Sula Summary

"What difference does it make if the thing you’re scared of is real or not?" - A reflection on fear and identity in Toni Morrison's Sula.

1. The Bottom: A Community Born from Deception

The Bottom is an African American community forged from deception. Given to a Black slave under the false pretense of fertile land in the valley, it instead sits in the less farmable hills of Ohio. This foundational betrayal haunts the land, a theme Morrison builds upon as the novel unfolds.

This community, while vibrant and tightly knit, struggles under systemic racial barriers. It faces external pressures like segregation and internal challenges as its identity and survival are continuously tested. From growing up in this environment, characters like Nel and Sula adopt different perspectives on life, family, and their place in the world.

The tragic transformation of the Bottom—being razed for a golf course catering only to wealthy whites—symbolizes cultural erasure. Through the Bottom, Morrison melds the past's legacy with present struggles, portraying a community grappling with systemic marginalization and societal progress that doesn’t include them.

Examples

• A slave is tricked into choosing infertile hilltop land labeled "bottom" instead of fertile valley land.
• The Bottom once thrived with life and culture but faces its eventual destruction for a golf course.
• Nel and Helene’s train ride southward showcases segregation, highlighting institutional racism’s reach.

2. Friendship Between Sula and Nel: A Bond of Opposites

Sula and Nel’s deep childhood friendship illustrates the saying, “Opposites attract.” Nel’s structured, respectable upbringing contrasts sharply with Sula’s chaotic, free-spirited home life. Together, these girls find a companionship rooted in understanding, as if each sees something they’re missing in themselves.

Their bond, forged in their youth, comes with shared experiences like wandering the woods and confiding their dreams. Yet, one tragic moment—the accidental drowning of Chicken Little—shatters their innocent connection. Their private burden weighs on them differently, hinting at the divergent paths they’ll take as adults.

The friendship stands as a symbol for how relationships can be vehicles for growth yet carry unforeseen consequences. While the girls’ camaraderie at the start feels pure, their bond eventually withstands jealousy, betrayal, and unresolved contention.

Examples

• Nel’s structured, disciplined life as a preacher’s daughter versus Sula’s chaotic upbringing by her grandmother Eva.
• Sula’s fateful swing of Chicken Little that results in his death, which both girls choose to hide.
• The silence they maintain at Chicken Little’s funeral shows their guilt and differing emotional responses.

3. Eva Peace: Sacrifice and Control

Eva Peace stands as a matriarch who sacrifices for her family. When abandoned by her husband, BoyBoy, Eva leaves her children for 18 months, returning with only one leg and a home bought through unspecified means. Her selfless actions show her determination to provide, but they also raise questions about the burdens of sacrifice.

Eva’s love is tough, even controversial—seen starkly when she euthanizes her son, Plum, with fire to stop his heroin-induced suffering. Though painful for her and her family, she views this act as an ultimate expression of care.

Eva’s choices ripple throughout the book. By running a house full of boarders and taking in those in need, she becomes a community anchor. At the same time, her complicated decisions—shaped by love and survival—reveal the blurry line between caregiving and control.

Examples

• Eva’s decision to leave her children temporarily to ensure their survival.
• Euthanizing Plum by fire to free him from his addiction.
• Her home transforms into a haven for lost and down-on-their-luck community members.

4. Tragedy and the Cost of Conformity

Hannah, Sula’s mother, dies in a shocking accident when her dress catches fire. Eva’s desperate yet failed attempt to save her further highlights the theme of loss. This tragedy accelerates Sula’s detachment from her community and ignites her need to escape.

The scene echoes the pain of generational trauma as Sula begins to reject the conformist path the community expects her to take. Hannah’s death also deepens Sula’s perceived coldness, as her apparent detachment when watching her mother’s agony alienates her further from her neighbors.

On this note, Morrison repeatedly explores how lives become shaped—often constrained—by tragedy or societal expectations. Those attempting to break free, like Sula, often pay the steep price of isolation.

Examples

• Hannah’s death in flames and Eva’s injurious leap to rescue her.
• Sula silently watching, which the community interprets as callousness.
• Hannah’s fleeting relationships contrast Eva’s sacrifices, mirroring different approaches to love and independence.

5. Sula’s Return: A Catalyst for Division

When Sula returns to the Bottom after years away, her arrival disrupts the community. Having lived differently and embraced autonomy, she no longer fits in. Unmarried and unapologetically independent, she’s met with hostility, and her actions—like sleeping with white men—become sources of gossip.

The town scapegoats her for misfortunes, from accidents to poor crops. Her life choices threaten their traditional beliefs, making her both a target of blame and a reflection of fears about nonconformity.

Through Sula’s return, Morrison challenges readers to question how far communities should enforce conformity and whether progress for one person threatens the identity of the whole.

Examples

• Sula’s affair with white men sparks outrage among Bottom residents.
• The “plague of robins” is interpreted as a sign of Sula bringing bad luck.
• Mr. Finley choking to death on seeing Sula is attributed to her supposed malevolence.

6. Betrayal and Its Consequences

A turning point occurs when Sula and Nel’s friendship is tested by betrayal—Sula’s affair with Nel’s husband, Jude, destroys the bond they once shared. For Nel, it’s not just adultery, but a perceived betrayal of trust between women.

Sula’s reasoning—that her action was simply to fill a void—forces readers to contemplate morality’s complex boundaries. The fallout showcases how one act can spiral into irrevocable change in relationships.

Morrison uses this betrayal to examine individual desires versus shared expectations. For Sula, her actions stem from a need for agency. Nel, however, is left to reconcile love, loss, and forgiveness.

Examples

• Sula laughs in response to Jude’s irritation, piquing his interest further.
• Nel’s heartbreak when Jude leaves her and their children after the affair.
• Nel’s confrontation with Sula about her motivations years later.

7. Searching for Freedom: Sula’s Solitary Path

Sula spends her life questioning conformity and the societal constraints placed on women—especially Black women. When her lover Ajax leaves, she feels the weight of solitude but doesn’t abandon her belief in living life on her terms.

Her final days reflect both her triumphs and her costs. Alone and estranged, she passes away while wondering if her search for independence brought fulfillment or merely distraction.

Through Sula, Morrison portrays the price individuals pay when they defy conventions and pursue authenticity. Her journey poses the question: Is this price worth it?

Examples

• Sula attends university after fleeing the Bottom, seeking growth outside her hometown’s mold.
• Her short but meaningful affair with Ajax broadens her understanding of connection.
• Sula’s realization during her final moments: “It’s just something to do.”

8. Death and Reflection: Life’s Complexities

In her last meeting with Nel, Sula challenges traditional morality, questioning labels of "right" or "wrong." She confronts her choices not with regret, but with an understanding of life’s paradoxes. Every action, she realizes, is “just something to do.”

Her solitary death contrasts with her yearning to share her revelations about life and death with Nel. This reflection underscores a message about the human experience—what ultimately matters is the meaning we assign to our lives, not how others see us.

Morrison uses this scene to leave readers contemplating how judgment and understanding play into relationships, mortality, and meaning.

Examples

• Sula admits her affair with Jude wasn’t about love, but filling an empty space.
• Her rhetorical question, “How do you know?” left unanswered as Nel leaves.
• Sula’s peaceful realization about death being the “next thing to do.”

9. Nel’s Realization: The Aftermath of Friendship

After Sula’s death, Nel reflects on their friendship with a mix of sadness and insight. Her life spent conforming now seems shaped, in part, by Sula’s defiance of convention.

Standing at Sula’s grave, Nel realizes she may have lost more than her friend—she may have lost a part of herself she’d only glimpsed through their bond.

In the end, Nel’s experience echoes a larger question: How do our relationships shape who we become?

Examples

• Nel revisiting memories of Sula while attending her sparsely attended funeral.
• Realizing conformity came at a personal cost—unfulfilled dreams or desires.
• Nel’s final moment mourning not just Sula but their lost connection.

Takeaways

1. Embrace individuality but reflect on its costs to connections and community.
2. Consider how traditional roles and expectations shape—not always positively—identity.
3. Deep friendships require navigating both shared joys and painful betrayals.