Sula

            Most works of contemporary American fiction involve one individual's search for self- identification in a stifling and unsympathetic world. In "Sula," Toni Morrison gives us two such individuals, Nel and Sula. Morrison says she created Sula as "a woman who could be used as a classic type of evil force" and that she "wanted Nel to be a warm, conventional woman". ( Toni Morrison. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Online. The Gale Group: 13 Oct. 1999) Each lacked something the other had. I will compare the differences and self-discovery of both women; however, self-discovery permits the achievement of an almost impossible quest - the conjunction of two selves. Morrison says, ". if they had been one woman. they would have been a rather marvelous person". (Toni Morrison) Thus, Morrison, creates two completely different women yet allows them to merge into one. .
             The greatest influence on a growing is her mother. In order to grasp the connection between Nel and Sula, one must examine who and what their mother's where and what traits and beliefs they handed down to their daughters. Nel is as conventional and conforming as a young lady can be: "Under Helene's hand the girl became obedient and polite. Her mother calmed any enthusiasms that Nel showed until she drove her daughter's imagination underground". (p.18) In this passage Nel is merely an extension of her mother with no autonomy of her own. Helene's hand is the iron fist of authority from under which Nel cannot release herself. Morrison makes it clear that Nel is a calm and unimaginative girl who conforms completely to her mother's strict orders.
             Sula, on the other hand, comes from a totally different background. The people of "The Bottom", including Helene, saw Sula's mother, Hannah, as "sooty". (p 28) Hannah lived outside the status quo and did not conform to anyone's expectations but her own. Hannah's greatest influence on Sula would be in regards to sex.