, they’re treated as one unit by the people of the Bottom: the deweys are sent to school at the same time, and when one dewey is bad, they’re all punished equally. In a touch of magical realism, the deweys do not age physically. It’s as if their refusal to be individuals—only a group—means that they cannot develop and become adults. As a result, they’re children for the rest of their lives.

The deweys Quotes in Sula

The Sula quotes below are all either spoken by The deweys or refer to The deweys. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Vintage International edition of Sula published in 2004.

Slowly each boy came out of whatever cocoon he was in at the time his mother or somebody gave him away, and accepted Eva's view, becoming in fact as well as in name a dewey—joining with the other two to become a trinity with a plural name... inseparable, loving nothing and no one but themselves. When the handle from the icebox fell off, all the deweys got whipped, and in dry-eyed silence watched their own feet as they turned their behinds high up into the air for the stroke.

Related Characters: ,

Page Number and Citation: 38

Explanation and Analysis:

The deweys Character Timeline in Sula

The timeline below shows where the character The deweys appears in Sula. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...named Dewey, for instance, become friends with each other, and love “nobody but themselves.” The deweys (written in lowercase throughout the rest of the book) become a close-knit group: even though... (full context)

...her children. Eva has been sitting in her room, yelling at the group of rambunctious deweys outside her window. Eva asks Hannah to repeat her question. Hannah does so, and Eva... (full context)

At the wedding party, a dance begins. The deweys—still one solid unit—dance together. Though they’re now adults, they’re only about four feet high—they’ve mastered... (full context)

...has “friends”: people who actually want to join his informal celebration in the street. The deweys, Tar Baby, Valentine, and dozens of other people in the Bottom run out to dance... (full context)

...edge of the cliff collapses. Dozens of people fall into the water and die: the deweys, Tar Baby, Dessie, Valentine, and some of Ajax’s brothers. Only a few of Shadrack’s followers... (full context)

...constantly, using black labor. Some of the young people in the community look like the deweys (who died in 1941 in the bridge collapse). Nel, who still lives in Medallion, thinks... (full context)