The conflict of Self

A detailed Summary of The conflict of Self

The best way to sum up Nel and Sula lies in a quote from the novel Sula. Morrison tells the reader that two very different black girls grew up in the Bottom. The first speaks of Nel, described by the narrator as one whose parents "had succeeded in rubbing [her] down to a dull glow any sparkle or sputter she had" (24). A townswoman describes "when Sula drank beer she never belched" (136). Obviously these two characters are extremely diverse. Sula felt no regret, and Nel was a nobody. Through different settings, conflicts, and diction both Sula and Nel's conflicts of finding and accepting their selves arises and makes them who they are (McClain 366).

In keeping with the idea that Sula and Nel are compliments to one another, it is fitting that the meaning of their names symbolically compliment each other. Nel, knell, connotes the long dreary sound that a bell makes announcing the death, or tragedy of someone. On the other hand Sula, Solyman, means The Magnificent (Mickelson 315). The meanings of their names are not a coincidence. Morrison wrote the novel Sula in the core of the revived feminist movement (Smith 324). Therefore Morrison's name choice had a great deal to do with her views on femininity. The author grea

tly admires the way that Sula embraces life and does not look back. Where as she looks down upon Nel's follow-the-leader living style. Morrison seems to be motivating the audience to consider a more non-conformist view of life (Mickelson 316)

Literary criticizer does not mention Nel. Maybe she feels that her conformed so much that it explaining it isn't necessary and especially not as interesting as Sula's defiance.

Morrison used Sula and Nel as representations of rebellion and conformity rather than as individual characters with their own minds and motivation. Anne Mickelson writes that Sula:

Exceeds boundaries, creates excitement, tries to break free of encroachments of external cultural forces and challenges destiny.... Believing that an unpatterned, unconditioned life is possible, Sula tries to avoid uniformity by creating her own kind of life (315)

But the author does not just leave the reader to think that Sula made the decision to rebel with out having due cause.

In the literary world the end of most women that rebel end in death. This destiny does not spare Sula. Even on her death bed she holds her position of rejecting the Christian definition of goodness. She believes that only life matters; it alone must serve her whims, and that immortality becomes too high a price to pay for duty and suffering (Mickelson 316). Sula leaves the bottom and embraces the world. She only returns when her appetite for

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 970
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English