Sula by Toni Morrison is the story of Sula Peace and her best friend Nel, who, after a tragic accident, become enemies and live separate lives. The following passage comes from the imminent death of Sula, who lies alone in bed, very ill and weak. Prior to the passage, Nel had come to restore their broken friendship but does not get the answers she wants from Sula, so she leaves Sula to die alone The death and reflections carry the theme that mistakes are inevitable and can permanently alter ones life, but self-forgiveness and acceptance are necessary to achieve inner peace. In the following passage, Sula, who is in the process of dying, reflects upon her childhood, the accident in which she and Nel drowned Chicken Little, and how it drove them apart, which exhibits the previously stated theme of mistakes and forgiveness.
It would be here, only here, held…show more content… “It would be here, only here” shows the specificity of Sula’s residence, in which she lay on the brink of death, in her Eva’s house (149). This location represents her childhood, and gives readers the sense that she is reverting back into a child-like state to cope with her grief of losing her relationship with Ajax and Nel. Within the location, she was with a “blind window,” “blind” representing her blindness and lack of understanding towards Nel’s feelings, and also her general separation from the town of Medallion. The window is “blind” because she is not looking out of it; Sula does not want to look at the world, because she does not see it the same way she once did, and has become jaded and numb through the traumatizing experience of drowning Chicken Little and losing Nel, and then Ajax. Sula has essentially made mistakes she is unable to forget, which makes her unable to enjoy life as she once did, and she reverts into a child-like state to cope with