Testing Friendships in Sula by Toni Morrison - 1148 Words

Every individual’s life is shaped by personal relationships that they have with others. Whether there are complications in the friendship or not, the person’s life is changed in some way. In Sula by Toni Morrison, friendships are put to the test. Single mother-child relationships and other friendships have hardships that they must overcome. Friendships between women when unmediated by men in a mother and child relationship create difficult decision-makings and ways of life, yet friendships between friends are less complicated and stronger without them. The mother and child relationships greatly affect the identity development in the kids. As seen in the community, the mother-child relationship is important in the sense that the mothers†¦show more content†¦On the other hand, Sula grew up in an opposite environment, one in which many people in the community did not agree with. â€Å"So when they met, first in chocolate halls and next through the ropes of the swing, they felt the ease and comfort of old friends†¦ Their meeting was fortunate, for it let them use each other to grow on. Daughters of distant mothers and incomprehensible fathers (Sula’s because he was dead; Nel’s because he wasn’t), they found in each other’s eyes the intimacy they were looking for† (52). Although they come from different backgrounds, the fact that they both lack something from their mothers and nonexistent fathers creates a common bond. They are happy with each other because they know what the other person is going through and they represent true friendship and understanding. Nel and Sula have two different personalities but they are able to compliment each other. They see in each other what they do not think they have in themselves and no other people in their lives are able to do this. The two girls seem inseparable until Sula has an affair with Jude, Nel’s husband. This is where a man was mediated into the situation and it changed everything in a complicated way. Although Nel may not realize it, she is most upset that she no longer has Sula to depend on. Nel questions, â€Å"But what about me? What about me? Why didn’t you think about me? Didn’t I count...? I was good to you, Sula, why don’t that matter?† (144). Nel cannot