Summary
In the final section of the story, Sweetness says she prefers living at the Winston House nursing home over the bigger, expensive nursing homes outside the city. Sweetness says Winston House is small, homey, cheap, and staffed with a doctor who visits residents twice a week and nurses who are on call day and night. Sweetness says she is only sixty-three, and thus too young to die, but she developed “some creeping bone disease” and therefore needs good care.
Sweetness says the boredom of living in a nursing home is worse than the weakness and pain she experiences, but at least the nurses treat her with kindness. Sweetness says one of the nurses recently kissed her on the cheek after Sweetness told the nurse she was going to be a grandmother. Sweetness says the nurse smiled and complimented Sweetness as though she was about to be crowned. Sweetness showed the nurse the note that Lula Ann sent. It was written on blue paper and signed “Bridie,” although Sweetness says she never pays any attention to Lula Ann’s changed name.
Sweetness says that Lula Ann’s words sounded giddy in the letter, and quotes Lula Ann’s effusive prose as she expresses excitement over passing on the news that she is going to have a baby. Sweetness comments that she believes Lula Ann is thrilled about the baby but not the father, because Lula Ann doesn’t mention the father at all. Sweetness wonders if the father is as black as Lula Ann is. But if he is, Sweetness thinks Lula Ann won’t have to worry like Sweetness did because the world has changed from when she was young. Sweetness says blue-blacks are featured prominently and ubiquitously in TV, magazines, commercials, and movies.
Sweetness says Lula Ann left no return address on the envelope, which Sweetness takes to mean that she is still being punished by Lula Ann for the tough-love way she brought Lula Ann up. Sweetness says she knows Lula Ann hates her. The relationship has been reduced to Lula Ann sending Sweetness money, which Sweetness is grateful for, because it means she can access extra perks at the nursing home. For instance, she can have a fresh deck of cards for playing solitaire instead of using the dirty deck in the lounge. Sweetness says that, at the same time, she isn’t fooled: she knows the money represents Lula Ann’s desire to stay away while simultaneously quieting down “the little bit of conscience she’s got left.”
Sweetness acknowledges the irritable and ungrateful tone in her voice, and says that underneath her tone is regret. Sweetness regrets all the little things she didn’t do or that she got wrong. Sweetness says she still thinks about how she reacted when Lula Ann got her first period, or when she shouted at Lula Ann for stumbling or dropping things. Sweetness says it’s true she was repelled by Lula Ann’s black skin when she was born and at first she thought… Sweetness cuts herself off and says she has to push the memories away fast, because there is no point in remembering how she used to think. Sweetness says she knows she did the best for Lula Ann under the circumstances. When Louis ran out, Lula Ann was a heavy burden, but Sweetness says she bore the burden well.
Sweetness admits that she was tough on Lula Ann and had to be even tougher by the time Lula Ann became a teenager. Lula Ann started talking back, refusing to eat what Sweetness cooked, and primping her hair. Lula Ann would unbraid her hair after Sweetness braided it. Sweetness says she couldn’t let Lula Ann “go bad,” and would warn her about the names she would be called. Sweetness says some of her schooling must have rubbed off, because Lula Ann turned out well and became a rich career girl. Sweetness expresses amazement.
Sweetness says now Lula Ann is pregnant, adding “Good move, Lula Ann.” Sweetness says if Lula Ann thinks mothering comprises cooing, baby booties, and diapers, she is in for a big shock. In a taunting, condescending tone, Sweetness imagines Lula Ann and her nameless boyfriend, husband, or whoever making “kitchee kitchee koo” sounds to their baby. The story closes with Sweetness addressing her daughter. Sweetness tells Lula Ann to listen, because she is “about to find out what it takes, how the world is, how it works, and how it changes when you are a parent.” Sweetness wishes Lula Ann good luck, and says, “God help the child.”
Analysis
The final section of “Sweetness” begins with Sweetness reflecting on the low-cost nursing home where she now lives. She is only in her sixties, but a “creeping bone disease” means she requires twenty-four-hour care. From the present-day existence from which she narrates, Sweetness has been humbled by her surroundings, and recognizes the importance of the kindness her nurses show her.
Sweetness reveals that Lula Ann recently sent her a letter in which Lula Ann announced her pregnancy. While Sweetness appreciates the congratulations one of the nurses offers her, she is in fact bitter at having received in the letter no information about the father and no return address at which Lula Ann could be reached. Sweetness takes the missing address as a sign that her daughter is still punishing her for the way she raised her, hinting at the animosity that grew between them as Lula Ann entered adolescence—a period Sweetness had earlier skipped over to bring her recollection abruptly to the present.
Sweetness’s denial resurfaces as she continues to deny responsibility for the acrimony in her and her daughter’s relationship, insisting that it was both necessary and well-intended of her to bring up Lula Ann the way she did. Sweetness believes Lula Ann hates her, and that Lula Ann only sends money or occasional letters because she has a guilty conscience for leaving her ill mother alone in a nursing home.
Amounting to a rare break in Sweetness’s pattern of denial, she acknowledges that she sounds bitter because she feels genuine regret over how she raised Lula Ann. She touches briefly on episodes in which she knows she could have acted with more love, but then cuts herself off as she begins to acknowledge that she had wanted to either kill or give up Lula Ann when she was born. Having gone too far toward accepting responsibility, Sweetness pushes the memories away and reiterates that she did the best under the circumstances for Lula Ann. Returning to her earlier justifications, Sweetness places blame on Louis and says that Lula Ann was a heavy burden that Sweetness bore well.
The story ends with Sweetness addressing Lula Ann directly to remind her of the difficulties of raising a child. In a condescending and bitter tone, Sweetness mocks what she imagines Lula Ann and the baby’s father must think when they envision parenthood. Morrison closes the story with Sweetness sharing with her daughter wisdom that is factually true based on Sweetness’s experience, but simultaneously tinged with a vengeful tone. Sweetness is not so much warning Lula Ann that the world changes when you are a parent, but letting Lula Ann know she hopes Lula Ann suffers the same difficulties Sweetness did when raising Lula Ann.
