Defying Destiny:
How Sula challenges the narrative of women in literature According to author Toni Morrison, literature often dictates that “a woman’s escape from male rule [leads] to regret, misery… [and] complete disaster” (Morrison, xvi). This sentiment is challenged within Morrison’s novel Sula by the individualistic life of titular character Sula, whose personal growth is contrasted with that of her childhood best friend, Nel. As both women navigate what it means to be female in the Bottom, their destinies diverge into two distinct paths. As Nel embraces the domestic confines of marriage, Sula continues to challenge her identity as a woman and ultimately push herself to escape from the imprisonment dictated to her by her social status,
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Both wildly imaginative as children, Sula and Nel are described as “[having] already made each other’s acquaintance in… their dreams” before ever having actually met (51). The identical nature of their minds sets the tone for their friendship as it progresses, with both of the girls not only reflecting each other’s inventiveness but their sense of independence as well. Nel first exhibits this quality after she looks into the mirror following a discussion with her mother and chants to herself “’I’m me… I’m not Nel. I’m me’” (29). This self-determination, in combination with Sula’s own individualistic qualities, creates a unique relationship that allows both of the girls “to abandon the ways of other people and concentrate on their own perception of things” (55). With each other, the girls are allowed to move beyond the restraints given by both their race and gender and instead explore the nuances of their identities separate from society’s …show more content…
Although Nel’s budding independence begins to stagnate, by leaving the Bottom Sula is able to both internalize and pursue the self-expression her friendship with Nel first inspired. Returning to the Bottom and living by only her own standards allows Sula to put into practice a type of autonomy that is virtually unheard of in the town, a fact reflected by her status as a pariah within the community. Nel’s reaction to Sula’s actions following her return illustrates her own fear of deviating from the expectations of their community. By placing blame on Sula rather than Jude, Nel continues to elevate the status of men rather than condemning them for their selfish actions. Sula’s incredulous response to Nel’s anger shows the distinct nature of both women’s relationship with men. As Sula sees their freedom as desireable, and acknowledges the absurdity of trapping women behind the veil of domesticity while allowing men respite from familial responsibilities, Nel instead believes that through her conformity, she is allowing herself a happiness that independence could never provide. Although at the end of the novel Nel does have her children as well as the support of the town, she is just as lonely as she believes Sula to be, a consequence of her mindless resignation to male rule through marriage. It is
In Toni Morrison’s Sula, gender heteronormative relationships are demonstrated in a very punishable manner. The two main characters Sula Peace, and Nel Right share a very strong, well connected friendship. The two of them are a mirror reflection of each other, with the same desires. Heteronormative institutions in the book do not seem to be stable for the most part. Hannah Peace, the single mother Sula, lives a disordered life in her household while Helene Wright belongs to a conservative and peaceful life, but her husband is never around. With the two daughters of both families being part of each other’s lives, they create a friendship that shows the privilege for female-female bonds over male-male bonds.
Nel and Sula’s relationship is a complex one, which allows for the novel to become incredibly in depth and driven by interesting characters. Sula’s relationships with her mother and grandmother are opposite of Nel’s relationship with her mother. This is, perhaps, why their personalities differ so much once they reach adulthood. Both become their mothers.
Sula dislikes her disheveled house, and wishes that she could live in a household as clean as that of Nel. Sula?s positive view of Nel?s home challenges Nel to see it in a new light, teaching her to appreciate. This concept stays current throughout the early years of their relationship, each opening the other?s eyes to new idea and ways of living and as they do their friendship grows stronger. The two become practically inseparable, living completely symbiotically and depending on each other for everything. However, this relationship is destined to change.
'Wide Sargasso Sea', by Jean Rhys, and 'Sula' by Toni Morrison are both novels that respond to the issues of women that are confined to their social roles. Grace Nichols' book, 'The Fat Black Woman's Poems', supports and also contrasts the views of both Rhys and Morrison. All three texts question gender roles and oppression in society. While Nichols is very outspoken and doesn't let her gender confine her, the main character in Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette, is restricted by social and historical roles in her society. Characters like Sula are a threat to the
In her novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Dominican author Julia Alvarez demonstrates how words can become strange and lose their meaning. African American writer Toni Morrison in her novel Sula demonstrates how words can wound in acts of accidental verbal violence when something is overheard by mistake. In each instance, one sees how the writer manipulates language, its pauses and its silences as well as its words, in order to enhance the overall mood of each work.
After her marriage, Nel becomes a conventional, settled down woman. Her life when Sula is not around is much like her life in the “oppressive neatness”(Morrison 29) in her mother’s house. She loses her true unique self after Sula is gone. She realizes this when Sula comes back to Medallion. “Nel felt new, soft and new. It had been the longest time since she had had a rib-scraping
Only two characters, Nel and Shadrack, maintain a static interpretation of Sula’s birthmark, revealing their alienation from society at large. Nel’s unchanging perception of Sula’s birthmark as a stemmed rose highlights her own need for consistency.
Despite being presented as opposites of good and evil, Nel and Sula are actually quite similar, as both Nel and Sula posses the traits that defined the other, effectively blurring the lines between good and evil. As young girls, Nel pushed herself to become friends with Sula in the first place as “Nel, who regarded the oppressive neatness of her home with dread, felt comfortable in t with Sula, who loved it and would sit on the red-velvet sofa for ten to twenty minutes at a time… As for Nel, she preferred Sula’s wooly house”(29). As a child, Nel yearned to be free and independent, and to be her own individual self separate from who her mother expects her to be. Sula however already lives this life of living in a non-traditional home and
Sula by Toni Morrison highlights the themes and expectations that we have been discussing throughout the course. This story illustrates the community expectations for women. A strong basis for a thesis statement for the book Sula could be betrayal. Betrayal in the novel Sula is the central theme that changes the course of life for all characters involved. One example of betrayal happens when Sula sleeps with Nel’s husband. Another basis for a thesis statement could be a mother’s love. In Sula, Morrison revitalizes a theme that is explored in much of her writing: the nature and limits of a mother’s love. When you consider the character of Eva, she is an example of what a mother’s love is and the lengths a mother
Being oppressed by her mother, Nel has an attraction to Sula's carefree environment which, unlike her own, lacks any oppression. Likewise, Sula has an attraction to Nel's peaceful and orderly environment. They both desire something that the other does not have, and that's where such a strong attraction comes from. Together, they are perfect- Nel finds in Sula the youthfulness and the fun she's missing, and Sula finds order and stability in Nel.
Two young girls, coalescing on a grass-laden field while lying on their stomachs, dig a hole in unspoken harmony. A picture of youth and innocence, this scene depicts an innocuous moment which the two girls share as a result of their juvenescence--or does it? In Toni Morrison 's Sula, this scene, among others, appears at first to be both irrelevant to the novel’s underlying theme and out of place with regard to the rest of the plot. Yet, when analyzed further, the literary devices that Morrison uses in these scenes bring readers to a vastly different conclusion. These scenes serve as windows into the mind of Morrison and even into the larger themes present in the text. So, perhaps two girls sharing a seemingly casual experience is not as
Because of the sexual confidence Hannah Peace has, Sula must disguise her difference, just like her grandmother Eva had too. Eva’s drastic measures were repeated by Sula an act of survival and denial of powerlessness and vulnerability. Nel and Sula are regularly picked on by the same group of boys, causing Sula to take matter into her own hands. At one point, Sula takes out a knife and cuts off part of her finger saying, “ ‘If I can do that to myself, what you suppose I’ll do to you?’ ” (54-55). This severe act if Sula’s moment of self-recognition of her connection to her grandmother Eva. Here, Sula realizes that she has to fight against her own vulnerability, and establish her identity, hereby following her grandmother Eva’s example. Though this moment shows Sula’s inner strength, it can never disguise her enough of being different from the rest of her community. Just as Eva and Hannah, Sula continues the unpreventable, mature line of breaking past the typical gender roles of the time. Eva’s overly independent attitude and removal from caring and mothering a daughter correctly, leaves her daughters with unlearned, societal caretaking skills. This results in Sula’s highly inappropriate and unnecessary act of clumsy caretaking within her relationship with Nel. Yet, it is understandable because Sula has never been taught normal and conventional means for problem solving. The denial of motherly love from
During the story, Chai paints a picture of two extremely close sisters who have been put to the test. The pair has been relocated, put to work, and expected to mature quickly in their harsh new world. Nea is the narrator of the story, and she shares: ”We used to say that we’d run away, Sourdi and me.” (72) The sisters would whisper their secrets back and forth at night, and lock themselves in the bathroom together and hide away together. As children the girls were inseparable but soon the age difference comes between them. Sourdi finds comforts in her first romance with a dishwasher, Duke, and slowly but surely Nea is left by the wayside. This distance is increased when Mr. Chhay is introduced and Nea quickly realizes that her sister is being severed from her life: “It was the beginning of the end. I should have fought harder then. I should have stabbed this man, too.” (75)
During this time of their separation, the strength of their friendship appears evident. They both long to still be friends, to talk again. However, Nel sees this event as a true betrayal of friendship from Sula, while Sula sees what happened as casual and not a big deal.
In the novel Sula, by Toni Morrison we follow the life of Sula Peace through out her childhood in the twenties until her death in 1941. The novel surrounds the black community in Medallion, specifically "the bottom". By reading the story of Sula’s life, and the life of the community in the bottom, Morrison shows us the important ways in which families and communities can shape a child’s identity. Sula not only portrays the way children are shaped, but also the way that a community receives an adult who challenges the very environment that molded them. Sula’s actions and much of her personality is a direct result of her childhood in the bottom. Sula’s identity contains many elements of a strong, independent feminist