Complementary Duality in Sula Sula by Toni Morrison is in itself a story of contrast, of two polar opposites that complement each other the same way the yin does with the yang, one cannot be complete without the other. The story of Sula takes place in a small town called the bottom; a piece of land given to the black community after a slave was tricked by his past owner. The residents of the Bottom suffer from racism and sexism on a daily basis, especially if they travel outside of town. To cope with this discrimination they place themselves on one of two extreme opposites on the spectrum. The distinctive characteristics of these extremes are illustrated by several elements in the story such…show more content… It is here that we see a contrast in ideologies between Nel’s “me-ness” and her mom’s personality. This small phase of experimentation is what leads Nel to Sula, whose free spirit attracts Nel and eventually leads to them becoming best friends. The reader begins to see this attraction when Nel visits Sula’s household and she falls in love with her families free spirited life style; “As for Nel, she preferred Sula’s woolly house, where a pot of something was always cooking on the stove; where her mother, Hannah, never scolded or gave directions; where all sorts of people dropped in; where newspapers where stacked in the hallway and dirty dishes left for hours at a time in the sink , and where a one-legged grandmother named Eva handed you goobers from deep inside her pockets or read you a dream.” (Morrison pg.28). This quote tells us that Nel is attracted to the nonconventional lifestyle that her mother has raised her to go against. This highlights the contrast between the lifestyle of Nel’s household and Sula’s