The scene that caught my attention was from Nel's wedding. Morrison describes Sula's feelings about the wedding. "Sula was no less excited about the wedding. She thought it was the perfect thing to do following their graduation from general school. She wanted to be the bridesmaid... She encouraged Mrs. Wright to go all out..." I chose to discuss this passage because I am writing my paper on the relationship between Sula and Nel and how I think it is a true friendship without the competition factor that some of the class felt. This passage reinforced my ideas of there being no competition between the two because Sula is estatic for Nel to be getting married. Morrison does not mention anything about envy from Sula. It is only good feelings at this wedding. For me, this passage was what it should be. It describes the friendship and unbreakable bond that the two girls have with one another. I am curious if anyone thought there was any competitive feelings while at the wedding between Sula and Nel?
The next passage that stood out to me was, "But it was the men who gave her the final label, who fingerprinted her for all time. They were the ones who said she was guilty of the unforgivable thing-- the thing for which there was no understanding, no excuse, no compassion... They said Sula slept with white men." This stood out to me because we have not witnessed this idea in class yet. It takes me back to last semester when I took African American Literature class and the topic of black females and white men. It reminds me of, "Like a Winding Sheet" because there was the presence of a white man in the black mans home and that was something that could never be forgotten. While the woman in the story only cleaned the clothes for the white family, the husband abused the woman for even having the property of the white man in his home. Therefore I think it is important to realize how much hatred there really was toward black women who associated in any way, shape, or form with white men. Has anyone else read any text that could relate to this idea?
About your second passage, I have taken a class on History of Women, and have read texts and had class discussion that relate to his idea. I also thought of this class during this passage. Black women and white men were not ever a suitable match or couple, and it was absolutely frowned upon.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the passage you chose for your first analysis. Morrison writes about Sula really encouraging a wedding, but later in life, Sula seems like she would no longer want this. It makes me wonder whether Sula thought marriage and babies were okay for other women, but not okay for her. Did Sula's wants change over time, or did she always resist conforming to society's norms?
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