Nel and Sula's Friendship in Sula by Toni Morrison Essay Sample
The bond between Nel and Sula improves their lives. The sense of lifelong friendship is the portrait of the novel that the author speaks of. Morrison shows the differences between both characters based on their family circles. This presence of differences did not hinder their relationship; however, it frames the root of the perfect bond. All the challenges they faced, the suppression just by being black females, the classism and racism they went through made them stronger ad gave them the strength to combat the obstacles. As a result, this article will analyze Morrison's presentation of the issue of friendship and identity creation. The two Ladies' relationship dates back to their youth, and it has benefitted both. The importance of their long-term friendship will be emphasized throughout the essay and how Morrison wants to arrive at this conclusion.
Nel and Sula's friendship is the central theme of Sula. Their friendship starts as a way to "let them use each other to grow on." Each girl is trying to become her person, and each girl has limitations put on her in her household. Nel and Sula spend all of their time together, playing by the river, discovering the attentions of boys and men, fighting off white bullies, and weathering tragedies. Mainly, this friendship plays the role of the sisterhood that helps them elevate themselves. They both lack their mother’s attention, nor their fathers weren’t there for them, Nel’s father was far away, and Sula’s died. The two girls have incomprehensible fathers and, at the same time, are thirsty for their mother’s love (Morrison 50). Both girls had completely different mothers, Sula's mother, on the one hand, slept with several men and was very liberal, she made it seem that her way was acceptable, and her actions were appropriate, for this reason, Sula ended up following in the same steps as her mother. However, Nel's mother was different, she adjusted herself to society’s standards and she was very conservative. Both feel free to express their emotions in front of each other without fear of being judged, they hardly argue. Neither of them could find support from their family members, so they decided to take refuge and support each other. They have a healthy relationship, they enhance each other’s life and built positivity in their future. Since, they have the same gender, race, and similarities regarding their families they were meant to be best friends. Knowing each other and becoming friends helped them both realize the place that black women had in society and that “each had discovered years before that they were neither male nor white and that freedom was denied to them” (Morrison 50).
In addition, it is evident that Morrison points out the role of lifelong friendship in the formulation of identity. In the novel, the author highlights how Nel and Sula are totally different from the world that surrounds them, in which feminism created by white women had the objective of diminishing and undervaluing the identities of black women, thus, Nel and Sul created a crucial and strong bond that helps them to overcome the suppression and racism they experience as African Americans. Even though they are best friends, they have different points of view regarding how society sees them. Sula is passionate about defying gender norms and morality, while Nel is very traditional. Sula denies the traditional role of a woman. She refuses the sex, race, and class definitions of the society (Mankhi 46). By this, the author brings out their differences and how the characters fight the anomalies of life arising from classism and racism.
Considering racial markers, the author's analysis underlines the significance of gender and influence in the treatment of the description of women's friendship, “more holistic consideration of race, class, and gender - especially as it considers Morrison's critique of metonymic stereotypes and her interest in foregrounding women’s friendship” (Morris p. 160). Likewise, the author reflects through the characters a bond of strength and union created that leads to the discovery of the female self as mothers, sisters, and friends. We can also appreciate how this Friendship is put at risk and changed when Nel married Jude, her life changed she become and mother and wife. The author describes Nel as the ideal protagonist of the novel, while Sula is far away from being the perfect lady, according to society every woman’s desire was to get married and have children. They started to lose contact with one another. Sula departed because she felt there was nothing left for her in the Bottom, even though Nel is a loving mother and wife. Sula believed that Nel was directing her down a minor road rather than the main route, which bothered her. According to culture, a woman's primary goal should be to create life and start a family. In many circumstances, this is correct; however, it is not true in the case of Sula. Nel embodies the perfect lady, while Sula does not. Sula has no ambition to have children or marry; her major worry is her relationship with Nel. Sula is prepared to go and start a new life someplace else after losing her connection with Nel since Nel has a symbiotic relationship with someone else. She returns to the Bottom ten years later since she did not find what she was seeking. Sula returns home disappointed to see that her best friend is just as uninteresting as the other ladies in town. She "had given herself over to them" and is now doing the same thing as everyone else (Morrison, 118). The day Nel married Jude Green, she broke a commitment she made when she was a youngster. She swore that she would transform into herself. The friendship decays completely when Sula slept with Jude, Nel’s husband. As a result, Nel’s anger towards Sula for what happened made their relationship threatened as well as causing them to separate. After the inconvenience, Nel did not want to interact a word with Sula again. But when Nel finds out that her old friend was dying, she decided to meet her and pardons Sula for her tactlessness. Despite the ups and downs, the characters faced, they found the best version of themselves.
Furthermore, besides all the objections and differences this friendship confronted is a reliable relationship that provides them self-improvement. They were able to love and support each other. This connection they have is fundamental, it helps them in many positive ways to improve their future, in fact, they discovered reinforcement in their personas. Sula and Nel shared happiness, disappointments, and a beautiful friendship that gave them the chance to emphasize with each other. They found support and solutions to a variety of problems that in a certain way tortured them regarding their background. The daily struggle against racial, gender, and class discrimination, the messages expressed by the author help to understand the struggle of the situation they lived in at that period of time. Morrison establishes, “they felt the ease and warmth of old friends when they met, first in those chocolate halls and next through the ropes of the swing. Because they had learned years before that they were neither white nor male and that they were denied both independence and triumph, they set crating something else to be” (Morrison 53).
The relationship between Nel and Sula is not the only example of this subject in the novel. Hannah's inability to develop female friends because she sleeps with their husbands’ mirrors this as well, but from the perspective of someone unable to form those bonds. Hannah cannot stand her daughter, even though she loves her since she is her mother. This lack of connection is handed down to Sula, who is oblivious to how her actions harm her friendship with Nel or anybody else for that matter. Furthermore, the topic emerges when Shadrack is poor and realizes that his "visitor" will never return. Shadrack has never been able to form a normal bond with another person, but he has held Sula in high regard since she first knocked on his door years ago. Shadrack considers this sliver of attention to be friendship.
Sula and Nel's early connection was beneficial to both of them. Sula's encounter with Nel was fortuitous, as they discovered a soul match in each other. In their mother-daughter connections, both girls are lacking in affection. Sula's father is deceased, and Nel's father is at sea, so they cannot find this devotion in their father-daughter interactions. They discover the love they require in each other. Their companionship served as a means for them to mother one another. They began to help each other and figure out what each other needed in their lives because they could not get the support they needed from their families. This is essential as their friendship enables them to become reliant on each other in terms of physical and psychological support, which helps them avoid the effects of psychological disorders such as stress. Their friendship and support provided an avenue through which they could keep physical and psychological wellbeing.
