International Journal of Linguistics

and Literature (IJLL)

ISSN(P): 2319-3956; ISSN(E): 2319-3964
Vol. 5, Issue 6, Oct-Nov 2016; 5-16
© IASET

TONI MORISON’S SULA REPRESENTS THE MOTHERHOOD, FRIENDSHIP AND

LOVE: A STUDY OF SULA AND NEL’S FRIENDSHIP, LIFE’S STRUGGLE AND

ESTRANGEMENT FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD

FARHANA HAQUE
Department of English and Humanities Brac University, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

The novel Sula exhibited the themes of motherhood, friendship and love. Along with these themes the most
significant features of this novel were the conventional and unconventional life of Nel wright and Sula Peace. This paper
has been elucidated the effort to unfold their deep bonding which was tested by social norms. The setting of this novel was
in a mostly black town Ohio. Gradually the story of Sula explored the relationship between women and men in the
patriarchal society never the less, the novel Sula was ingenious to create many strong female characters in the forms of
mothers, friends, lovers, leaders and property owners.

KEYWORDS: African American Females, Mother/Daughter Relationship, Friendship, Estrangement, Emasculation

INTRODUCTION

The main message of this paper is to analyse the interpersonal relationship in the forms of mothers, daughters,
friends and lovers. The two main female protagonists Sula Peace and Nel wright were encompassed the areas of female
friendship and estrangement. And as a whole they actually did make the readers feel about the importance of friendship.
Their strong attributes proved by their struggle in a men’s society. Heart’s attachment was the salient thing between Nel
and Sula’s life of friendship. Besides their friendship they have also faced estrangement for which their true friendship
became perished. Toni Morrison being a phenomenal author, who did present African American’s voice in a country where
law was always remain rude and unjust. In order to find the true identity in the new world the African American writers
attempted to write the stories of black people and mentioned their tough experiences and history. After launching the
candid novel like Sula, the status of African American women became more exacerbated in the society. They were
neglected, insulted both during and after slavery. Those women were actually stood in the background of the society for a
long time. Most of the people in society considered those black women’s family, behaviours and abilities as the lowest
criteria of a human being. The mainstream society portrayed African American women as non-human, barbaric and
uncivilized evil like creatures.

In my paper i would add some female critic’ spers pectives regarding mother/daughter relationship, friendship and
the entire black community’s complicated status throughout their ideologies. The African American female’s relationship
between mother/daughter and also the relation of friendship between Sula Peace and Nel wright in the Bottom will be the
main focus in this paper. In the novel Sula, we can see the two main female characters who did suffer from proper care and
teaching from their mothers and as a result they both came closer and used to support each other as a friend from heart and
soul. After the intense friendship of Nel and Sula, the concentration will go towards their estrangement. How they both

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6 Farhana Haque

became parted from the strongly build friendship. As Sula and Nel did choose two different paths of life Nel always used to
show herself as a conventional character, because she has been dedicated her life to a husband and children which was the
acceptable criteria for an African American woman in the society. While on the other hands, Sula was an independent of
men, destructive in her activities and for this reasons she was considered as an outlawed person in the society. These two
girls were possessing two different types of ideologies for their lives which made them separated and lonely. After settling
in their own lives neither Sula nor Nel got the true sense of happiness in life because they both were missing the past
intense friendship till the end of the novel

African and American People’s Life in the Bottom

Among the significant and identical African American inhabitants, Sula Peace and Nel Wright were two African
American girls who gradually constructed a strong friendship in a place called Bottom. Bottom was a hilly part of the town
of Medallion where most of the African American community used to live. The novel has been started by the promise of a
white farmer who told to his slave about the freedom and a piece of land in Bottom.

“ A white farmer once promised freedom and a piece of land to his slave; nevertheless, the farmer was not telling
to give fertile land to the slave, therefore, he tricked the slave into thinking that the richest and most fertile land lies in the
hills. The slave believed him and took the land from him, he even let himself believe that the reason for calling the place
the Bottom is that when God looks down from heaven, the Bottom is the first place he sees” (Morrison, 5).

The African American inhabitants are always neglected and oppressed, and in this way Morrison did find the
concrete platform to depict the oppressed life of the African American people in Sula who were faced racial oppression
even after got their freedom from slavery. It is also important to note about the male characters in Sula,

“African American men have historically been blocked from enacting both the traditional African and traditional
American mainstream gender roles of provider and protector” (Lawrence-Webb, Littlefield and Okundaye 628)

In this novel male characters were almost absent in the Bottom community because they were trying to get back
their economic success and manhood in the patriarchal society of the United States. They were failed to protect their
women even if any African American woman faced rape by her owner. The men didn’t have the power to make their
women safe and secure because they were emasculated during slavery. To prove this situation of emasculation here i would
include Hook’s ideologies about the failure black male slaves.

“Most black slaves stood quietly by as white masters sexually assaulted and brutalized black women and were not
compelled to act as protectors. Their first instincts were toward self-preservation” (Hook, 35).

As a result the African American women started to train themselves independently in order to settle them against
every kinds of oppression.

“An independent imposed rather than desired” (Christian, Black Feminist Criticism 7).

The black female characters were wrapped by some essential roles in their life. Mother’s role was one of the
heedless roles by the African American inhabitants in Bottom.

“ Another images were developed, which portrayed African American mothers as controlling and “bad”, such as “
the black matriarch” or “ the welfare mother”; who passes her bad values to her offspring” (Collins, 77).

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8727 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Toni Morison’s Sula Represents the Motherhood, Friendship and Love: A Study of Sula and Nel’s 7
Friendship, Life’s Struggle and Estrangement from Childhood to Adulthood

African American women were in difficult situation as they had to adjust with both the racism and sexism in the
patriarchal society of the United States. Hooks did argue on this matter of sexism and racism, he remarked,

“Sexism and racism intensified and magnified the suffering and oppression of black women” (Hook, 22).

For many African American women, motherhood was presented as the power and the standard of womanhood which has
clearly been portrayed through the characters of mother in Sula. However in Sula, the strong character Sula did prove that
she was different than any other females in Bottom. Her unconventional attitudes proved her distinctness who,

“Not only refuse the role [the standard role assigned for a woman], she steps outside the caste of woman, beyond
any class or definition [and] insists on making herself “(Christian, Black Feminist Criticism, 76)

Sula was only weak in front of her friendship with Nel. She was very serious about this new relationship related
her and Nel’s close bonding, which could create a new identity for her existence. Through the strong and intense
friendship, Sula and Nel would have been placed themselves as the example of winner from the oppression by the
patriarchal society. But they became separated and have gained the sense of hatred against one another. The reason of their
hatred has been happened by their two different views about leading life. Hence Sula’s character did create the importance
of female’s life and friendship in the Bottom.

The Sense of Protection and Self-Worth Represents the Concept of Missing Between the Mother and Daughter
Relationship in Sula

Mothers are suppose to teach their children about how to live safely from the dangers and also they need to teach
their daughters about the skills that will help them to fit anywhere. In the novel Sula, Toni Morrison has presented the
actual pictures of African American women, how they were denied by the men’s society. As Collins remarked about
African American mothers role in his theory

“African American mothers try to protect their daughters from the dangers that lie ahead by offering them a sense
of their own unique self-worth” (Collins, 127).

But this concept of protection and self-worth were absent in mother/daughter relationship in the novel Sula.
Therefore this novel elucidated the importance of mother’s role and the sense of realization that how a mother need to be
careful and responsible towards her daughter in order to develop the daughter’s confidence and proper duty to manage life.
Nel Wright was one of the conventional characters in the land of Bottom. Her mothers Helenedid try to motivate her for
evolving the sense of self-worth. Though their relationship was complicated and was not up to the mark. May beHelene
was unable to care Nel with proper attention because her past was shameful. Helene’s mother was a prostitute and that was
the reason to force her family “somehow flawed” (Morrison 20).

Helene was intended to make her life without flaws. In this way she did decide to marry Wiley Wright and came
out from her shameful past. After marriage Wiley Wright has arranged the process of shifting with Helene to the town
Medallion. Therefore Helene was very happy with her new life and family. And in her life Helene was completely
conservative and religious woman compared to another woman in town. Nel was born in Helene’s life as comfort,

“More comfort and purpose than she [Helene] ever hoped to find in her life” (Morrison, 18). After Nel came in
Helene’s life she was starting to plan about her daughter’s future life. She always wanted Nel to be a respectful and
responsible citizen of Medallion. And also she has been wished that one day Nel will get married with a decent man. But to

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8 Farhana Haque

accomplish those wishes and expectations, Helene was unable to note any kind of wrong behaviours in Nel’s life though
she did guard every move of Nel.

“Any enthusiasm that little Nel showed were calmed by her mother until she drove her daughter’s imagination
underground” (Morrison, 18)

Helene was busy to keep Nel away from her shameful creole family, while on the other sides she was unable to
show Nel the appropriate attention and care. When Nel went to visit her grandmother that time she saw her grandmother
did hug her mother which was missed in Nel’s life from her mother.

“Nel sat on the road-velvet sofa listening to her mother but remembering the small and the tight, tight hug of the
women in yellow” (Morrison 28).

Nel was deprived from such types of hug from her mother and that’s why she didn’t able to forget the lovely
bonding between her mother and grandmother. Though Helene was interested to nurture Nel’s well-being but eventually
she was extremely possessive towards Nel.

“Don’t just sit there, honey. You could be pulling your nose” (Morrison, 28).

Helene’s extra concern and obsession towards Nel made the unfavourable situation and as a result they were failed to tie
their bonding like a friendly mother and daughter relationship. Inside of mind Nel has been made a solemn pledge to build
herself differently than her mother in order to find her own identity. Nel looked into a mirror and whispered:

“I’m me. I’m not their daughter. I’m not Nel. I’m me. Me” (Morrison, 28)

To get rid from her mother’s obsessive nature, Nel was determined to rebel and came out to search for her own
very existence. The first attempt of her rebellion was to do friendship with Sula, an unconventional girl of Bottom. Nel
actually wanted to create the difference between her mother and herself, for that reason she was attracted to Sula as Sula
and her family members were stood in a absolutely opposite side according to behaviours and the way of leading life. On
the other hands, Sula’s condition was almost similar to Nel’s.

In Sula’s family there were more members than Nel. Sula was lived with her mother, grandmother, her uncle and a
few other people. The other people were staying by the kind consideration of Sula’s grandmother Eve. However, Sula was
also deprived from love and affection. In Sula’s family none of her family members taught Sula with the necessary
protection about how to survive in a society or how to love herself. Sula was growing up after seeing her mother’s
eccentric and destructive activities. Her mother Hannah was used to keep many affairs with others husband after her own
husband’s death,

“The husbands of her friends and neighbours” (Morrison, 42)

While Hannah was used to engage in sexual intercourse with men in the bedroom which Hannah and Sula did share, that
time Hannah didn’t show any care or consideration towards Sula.

“She [Hannah] liked the last place [her bedroom] least, not because Sula slept in the room but because her love
mate’s tendency was always to fall asleep” (Morrison, 43).

After Sula Cane to know that her mother didn’t love her so from that moment her life’s development got changed
and at last she did reject her family. According to Beaulieu, the discovery of Hannah’s feelings towards Sula and the

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8727 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Toni Morison’s Sula Represents the Motherhood, Friendship and Love: A Study of Sula and Nel’s 9
Friendship, Life’s Struggle and Estrangement from Childhood to Adulthood

rejection of her family members has left Sula without any goal of life.

“When mothers in Morrison’s novels, as they often do, the result is a loss of self or center” (Beaulieu, 116).

As like Nel, Sula also came out from her family and in order to find her actual belonging. Thus she got attached
with Nel and made a strong friendship. To analyse the voidness in Hannah’s motherhood here i would like to add the
statements of Abel. And in Abel’s point of view,

“Sexual relationships, like parental ones, derive more from biological and cultural conditioning than free choice”
(Abel, 428).

Hannah loved Sula just because she was her daughter. She didn’t love her like a mother or teach her daughter
about life like a mother rather she dud treat Sula in a stranger’s way. This was called missed communication between them.

“This pattern of missed communication is also visible in Hannah’s relationship with her mother Eve” (Morrison,
419).

This was like a cycling process, as Hannah missed affection from Eve when she was a child; likewise Hannah also
treated Sula as like a stranger and didn’t provide her the true love, care and protection as a mother. Eve was presented as a
female who thought herself in a position of God. When her son Plum has returned from the World War I as a drug addict,
Eve was perplexed to see such a bad condition of her son. Plum didn’t able to recall the destructive memories of the war
and took heroin in order to escape his memories. After knowing this thing, Eve has been decided to kill her son as she
didn’t bear to see Plum in a condition near death.

“He could die like a man not all scrunched up inside my womb, but like a man” (Morrison, 72).

Eve started to recall the childhood memories of Plum that how she did try keep him alive as he was facing
problems with bowel movement. Eve remembered how much energy she did lost for keeping him alive and now when she
saw her son was unable to appreciate his life, the life which she has beengiven to him, she decided to end it and that is how
Eve justified her action of killing. Hannah came to ask the very essential questions to her mother about what is love as she
felt that her mother didn’t love her and her siblings.

“Mamma, did you ever love us”? (Morrison, 67)

After knowing this question Eve got infuriated:

“You settin’ here with your healthy-ass self and ax me did i love you? Them big eyes in your head would a been
two hokes if i hadn’t” (Morrison, 68).

Hannah then again asked her mother about playing with her in childhood. From her knowledge she knew a good
mother is always there for her children in the form of feeding, playing and overall taking care of her children. Hannah and
Eve were possessing two different views about love but she knew mother’s affection means to give quality time to her
children and not only spending money for the children.

“I know that you fed us and all i was talk in’ bout something else Like. Like. Playin’ with us did you ever, you
know, play with us”? (Morrison 68).

If we go deeper of Eve’s life we could see how much she did struggle to raise her children after her husband
abandoned her but Hannah did not understand that important thing. However, Hannah’s feeling of insecurity and a life

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10 Farhana Haque

without mother’s love leads her towards own self-worth in her relationship with men and there foreSula has been found out
her security and self-worth in her friendship with Nel. The mother/daughter relationship was ultimately the failure
relationship in Sula. Mothers were unable to provide their daughters the proper self-worth as they were also struggling with
their own predicament memories of childhood. As a result the relationship of mother and daughter was totally the
relationship without affection, love, care and protection.

Sula and Nel’s Inextricable Friendship Turns in to Estrangement

From adolescent, Sula and Nel have been made an inseparable friendship. They were used to share all of their
small and big matters of life, even their secrets. But an years went by their friendship have started to fall apart and the
bonding between them got shattered. However, Nel decided to marry and after her marriage Sula has left her home town
and Nel simultaneously. In her mind Sula was thinking that now she has no one to whom she can share her sadness or
happiness. She did also think that Nel will be no longer remain for her to show concern to her as she will be busy with her
husband and children and will be keep her aside. The changing scenario of Nel’s life proved that being a wife of a man
means to serve her family, such as husband and children according to the traditional mainstream gender role of a woman. It
is the society’s standard of belief regarding married woman. According to society woman’s desire is suppose to create a
new life through her service towards her husband, children and home.

Sula’s goal of life was not like Nel. Her first and foremost priority was to keep the perpetual friendship with Nel
instead of marrying or having children. But when Nel did marry with Jude from that time Sula started to feel disappointed
and has left her home town and also went away from her family. In other place except her home town, she has been
attached with many affairs with different types of men. But didn’t find the happiness which she was searching for At last
she came back to Medallion after ten years. Soon after coming in her town Sula has been found Nel as same as before like
a traditional wife and mother. She felt upset and didn’t accept Nel who seemed so boring as all other woman in town. In
childhood Nel did a promise to be herself but that promise has been broken soon after she agreed to marry Jude Green. Nel
did follow the footsteps of her mother as Nel was suffered from low self- esteem. But compared to the matter of giving
self-esteem, as a husband Jude at least gave that to her in the beginning of their relationship. Therefore Nel felt amazed by
Jude’s sensible treatment to her:

“She didn’t even know she had a neck until Jude remarked on it, or that her smile was anything but the spreading
of her lips until he saw it as a small miracle” ( Morrison, 84).

After getting this new love Nel gave the first preference to Jude than Sula. Nel was experiencing,

“This new feeling of being needed by someone” and the feeling becomes “ greater than her friendship” to Nel (
Morrison, 84).

When Sula did underst and Nel’s newly found identity about her self-worth, Sula stopped caring about their
friendship and only did care to her, according to Christian:

“Sula wants everything or nothing and therefore flies in the face of compromising traditional that keep this
community intact” ( Christian, Black Feminist Criticism, 27).

But Nel was unaware about Sula’s recent ideologies of friendship with her. Nel thought that to have husband and
children will create no changes between her and Sula’s friendship. Nel didn’t able to comprehend that by marrying with

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8727 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Toni Morison’s Sula Represents the Motherhood, Friendship and Love: A Study of Sula and Nel’s 11
Friendship, Life’s Struggle and Estrangement from Childhood to Adulthood

Jude, she did lost a part of her existence and therefore Sula and her friendship came to perish. In this issue here i would like
to add Abel’s statements regarding to different dynamics of friendship.

“ Because it is a freely chosen expression of self, friendship is a relationship in Sula, implicitly contrasted to both
parental and sexual bonds Nel’s marriage to Jude leads to the consequent reductions of both [Nel’s and Jude]
personalities,” whereas in Nel’s friendship with Sula, their personalities flourished” ( Abel, 428).

Emasculation Encapsulates the Male Characters of Sula and Their Injustice tow ards Women

The male characters in Sula were facing the threats of emasculation. Most of the male characters were bound to
prove their manhood by acquiring recognizable working status and thus they were adamant to show their dominance over
the community’s women. This threat of emasculation derived from their historical experience in the African American
society:

“African American men have historically been blocked from [...] the traditional African and traditional American
mainstream gender roles of provider and protector” (Lawrence-Webb, Littlefield, and Ok undaye, 629).

Nel’s husband Jude was among those men who was in need to prove something. Jude did marry with Nel to care
him unconditionally.

“Someone to care about his hurt, to care very deeply” (Morrison, 82)

Through his marriage with Nel, Jude got the way to fulfil his needs of being a real man without the threat of
emasculation

“One Jude and he choose Nel because she is kind and is willing to obey” (Morrison, 83).

Here ‘one Jude’ means, Jude Green has been found his shadow within Nel’s attributes and goals about life. According to
Mayberry:

“He [Jude] turns to marriage with a pliant and nurturing Nel as a means of providing his manhood” (Mayberry
526).

With Nel, Jude has been found someone to show his prevalent traits, he got someone who was ready to follow the
orders as he wished to give. Patricia Hill Collins remarked that which will be appropriate to explore Jude’s character as a
African American man.

“Some African feel they cannot be men unless they dominate a black women and Jude Green falls into this
category of men” (Collins, 186).

The excessive want of women’s attraction and the greed to build the strong manhood, Jude became frustrated
which leads him to break his and Nel’s marriage Jude illegally attached with a sexual relationship with Nel’s friend Sula
Jude’s attraction towards Sula was based on not for any particular attraction but the way of her thinking and talking.
Another reason of Jude’s attraction towards Sula was to get banished from the white male power. Mayberry remarked that,

“Since he [Jude] cannot usurp white male power, he will conquer the masculine black female [...] his incomplete
masculinity is attracted to masculine Sula” (Mayberry, 525).

After Jude has been deserted Nel, Nel started to think about why Jude did that injustice to her as he knew Nel

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12 Farhana Haque

could do anything for him. She got lostin so many questions about life.

“She spent a little time trying to make marry again, but nobody wanted to take her on with three children”
(Morrison, 165).

With these lines its to be noted that the life’s goal was becoming shorter towards Nel. And she has no certain
unique self-worth, therefore she has been planned to engage herself in work to provide her children. Nel was not the only
Person who got deserted by husband, but also Eve, Sula’s grandmother. Her husband Boy boy has left her with three
children and as same as Nel, Eve also went to search the security to her children. In order to provide a safe and secure life
Eve has sacrificed a part of her leg and placed her leg under a train to collect money from insurance companies. When
Boyboy came for a visit after several years and got to know this great sacrifice of Eve for their children he didn’t
appreciate that. In the mean time Eve came to know that Boy boy also did build up a new life with prosperity but there was
no place for Eve and their children. Eve then decided to hate Boy boy from that day. However the hatred made her less
accessible to her family and Eve Started to spend most of the time in her own bed room, hating Boy boy. Male’s departure
basically created despair in women’s life in Sula. For example, Eve’s hatred towards Boy boy created negative impact on
children. While on the other hands, Nel’s despair ruined her relationship with Sula. The situation of African American
women was more worst that African American men Men are taught to be carefree and always remain adamant to achieve
their own dreams. While women are taught to be dependent on men and bound to care her family Nevertheless, to pursue
the dreams, menare suppose to leave their community and families behind. Without the presence of male, women remain
with no protection. In Sula for providing the protection of their children, women did sacrifice a lot and as a result their
children also did suffer from both the father’s absence and the proper time which the mother can’t give to their children.

Sula’s Depression after Losing Nel

Sula was the only character who has understands the different dynamics between male/female relationship after
staying both inside and outside of Medallion. She actually knew about males traits.

“Shared nothing but worry, gave nothing but money. She had been looking all along for a friend, and it took her a
while to discover that a lover was not a comrade and could never be- for a woman” (Morrison, 121).

After the true realization about men, Sula felt the spurious friendship with Nel. She has lost Nel when Nel did
marry,at last Sula has lost someone to whom she could trust, she lost someone who gave protect her and understand her.
Without Nel Sula got deviated and distorted:

“Only her own mood and whim and her actions become unpredictable and like an artist with no art form, she
became dangerous” (Morrison, 121).

A Brief Touch of Love in Sula’s Life

In her life the touch of love came truly like Nel but her mate didn’t allow her to go up to that commitment level.
Ajax was supposed to have a physical relationship with Sula not anything else than this. But Sula gradually started to care
him like a true lover. Her masculine attitudes got changed. Sula’s nature transcended from masculine female to traditional
woman. According to Lucille Fultz,

“Changes from a masculine female into regular female in her relationship with Ajax” (Fultz, 51)

Sula was always been indifferent about any relationship related to men. But somehow for the first time she was

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8727 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Toni Morison’s Sula Represents the Motherhood, Friendship and Love: A Study of Sula and Nel’s 13
Friendship, Life’s Struggle and Estrangement from Childhood to Adulthood

ensnared into the realm of love with Ajax. The journey of love life eventually appeared as beautiful feelings to her she was
busy in impressing Ajax by decorating herself with green ribbons and also she did cook for Ajax in order to get his
attention. Her heart felt first beating and worried about her looks. She was keen to see him frequently. When Ajax did
understand about the purpose of Sula regarding him, he came out from her silently. He came to know that Sula was
becoming possessive of him in a true sense.

“He looked around and saw the gleaming kitchen and the table set fir two and detected the scent of nest. Every
hackle of his body rose...” (Morrison, 133)

Ajax’s ideology was to stay without any commitment. He loved nothing but only his freedom. To some extent he
was surprised to see Sula like other women who are conventional. Ajax did find no words but has left her because Sula has
changed herself from her ideologies of being a masculine girl. He did left her but didn’t reject her. Ajax actually did listen
to her mother and act according to her teaching. He has the strange feelings about her mother,

“He had never met an interesting woman in life, besides his mother, of course” (Morrison, 126).

The idea about Sula was good to Ajax and he didn’t undermine her like rest of the society people who considered
her as an evil but Ajax did consider her as brilliant woman. Ajax was not like other men in society who were busy to prove
their dominance over women, who were afraid of emasculation. Ajax was an unemployed, free-spirited and he possessed
no certain desire to follow and reach to any highest goal in life. He made himself free from the dominant of society’s
notions about masculinity and feminity and therefore was content whatever he has. However, Sula has been missing Ajax
and his absence was heart-breaking for her like rest of the women in the novel who has experienced men’s departure and
fell into immense sadness. Suddenly Sula did realize about life and thought that she has been seen everything already
nothing is new to her.

“There aren’t any more new songs and i have sung all the ones there are” (Morrison, 137).

The absences of Ajax made Sulaisolated like her grandmother Eve and at lastshedid welcome the serious illness.
In society she was viewed as an outcast as she was no respect about the laws of the community.

Sula’s Point of Views about Men and Her Own Strong Traits

Moreover, in Sula’s point of view men has been dismantled the instinct of women and compelled to act like a
domestic creatures without their own desire or thought. The major difference between Sula and Nel was that, Nel was a
conventional girl who was very much respectful towards community’s rules and regulations while on the other hands, Sula
didn’t believe those laws and has been broken and smashed them without hesitation. Toni Morrison fruitfully depicted Sula
as a masculine girl who used to do things morally which only men do. The most frightening thing for Sula was to die like
African American women.

“I know what every coloured woman in this country is doing. Dying. Just like me. But the difference is they dying
like of those red woods. I sure did live in this world” (Morrison, 143).

The point of views regarding life was different between Sula and Nel. Sula always wished and accomplished her
tasks like an unconventional way. For her to act like good will not bring any extra ordinary good things in life

“Being good to somebody is like being mean to somebody” (Morrison, 145)

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14 Farhana Haque

Sula has practiced this ideology in every actions of life and believed that if anyone treats somebody right or wrong the
result of the action will be unpredictable. Sula’s mother didn’t love her once she has listened that from her mother. Hence,
she never did care for others but only for her own feelings. Nel was not agreeing with Sula. She told Sula to act like an
African American woman.

“You can’t be walking around all independent like, doing whatever you like, taking what you want, leaving want
you don’t” ( Morrison, 142).

For Nel being an African American woman means who will take care for her husband, children and home.
Nevertheless in spite of Nel and Sula’s different point of views about life and woman’s role in the society, they were tend
to stand for each other’s need and support. Sula did hear about Nel’s matters when she felt importance to place her
grandmother into a nursing home. For the paying procedures in the nursing home Nel did guide Sula. Likewise Nel also
felt importance of Sula’s guidance. Nel felt happy every time she used to talk to Sula and felt she was talking to herself.

“It was like getting the use of an eye back, having a cataract removed [...] talking to Sula had always been a
conversation with herself” (Morrison, 95).

After the separation between Sula and Nel, it took many years for Nel to understand that she didn’t do right by
breaking friendship with Sula. Nel has been realized that she gave first priority to a man than her best friend Sula.

Sula’s Grandmother Made Nel Feel about the Importance of Friendship

Eve remarked Nel as Sula because of the accidental event when the little boy named Chicken Little has drowned
in the river from Sula’s grip and Nel was watching that scene. Nel told to Eve that it was not her fault but it was Sula’s
fault.

“Why didn’t it feel bad when it happened? How come it felt so good to see him fall”? (Morrison, 170)

For this incident Eve told Nel as Sula, because they were two parts of one soul. After leaving Eve that day, Nel
just started to recall all those mistakes and injustice she did with herself and Sula. She then came to evaluate her life that it
was bad to reject her best friend as she was her real soul mate now she is gone. Nel especially tried to find happiness in
marriage but that was not that thing which could make her happy.

“I thought i was missing Jude [...] O Lord, Sula. We was girls together” (Morrison, 174).

At last Nel realized that her and Sula’s friendship was valuable than any other.

CONCLUSIONS

In Sula Toni Morrison has been portrayed the importance of mother/daughter’s relationship while on the other
hands, she also did elucidate the friendship and estrangement between two African American girls in Bottom called Sula
and Nel. The mistakes the female characters did in Sula to submit themselves to the conditioning of marriage and also
because for the failure of keeping the true friendship. Nel was the most submissive character who did submit herself to the
conventional nature and rule of society. She didn’t question about her position in society but surrendered herself to the role
of wife and a mother and believed that these rules will make her life complete. While on the other hands, Sula was an
unconventional character who was only concerned about herself and no one, she was careless about society’s imposed law
on women. These two contrastive ideologies made them parted from each other. Above all both the girls felt safe in each

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8727 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Toni Morison’s Sula Represents the Motherhood, Friendship and Love: A Study of Sula and Nel’s 15
Friendship, Life’s Struggle and Estrangement from Childhood to Adulthood

other’s company and used to do compliment to each other. They actually didn’t find this kind of pure, altruistic, protective
and secured feelings in their relationship with men. Therefore Toni Morrison exhibited the importance of female friendship
in Sula and proved that if there is a trace of true friendship remain in female’s life, then they can fight against all kinds of
oppression in the patriarchal society.

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4. Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment.
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5. Fultz, Lucille. Toni Morrison: Playing with Difference. Illinois: The Board of Trustees of the University of
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6. Hooks, bell. Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. London: Pluto Press, 1982. Print. 7. Lawrence-Webb,
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Web 3 Apr 2012.

7. Mayberry, Susan Neal. “Something Other than a Family Quarrel: The Beautiful Boys in Morrison’s Sula.” African
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