Morrison writes, "She had no thought of causing Nel pain when she bedded down with Jude" (119). I found this single line to be the most telling of Sula's personality. It shows that she operates outside of the norms of the social sphere. Her ability to separate emotion and intimacy is something that is not shared by other women. Sula realizes that her and Nel cannot be one in the same. Nel has changed. Nel has shielded part of her life (her marriage) from the openness that she usually shares with Sula. Another interesting point to recognize is that Sula thinks that time and distance have no affect on relationships. She believes that a childhood friendship operates in the same way that an adult relationship operates.
Additionally, I found this passage to be extremely shocking. How could Nel feel no remorse for the pain that she caused Nel? How could she possibly think that her actions were okay? I understand that she grew up with a mother that saw sex as something separate from relationships, but Sula would have also witnessed these men's wives being aggressive towards Hannah. How could she fail to make that connection? Sula went to college and saw big cities; one would think that she was a little more street smart. I think that we see the question of right and wrong being raised. Is an action wrong if you didn't know that it was wrong prior to performing the action? Is Sula being a "bad" friend if she didn't know that she was hurting Nel?
The second passage that I focused on, came at the very end of the book. Nel says, "All that time, all that time, I thought I was missing Jude" (174). Throughout the second part of the book, the audience is given indications that Nel still cares for Sula, regardless of her actions. However, this is the first time that Nel fully lets go of her anger and addresses the loss that she is feeling. It's interesting that Nel mourns for the loss of her friend than her husband. Both have proven that they can do horrible things, but she is still drawn to Sula. Why? Was their friendship that strong? The ending of the book speaks volumes on the ways in which friendship function within society. Despite her love for Sula, Nel rejected her because it was the socially acceptable thing to do. Nel was not able to overcome until long after Sula was already dead. While Sula did sleep with Nel's husband, the ending of the book almost makes you feel as though Nel was not playing the role of the friend. She was trying to suppress her true feelings for Nel in an effort to not be judged by her community.
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I totally agree that Nel only dismissed Sula because that was the socially acceptable thing to do. I feel she mourned the loss of her friend so much because they were so close, and had been through so much together. Nel and Sula were much closer than Nel was with Jude, and it would be really hard to just end such a strong relationship with no closure. I felt like the ending of the book was almost Nel's closure.
ReplyDeletei agree also...it is sad that she realized that she missed Sula at this point :( this book has a common theme of identity and i think when Nel realizes that she missed Sula she also realized something about herself. She definately suppressed her feeling about Sula to do what society accepts. The end of this book is beautiful and i do think it served as Nel's closure.
ReplyDeleteThe final scene of Nel stood out to me as well. I was shocked but at the same time, I always thought they would have repatched their friendship... unfortunately, it was too late due to Sula's death. But after reviewing Nel's relationship with Jude vs. her relationship with Sula, it is obvious why she feels the way she does. Nel and Sula have a foundation with one another and they know eachother inside and out. Nel and Jude never had a solid means to their relationship which is why it fell apart. This was a very moving ending.
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