1. 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.
Sula by Toni Morrison Toni Morrison's Sula is a novel that has a theme about the nature of evil. ... She is especially offended by Sula's behavior, because Sula sleeps with her husband. ... Nel's outrage at Sula's actions is similar to the town's anger at Sula and we see the personal hurt that Sula's inconsiderate actions have caused. ... Nel had just gotten married, while Sula left for the city. ... Ignoring her opinion about Sula's actions with Jude, she longs for the Sula saying, "We was girls together. ...
Nel and Sula as a Dual Self In her novel, Sula, Toni Morrison uses the archetype of the dual self through the friendship of Sula and Nel: the two characters are a part of each other. ... Sula blamed herself fully for Chicken Little's accident and Nel made no attempt to change Sula's thinking. ... Sula's motive for sleeping with Jude can be explained because Nel was Sula's other half. ... Sula is very attached to Nel. ... After Sula's death, in a sense, Nel "woke up". ...
Sula "Sula" by Tony Morrison is the story of a friendship between Nel Wright and Sula Peace, who are opposites in the way of relating to other people, to the world around them, and to themselves. ... Sula is an irrational and transient character. ... Sula overhears her mother, Hannah, say, "I love her [Sula]. ... She loses her true unique self after Sula is gone. ... Nel is Sula's connection to other people, while Sula is Nel's connection to herself. ...
The novel Sula written by Toni Morrison is structured around the development of friendship. ... Sula grows up feeling very excluded, guilty and very much unloved. ... Sula in the novel, only cross this line two different time. ... After encountering all the episodes Sula had in the community and having her friendship with Nel fail; the single most important person in her life, Sula feels totally isolated. ... Nel on the other hand is the very direct opposite of Sula. ...
Sula Peace is one of Nel's good friends. ... Nel assures Sula that it was just an accident, but Sula feels terrible. ... Nel is Sula's opposite in many respects. ... Sula grows up feeling guilty and unloved. ... Sula is a novel about ambiguity. ...
This is the meaning of friendship, a theme central to Sula. ... From Sula, the book, we learn the importance of friendship, the pain of betrayal, and the pain of loss. ... From Sula, we watch the girls, Nel and Sula throughout their friendship. ... Take sleeping with your best friend's husband for example, that one act, committed out of ignorance on Sula's part of Nel's feelings. Sula did not realize how she would hurt Nel, by sleeping with Jude. ...
Toni Morrison's Sula chronicles the unlikely friendship of two very different women. ... Like 1965, Sula represents anti-conservativism. ... For Sula, the marriage vow is not sacred. ... Sula refuses society's interpellation of her. ... In very much the same sense, Sula does the same thing. ...
In the end, Sula dies alone in her bed. ... A perfect example is Sula's grandmother Eva. ... Sula acted like anyone would expect. ... Sula may have thrown him, but Nel's apathy was far more evil than Sula's accident. ... (Sula)" "Did he see?...