Sula by Toni Morrison In her book Sula depicts the panorama of relationships between individuals embedded in the boundaries of family and small town. Balanced and lucid Nel and wild and irrational Sula find solace in each other under masterly narration of Toni Morrison. From the critical point of view, both characters function successfully and obtain happiness when they are together. Isolated from each other, girls are vulnerable to the avarice of the people of Bottom. Being exposed to society labeling based on their personality, Sula perceive herself as “bad”, while Nel becomes the paragon of goodness. The personality disorders of Nel and Sula stem from their family upbringing during childhood. The contrast between Sula and Nel’s upbringing is startling, and their sprits reflect this.
The differences in the houses are evident in the physical structures themselves. Nel’s house is always in order and well kept, whilst Sula’s house is huge and rambling. Nel’s household is bound by the social standards that define the traditional meaning of “family”, but Sula’s household is built on an unconventional family structure; She lives in a multigenerational matriarchal household. Whereas Nel’s household is static and repressive, Sula’s household is vibrant, active, and volatile. A constant stream of boarders complements the long-term residents of Sula Peace’s home. Sula’s exorbitance results from an eccentric upbringing that openly welcomes and practices transience. Her house is a “throbbing disorder constantly awry with things, people, voices and the slamming of doors” (52).
The Term Paper on Church, Home, Household, Family
It is written in the bible that every house is built by some man but all things are built by God. These words seem to compare the ordinary material house built by man with the great universe of God. This thought was present in the writers mind when he wrote this verse down. The writer remembered that the creative power that is exhibited in every conception of mortal wit and mortal hands ...
Sex in the Peace home is so open and recurrent that Sula learns early on, “that sex was pleasant and frequent, but otherwise unremarkable” (44).
Although her mother Eva makes the sacrifice of loosing a leg to support her family there is a lack of emotional support in the home. This is evident also in Wright household. Nel is raised in an atmosphere of ” oppressive neatness” (29), a strict organized household that instills society’s rules in her. Under her mother’s discipline, Nel is raised to be ” obedient and polite”, with no freedom for personal expression. Nel’s sprit and imagination are constantly under attack, “Any enthusiasms that little Nel showed were calmed by the mother until she drove her daughter’s imagination underground” (18).
Their separate emotional rollercoaster’s compel the girls to seek their missing components in each other’s company. Sula is searching to be a part of a life with order and structure, and Nel is desperately trying to escape the confines of “the high silence of her mother’s incredibly orderly house” (51).
What each lacks in herself they find in the other. As a result, each girl’s flaw is transformed into her advantage. Because they are able to console one another, with Sula’s presence, Nel no longer “regarded the oppressive neatness of her home with dread, but felt comfortable in it with Sula” (29).
Similarly, Nel’s appreciation for “Sula’s woolly house, where a pot of something was always cooking on the stove; where the mother, Hannah, never scolded or gave directions” (29) leads Sula to relish in the satisfaction that someone else shares her experiences. Consequently, the concretion of their friendship springs from the fact that “they found relief in each other’s personalities” (53); or so to say, they cure each other’s loneliness, a “loneliness was so profound it intoxicated them and sent them stumbling into Technicolored visions” (51).
The Essay on Friendships In Sula Nel Friendship Men
... that her and Nel could share everything, including men. Sula sleeping with Jude was the breaking point in her friendship with Nel. Sula showed no respect ... wives were going out of their way to make the home life better so the men were satisfied. Because of her ... young child hears this from their mother, it must have a great effect on them. Sula seemed quite upset at this comment ...
Together, they are able to withstand obstacles neither would be able to face alone. Nel and Sula share with each other what they cannot with anyone else.
Thus, “their meeting was fortunate, for it let them use each other to grow on” (52).
Sula and Nel were like stepping-stones to one another, each moving to the next level from the strengths that they brought to the friendship. They have this common unspoken goal to become more then what they were brought up to be. They both search for an identity to reflect themselves, and not only hat was expected of them, “because each had discovered years before that they were neither white nor male, and that all freedom and triumph was forbidden to them, they had set about creating something else to be” (52).
Sula helps Nel overcome the oppressiveness of her mothers grasp because, Nel’s “parents had succeeded in rubbing down to a dull glow any sparkle or splutter she had. Only with Sula did that quality have free reign” (83), and Nel provides guidance for Sula, “whenever I was scared before you knew just what to do” (101).
The impact that the friendship has on the girls is evident when Sula leaves for Medallion and Nel gets married.
This separation causes each to become vulnerable and lonely. Their friendship is based on sharing, not dividing, as they “shared the affection of other people”. Nel becomes a conventional, settled woman. Her life with Sula is gone much like her life in the “oppressive neatness” (29) of her mother’s house. She loses her true unique self after Sula’s departure. It is easy to tell after Sula returns to Medallion that she discovers this, ” Nel felt new, soft and new. It had been the longest time since she had a rib-scraping laugh.
She had forgotten how deep down it could be. So different from the miscellaneous giggles she learned to be content with these past few years” (98).
Sula is no longer complete herself because she craves for, “the other half of her equation” (121).
After Sula sleeps with Jude, Nel feels a heavy sense of loss. She cannot rid herself of this feeling until she comes to term with the reality of what has truly happened. Her grief is symbolized in a ball caught in her throat. Nel tries to separate herself from the actions of Sula by justifying her righteous morals in comparison to Sula’s licentious actions. Relief only comes when she realizes Sula’s special role in her life, ” A soft ball of fur broke and scattered like dandelion spores in the breeze. ‘All that time I thought I was missing Jude’…..’We were girls together'” (174).
The Essay on Friendship and Life
A wise man once said: “ The greatest journeys in life begin with the smallest steps.” My journey of a lifetime began with a small step through the gates of The Settlers High School and today it is that very step which proved to be my greatest and wisest, as it led me through the doors of an extra-ordinary school in which my great journey of self-discovery and self-development began. Greetings. ...
However, by the time Nel has come to this realization it is too late.
Nel is Sula’s connection to other people, while Sula is Nel’s connection to herself. Unfortunately, although they appear to be best friends through much of the novel, they also betray one another. Sula sleeps with Nel’s husband, causing the break-up of her family; Nel, in her righteousness, judges Sula to be evil and unworthy, refusing to help her friend put her guilt behind her. If the two women had truly acted as faithful friends, some of the tragedy of the story could have been avoided. Together they could have done great things, but pride gets in the way of their friendship, and destroys either’s chance at further happiness. Throughout the progression of the plot, Nel and Sula complement each other in such a way that allows them to form a single unit. Sula does not corrupt Nel, but rather, assists her in gaining the freedom that she craves, while Sula is searching for “something else to be” (52).
They did not want to see the problems in their own personalities, but at the same time, these realizations helped them to understand their own vices and virtue.
