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America has always been regarded as the nation of liberty and freedom. Our founding forefathers have shaped the values of our country according to their strong beliefs of free will and independence. To this day, those values still prevail and often inspire our individualistic ways of thinking. In Toni Morrison s novel Sula, two friends must make the imperative decision in life to follow their boundless dreams or to hold onto their roots in their community of the Bottom. Each faces obstacles, joys, as well as consequences for their decisions. Nel Wright, a woman in search of strength and stability, commits to her role as a member of her community.
She follows the valued belief of marriage and becomes the loyal and devoted wife to her husband Jude and a loving mother to her three children. However, Nel s best friend Sula possesses a complete different outlook on life and frees herself from the constricting beliefs of the community. She leaves town in search of the life she desires but most importantly, in search of herself. Their opposing values and judgments eventually tear apart what was once a tightly knitted friendship between the two.
The value of freedom versus commitment is portrayed through the choices Sula and Nel make and Morrison leaves us with the question: which of these two women survives in the end? The environment and upbringing of a child builds the foundation for her values and beliefs. Nel s mother Helene is a well-respected woman of the Bottom community and an incredible woman who carries the look of sophistication and elegance. She is a woman who w[ins] all social battles with presence and a conviction of the legitimacy of her authority (18). Upon the birth of Nel, Helene rose grandly to the occasion of motherhood (18) and like a piece of fresh clay, she begins to mold Nel into her desired shape. Helene s oppressive neatness (29) and conservatism dr[ives] her daughter s imagination underground (18) and transforms Nel s enthusiasm into majestic composure.
To Helene s satisfaction, Nel eventually becomes the obedient and polite (18) daughter that she hopes for. Admiring her mother s confidence and dignified reputation in the community, Nel looks to her mother for guidance in becoming a distinguishing woman herself. A mother leaves an everlasting imprint of her own moral values and judgments on her child and eventually the child becomes the blueprint reflecting those ethics in which her mother believes in. Sula Peace grows up in a household without limitations and restrictions.
Her mother Hannah is a woman who indulges in casual sex for mere pleasure and entertainment. Setting her focus on seducing the men in town, Hannah never scold[s] or g[ives] directions (29) and as a result, Sula does not understand the principle of limitations and views the world with no boundaries. Unlike Nel s family, the Peace family is a large household and it is a given that if you did not watch out for yourself, nobody would. Sula s concept of self-reliance is acquired through the lack of structure in her family and the absence of nurturance and love from her mother. Sula holds onto this ideology even closer when she overhears Hannah confessing to her friends that her love for her daughter was no more than that of the kind of love that a mother develops for her daughter simply because of the mother and daughter connection they share (57). Upon hearing this, Sula is bewildered and decides to look within herself for strength and direction.
Morrison s novel focuses on several different values and depicts how each character weighs them through their actions. Nel s first trip outside of the Bottom allows her to look at herself differently for the first time. The trip gives her a new found strength to cultivate a friend in spite of her mother (29) and this sense of me-ness (29) sparks the beginning of a wonderful friendship with Sula Peace. They f[ind] relief in each other s personality (53) and look to each other for strength and comfort.
Being with Sula allows Nel to shine and only with Sula d[oes] that quality have free reign (83). Because Nel and Sula isolate themselves within their Black community, they shelter and value their friendship like no other. However, Jude s marriage proposal to Nel ignites the family value in her and for the first time in her life, she feels wanted and needed. Like her mother, Nel feels righteous and takes pride in knowing that her loyalty and devotion to her family will win the acceptance of the community. Nel s marriage ultimately changes her relationship with Sula and greater than her friendship [is] this new feeling of being needed by someone who saw her singly (84).
Nel finds comfort and stability knowing that she is in control during a state of crisis because it takes focus off of her own dilemmas. Marrying Jude is a clear example of Nel s compassion to help Jude make his transition into manhood. As she tries to shake off the fear and sorrow of Sula and Jude s betrayal, she basks in the idea of comforting her children when they had nightmares to avoid dealing with her own nightmarish reality. 330
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Research essay sample on Values And Judgments Sula Peace Nel