Orange Ecology, Death, and Renewal

Abstract

The chapter examines orange’s manifestation in fire, which, from an anthropocentric perspective, is regarded as dangerous and deadly, a punishing element, uncontainable and random. Fire is also evocative of post-Reconstruction torture that white supremacists unleashed against newly freed African Americans in the form of the Ku Klux Klan’s burning crosses, or race riot conflagrations. Fire is a material and symbolic element of violence, yet from an ecological prism, it is more complicated. While it is an act of destruction, forest fires, in particular, are necessary for healthy ecosystems. In fact, fire is an essential contributor to habitat vitality and replenishment, a catalyst for healthy change known as succession. In Sula and God Help the Child Morrison renders the complexity of fire as each novel pivots on the axis of destruction, violence, and renewal.