The Loss of Identity and Morals Through Relationships (Sula by Toni Morrison Essay Example)

📌Category: Books, Sula
📌Words: 931
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 25 March 2022

When choosing those in our lives we tend to choose those who we find a familiarity in, whether it be from ourselves or others we know. The reasoning behind this is often because we perceive a connection between us and these people, however in certain relationships this connection becomes too strong and the lines which once connected these people can blur and the individuality of these people can come into question. One relationship which embodies this in the novella Sula by Toni Morrison are the characters Sula and Nel’s. While the spiritual union between the two seems innocent and resembles that of two childhood best friends, as the story progresses so does the characters lack of innocence, ability to connect with others, and moral standing.

Morrison begins to portray the downfalls of spiritual union on individualism by portraying the initial components of Nel’s desire for individuality, and the individuality of both Nel and Sula. Nel states her initial grip on independence from her family by saying, “I’m me. I’m not their daughter. I’m not Nel. I’m me. Me,” (Morrison 28). The appeal of individuality to not only Nel, but the audience as well by her description of it, “Each time she said the word me there was a gathering in her like power, like joy, like fear, “ (Morrison 28). The way which she describes individuality has a distinct intensity which reiterates the idea of individuality being something exciting, uncharted, and absolute. The descent of her individuality begins when her connection with Sula grows and begins the sacrifice almost of their individuality to one another. As the relationship begins it has a very innocent tone, that of childhood best friends who spend their time together, yet still retain their individuality. One way which the novella describes this individuality is their personal preferences, “Nel, who regarded the oppressive neatness of her home with dread, felt comfortable in it with Sula, who loved it…” (Morrison 29). While this statement from the novella gives a great example of their individuality through their individual desires to have something opposite to their home lives, it also begins the conformity of their individuality as Nel begins to be shown as becoming accepting of the neatness when with Sula, despite her original despise of it. Even when their friendship progresses they still manage to keep their individuality intact as it is stated that while girls are not fully formed, Nel is the more strong and consistent of the two. This is shown to begin to slowly change however when Sula cuts off her own finger in order to protect the two. The friendship meets it’s absolute climax when the girls accidentally kill Chicken Little and shows even more the transfer of their individuality when Nel suspects that Shadrock had seen them accidentally kill Chicken Little and Sula is the first to act. This also further shows how their spiritual union has begun to cause a lack of their own identity as well as the decline of their morals as Sula does not even seem to care when her own mother burns.

The assumed end of Sula and Nel’s spiritual union is shown when Nel begins a new one between herself and Jude. This also completes the sacrifice of their individuality to one another as each begins to yearn for what the other desired when they were younger, with Sula leaving the bottom and Nel committing to the steady, rule-bound home setting which she once despised and Sula had yearned for. Once Sula does return to the bottom it only reiterates how she has adapted the ruleless and unattached style of her childhood and how Nel has now given her individuality to her husband and acts in the way a typical housewife would in the bottom. When Sula and Nel do reunite it becomes clear that they both have become empty shells devoid of their own moral and individual beliefs. Sula, sends her grandmother away and begins to adopt the promiscuity that her mother once had and even sleeps with Nel’s husband in an unconscious attempt to regain the connection she not only once had to Nel, but her mother as well. When Nel figures this out she begins to deny it, and more specifically her own disgust of her true feelings surrounding her lack of connection to not only those she loves but her own individuality, as she is not the strong individual she once was, but a hollow one. After Sula realizes that Nel is not able to give the connection that they once had she searches for it in the man she sees, attempting to revert to her original identity which yearned for a stable environment by gaining the qualities of a housewife. The most important moments which highlight this point and tie together the true effects of their loss of individuality is when they both realize that they were searching for a connection to one another, with Sula on her death bed as her last thoughts involve Nel, and Nel when she realizes that as well after seeing Sula’s grandmother. These scenes do so by revealing the true motives of their search for connection to one another when Nel recognizes the furry ball, which she had previously associated with her feelings of contempt from losing her individuality, as Sula. In this moment it can be seen that in these years they had not been searching specifically for their connection to one another or another person, but instead their own individuality. 

Through the progression of the novella it becomes clear that the merge of two people’s identity can lead them to become the other and as a result lose their individuality, including their morals, beliefs, and attitude, resulting in empty shells yearning for connection to themselves. This was clearly shown through Sula and Nel’s relationship as the two grew together, fell apart, and eventually were able to reconnect to not only one another but their original identities as well. The lack of morals, empathy, and true identity shows the very negative effects of spiritual unions.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.