Despite the fact that Shadrack is no longer in combat, he is still overwhelmed by visions in which he sees the horrors of war, and he is especially stunned by the brutal suddenness of death in the midst of battle. In order to counter this specter of unexpectedness, he thinks that if only an entire day could be set aside yearly — a day when people could escape "the smell of death" and the fear of it by committing suicide — then during the rest of the year people wouldn't have to fear death and cower from it. Giving death its own day would compartmentalize it the same way that the food on Shadrack's hospital tray is compartmentalized. On the food tray, there is no chaos: Everything is orderly and within borders. The rice doesn't touch the meat, and the meat doesn't touch the stewed tomatoes. The colors of the foods are distinct and do not mix together.
Shadrack believes that people and things need boundaries to provide order in an otherwise disordered world. For example, although we generally associate straitjackets with insanity, when Shadrack is confined in one he feels secure and protected; he is "both relieved and grateful" because he has a boundary around himself. After he is released from the boundaries of the military hospital, he begins to experience panic — pain, fear, and the hysteria of helplessness. The many concrete walkways that lead from the hospital symbolize the many choices — and dangers — available to him now that he is a civilian again, and the lack of order — "There were no fences, no warnings, no obstacles at all between concrete and green grass . . ." — overwhelms him. Not until he comes to a town's "regulated" downtown does he finally feel comfortable enough to sit down. The struggle "to order and focus experience" is one of Morrison's main themes in her novel and affects not only Shadrack but all of the characters, including Sula, Nel, and Eva.
After Shadrack's return to the Bottom, the community accepts him as one of their own in spite of his eccentricities. The community knows that he will sell fish twice a week, occasionally get drunk and outrageous, continue to live alone, and, every year on January 3, celebrate National Suicide Day with a parade. In other words, he will live a very ordered and ritualistic life.
