Sula Part 1
“Nel didn’t know quite what she meant, but on the other hand she knew exactly what she ment. “I’m me. I’m not their daughter. I’m not Nel. I’m me. Me.” This particular passage stood out to me, because I finally felt Nel was speaking up for once. Throughout the beginning of the story I heard more of what Helen wanted her to be, how structured she had made her life, and I really felt like Nel had no room to breathe and be her own person. I felt like in this quote, she was coming out and saying she didn’t want to be anything like her mother, or who “Nel” is suppose to be, she wants to be her own person, she doesn’t want to be told how to behave, or what to think. I felt proud of her for taking a stand, even if she was just only thinking about it. This reminded me of “The revolt of Mother” and how she, as an individual was kind of ignored until she spoke up.
“There seemed to be some kind of wet light traveling over his legs and stomach with a deeply attractive smell. It would itself – this wet light – all about him, splashing and running into his skin. He opened his eyes and saw what he imagined was the great wing of an eagle pouring wet lightness over him.” This passage caught my attention because I saw a ton of different images, and at the same time was shocked that she was lighting her son on fire. I thought it was interesting the image of light, and the specific image of a fire being used in this section, in class we talked about it always being associated with women, but here, it was used to describe what was happening to Plum. I felt that the imagery was really strong in this section, especially with the line “great wing of an eagle.” Another thing that I noticed was the way she had acted after lighting him on fire, it reminded me of “Trifles” the way Mrs. Wright acted after she had killed her husband, both characters were very nonchalant as if neither had done anything wrong.
The first passage that you quoted had left me confused. I thought it was really strange that Nel identified herself as "me", but not as "Nel". Your name would be something that would set you apart from other people, yet Nel feels the need to seperate herself from her own name. Anyway, I think it is interesting that Nel seems to have this breakthrough moment, but later in her life she marries to become something for someone else. It does seem as though her independence is something that she has only thought about and never actually verbalized or demonstrated.
ReplyDeleteRandom question, what did you think about both of Eva's children dying by fire? What significance did you see there?
Well I think fire is a very violent, devastating, and unpredictable thing, and certainly one of the most terrifying ways to die. To me, fire and its destructive nature really was showcasing some sort of inner turmoil she might have been dealing with. Plum being engulfed in flames, kind of made me think that she may have been engulfed in her own personal struggles, so much, that she just couldn't stand it anymore.
ReplyDelete