Sula+Peace

Sula is the protagonist of the novel, at once contrasting to and inextricable from her best friend, Nel; she lives in a boarding house of many rooms and represents the more impulsive and audacious half of her multifaceted friendship. In the chapter of the year 1922, Sula persuades Nel to deliberately walk the road on which the white boys bully the black children and during the subsequent confrontation, she uses a small knife to cut off a piece of her finger, defending Nel and hinting at what she would do to the boys if they bother Nel again. Other major events include the accidental death of Chicken Little, after which Sula becomes severely distressed (while Nel remains eerily calm) and the burning of Hannah, Sula's mother, during which Sula merely watches her mother being engulfed by searing flame and her grandmother's desperate struggle to save her daughter.
 * Sula's part in Part I of the novel: **

- More impulsive than Nel, but still inseparable (until she leaves Bottom to go to college) - Fiercely fights against convention, including racism and traditional roles of women - Discovers early in life the multifaceted nature of mother's love - Black birthmark above her left eye; interpreted by the Bottom people in different ways (snake, rose, etc) - Comes from a family of women who "loved all men"
 * Significant points about Sula: **

1) “The birthmark was to grow darker as the years passed, but now it was the same shade as her gold-flecked eyes, which, to the end, were as steady and clean as rain.” (53) 2) Hannah: “You love her, like I love Sula. I just don’t like her. That’s the difference.” (57) 3) “He had answered a question she had not asked, and its promise licked at her feet.” (63) Sula Part II
 * Major quotations: **

Summary: In Part Two of the novel, Sula returns to Bottoms accompanied with a plague of robins, after having traveled to various cities. Once she arrives, she sends Eva to an old person’s home against her will, and gets back in touch with Nel. Nel walks in on Sula and Jude sleeping together, and these two characters do not speak again until Nel visits Sula on her death bed. Before then, Sula is regarded as a social pariah in Bottom, as she is hated by all inhabitants, and the people of Bottom begin to change their ways due to her presence. When Ajax comes to visit her, she begins to get attached to him, which results in Ajax leaving her due to fear of commitment. In the end of the novel, she falls ill and dies, and the inhabitants of Bottom lose the reason that united them: their hatred for Sula.

Significant Points: o Sends Eva to old person’s home (Sunnydale) after threatening to burn her (like Plum + Hannah) o Sleeps with Jude + is caught by Nel o Various incidents linked to Sula’s presence in Bottoms: mothers taking care of children, wives paying attention to husbands o Sleeps regularly w/ Ajax – begins to feel desire for him (not love –possession ) o Ajax leaves her – enters denial that he was a stranger (did not know his real name) o Falls ill, Nel comes to visit her + she dies ( discovers death isn’t painful)

Major Quotes: 1) "That incident, and Teapot's Mama, cleared up for everybody the meaning of the birthmark over her eye; it was not a stemmed rose, or a snake, it was Hannah's ashes marking her from the very beginning." (114) 2) "Sula began to discover what possession was. Not love, perhaps, but possession or at least the desire for it." (131) 3) "'Dying. Just like me. But the difference is they [every colored woman in this world] dying like a stump. Me, I'm going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world." (143)