Essay by tolaz123College, UndergraduateB, March 2012

download word file, 6 pages 0.0


In the book Sula by Toni Morrison, a friendship is presented. The friendships between two young girls in a small town called the Bottom in the lower part of Ohio. However, it is not their friendship alone that is so compelling; it is how they are such opposites. There symbiotic relationship; is like one without the other. They will not suffice in its existence without one another. Together they form a solid working unit, which is called "sisterhood"

Brought together through their family life, the two opposite girls find support in one another. Nel is balanced and lucid, while Sula is wild and irrational. Nel and Sula only function successfully when they are together, and it is only at these times that they are happy. Otherwise, Sula and Nel are both isolated by and vulnerable to the greed of the people of the Bottom. Throughout the book, based on their personalities, society judged Sula as "bad", while Nel is thought to be "good".

As a result, both characters identify these notions as the truth about themselves.

Nel and Sula personal life stem from their familial upbringing. The contrast between Sula and Nel's upbringing is startling, and their sprits reflect this. The differences in the houses are evident in the physical structures themselves. Nel's house is always in order and well kept, while Sula's house is huge and rambling. Nel's household is bound by the social standards that define the traditional meaning of "family", but Sula's household is built on an unconventional family structure; she lives in a multigenerational household filled with family members and boarders. Whereas Nel's household is static and repressive, Sula's household is vibrant, active, and volatile and Nel home is quiet and peaceful

Sisterhood is one of the most important things in black women life. According...