Kerisha Goode
May 4, 2017
Essay 2.2
Toni Morrison

In Toni Morrison’s novel, Sula, I discovered an interesting relationship between the two main characters, Sula and Nel. “Their friendship was as intense as it was sudden. They found relief in each other’s personality.”(Morrison 53). The relationship is expressed as both liberating and binding through the standards of beauty. Through the actions and dialogue of Sula and Nel, the reader see’s how beauty shapes the body and perceptions of themselves, each other, and the world around them.
This theme of friendship between Sula and Nel had aspects of freedom and liberty with each other. Even though their relationship was built out of a rebellious act, it seems as though their friendship is necessary to have in order to get through their hard times. For Nel, some of her toughest moments was when Mrs.Wright, her mother, would tell her to do things like pull her nose. Prior to meeting Sula, Nel wouldn’t hesitate to do it, she would actually do it enthusiastically. However after their friendship evolved, she began to do it discretely. When they would go to bed, Nel would get under the covers to place a clothes pin on her nose. She started to show signs of how their relationship had affected her. “And although there was still the hateful hot comb to suffer through each Saturday evening, its consequences- smooth hair- no longer interested her” (Morrison 55). This ideal standard of beauty and the self view of the body provides this sense of freedom for these two girls. This freedom is internally, by relying on themselves and what they see fit as beauty. It is also external, with people like Mrs. Wright, the school kids, and society at this time with their already established perception of what beauty is.
“In the safe harbor of each other’s company they could afford to abandon the ways of other people and concentrate on their own perceptions of things” (Morrison 57). Once this friendship is formed we see that these ideas and standards are no longer relevant. The two girls began to find that relief in each other. This idea of relief expands a fundamental shift in perspectives because of another presence. The characters, Sula and Nel, provided a safe harbor for each other from the world around them. They feel as though they need protection from those external views and exterior pressures. For example, Sula carried a paring knife in her pocket and when times called she slashed off the tip of her finger (54). The girls always imagined having another person with them as they face the challenges of the world. Once they found each other, that void the imagined was filled. This imagined perspective allowed them to build up a world of their own around them. Further allowing them to go against views of the community and current social norms.
The significance of the setting being based in a small town in Ohio during the early to mid nineteen hundreds was to capitalize on the limitations the characters had. Discrimination and race wars were common. “Each had discovered years before that they were neither white nor male and that all freedom and triumph was forbidden to them” (Morrison 52). For these girls having this friendship was critical and at that age they were exactly what each other needed. This sense of having a support system around provided comfort for Sula and Nel. The roles of a relationship is prominent throughout the novel. Whether they were intentional or not they all seem to have some impact on each of the characters individually.