Two Halves
In Sula by Toni Morrison, former friends, Sula and Nel, mature into different perspectives on life and principles of society. During Nel’s final visit to an ill Sula, they fail to rekindle their friendship. While Nel unsuccessfully seeks the apology she yearns, Sula remains faithful to friendship over the superficial affair she had with Nel’s husband, Jude. After Nel leaves with anticipated disappointment, Sula, on her death bed, “thought about her old friend ‘So she will walk on down that road, her back so straight in that old green coat, the strap of her handbag pushed back all the way to the elbow, thinking of how much I have cost her and never remember the days when we were two throats and one eye and we had no price’.” (Morrison …show more content…
As Nel exits from Sula’s life, Sula imagines Nel continuing “down that road, her back so straight.” While Sula strays from societal standards, Nel complies to them. Nel’s straight back represents her conservative ideals to act in accordance with what is expected. Her compromise in life is to live unnaturally normal. Unlike Sula, Nel is not frowned upon by others because Nel is a mother and was a faithful wife. It is her strength of character to live life under limitations created by other people that Sula dwells upon. Sula recalls along with Nel’s physical posture, her “old green coat…thinking of how much I [Sula] ha[s] cost her.” The green color alludes to Nel’s persistent jealousy and anger towards Sula’s act of adultery. Not only is she enrobed in the consistent reminder of Sula and Jude’s relationship, she blames Sula for her misfortunes. She attributes Sula entirely to the single moment in time when Nel found Sula in bed with Jude, neglecting their former friendship. Nel leaves Sula, seeing her as the antagonist in her life, while Sula still sees Nel as an “old friend.” The diction used in the passage tells a melancholic reflection by Sula of an artificial Nel living a life that is not truly
In Sula by Toni Morrison, former friends, Sula and Nel, mature into different perspectives on life and principles of society. During Nel’s final visit to an ill Sula, they fail to rekindle their friendship. While Nel unsuccessfully seeks the apology she yearns, Sula remains faithful to friendship over the superficial affair she had with Nel’s husband, Jude. After Nel leaves with anticipated disappointment, Sula, on her death bed, “thought about her old friend ‘So she will walk on down that road, her back so straight in that old green coat, the strap of her handbag pushed back all the way to the elbow, thinking of how much I have cost her and never remember the days when we were two throats and one eye and we had no price’.” (Morrison …show more content…
As Nel exits from Sula’s life, Sula imagines Nel continuing “down that road, her back so straight.” While Sula strays from societal standards, Nel complies to them. Nel’s straight back represents her conservative ideals to act in accordance with what is expected. Her compromise in life is to live unnaturally normal. Unlike Sula, Nel is not frowned upon by others because Nel is a mother and was a faithful wife. It is her strength of character to live life under limitations created by other people that Sula dwells upon. Sula recalls along with Nel’s physical posture, her “old green coat…thinking of how much I [Sula] ha[s] cost her.” The green color alludes to Nel’s persistent jealousy and anger towards Sula’s act of adultery. Not only is she enrobed in the consistent reminder of Sula and Jude’s relationship, she blames Sula for her misfortunes. She attributes Sula entirely to the single moment in time when Nel found Sula in bed with Jude, neglecting their former friendship. Nel leaves Sula, seeing her as the antagonist in her life, while Sula still sees Nel as an “old friend.” The diction used in the passage tells a melancholic reflection by Sula of an artificial Nel living a life that is not truly