Sula by Toni Morrison

Sula is a 1973 novel written by Toni Morrison. It is her first novel since her debut novel, The Bluest Eye. The novel focuses on the relationship between Sula's mother, Nel, and her siblings, Eva, Jude, and Jude. Sula reveals many personal secrets that are difficult to process. To read Sula, you must understand how her experiences shaped her life.

Sula's relationship with her mother

Sula's relationship with her mother is complicated. Her mother, Hannah, is a pernicious character, who does not love her children and always acts as if she does not want to have a child. Hannah never shows her love and struggled with it. Sula overhears her mother saying that she does not love her, and this leads to her growing up feeling unloved.

The relationship between Sula and her mother in Sula by Toni's novel is complex, examining how children and parents are affected by the lives of others. While Hannah and her daughter, Nel, follow the role of motherhood and society, Sula creates a life for herself and tries to live a life different from what she thinks her mother should be.

While Sula does not care much about domesticity before she meets Ajax, she quickly adapts to it when she falls in love. She gives in to her nesting instinct and makes Ajax's life her own. This echoes Nel's neediness and dependence in society. In Sula's case, this attitude is punished by society.

Sula's relationship with Nel

In Sula, Toni Morrison explores Sula's friendship with her neighbor, Nel, whose presence is felt throughout the novel. The two women share an unlikely bond, and Nel's visit to Sula is an opportunity to show her superiority. Both women pretend to have selfless intentions as they buy medicine for Sula. In addition, they spend time talking about life. Although Sula is dying alone, Nel reminds her that life is not a race, and that freedom is not about getting away from death. In addition, Sula makes a final speech to Nel, speaking about breaking down categories and oppositions.

Sula and Nel's relationship is complex. Although Sula's relationship with Nel is strained, she still finds pleasure in his company. Despite her need for Nel, Sula has a strong need to please another man. While Sula clings to the new man for protection, he also tries to change her definition of love to something more conventional.

Sula's relationship with Jude

Sula and Jude have an odd and complicated relationship. They're white and black, and share a fascination with boys. Their tragic relationship with Shadrack is also an example of how they're different from each other. In addition to their different skin colors, they also share a love of nature and their inseparability throughout their formative years. Even though they eventually marry, Sula doesn't fully know herself without her best friend.

Sula's mother believes in female independence, and her mother encourages her to live an independent life. This rule, however, is broken when Sula enters two relationships that violate her rule of separateness. First, she falls in love with Ajax, but he is scared off by her obsession. This obsession turns Sula's life upside-down and causes her to become an outcast.

Sula's relationship with Eva

Sula's relationship with Eva in Sula is a complicated one. The daughter of a wealthy family, she is concerned that her mother is not a suitable role model for her, and she puts her in a rest home so that she can avoid her. Sula feels threatened by Eva because she is strong and independent, and she is also concerned with her own self-preservation. The two women are too alike, however, to be able to live together harmoniously. Moreover, Eva has a name that connects her to Eve, the first woman in the Bible. Thus, Eva is the matriarch of peace women.

However, Sula is not able to find happiness in her new marriage to Shadrack, and her relationship with Eva becomes even more complicated. She is not able to make her daughter happy, and her husband, Albert, is not the same man she met in her life. Moreover, she is in a relationship with another man, a woman whom she never expected to be happy with. The novel explores this relationship in a number of ways.