The fresh Sula, is a work which contrasts the lives of its two chief characters Nel and Sula. They appear, on the surface, to be the epidemy of binary antonyms but this is in actuality their implicit in bond. The differences in their personalities complement one another in a manner that forges an about unbreakable confederation. Sula is compulsive and unmanageable while her opposite number, Nel, is reasonable and principled.
To turn out Nel homo by subscribing to the theory that a homo is one who possess both good and bad traits, one must merely look at how she interacts with Sula, here both negative and positive traits are evident. Nel’s “good” traits evidently come to the head when looking at her character. One might state this is a consequence of how she was raised and that she was merely a merchandise of her environment. Nel’s parents married out of convenience instead than love and Nel was raised in a family of “oppressive sprucenes” . Nel’s female parent Helene played a big function in set uping her positive attitude and unagitated demeanour. “Under Helene’s manus the miss became obedient and polite. Any enthusiasms that small Nel showed were calmed by the female parent until she drove her girl’s imaginativeness underground.”
Although this would look lead to an highly sad being, it was precisely this sort of env ironment that lead to Nel’s calm and reasonable disposition. Nel’s “bad” traits are as well hidden as her “good traits are evident. If there were one action in particular that might blemish the otherwise flawless character of Nel it would be her selfish behavior. This behavior is seen when Nel attempts to recreate the relationship that she and Sula share with someone else, instead of maintaining her relationship with Sula. Now instead of Nel and Sula joined to make one person, Nel and Jude “together would make one Jude.” Another of Nel’s negative qualities was how dependent she was on what other thought of her. The only reason Nel ended her relationship with Sula was because she felt she needed to be “needed by someone who saw her singly.”
Initially this statement appears to state that Nel wishes to become more of an individual, when in actuality it is only further proof that she is completely dependent on what others think of her. Nel’s want to be an individual while still needing to be judged and approved of by others is the single dichotomy which makes her human. It is the foundation of all human nature that humans are a gregarious species, they must socialize, live with, and be judged by others to truly feel complete while still attempting to be an individual. It is this eternal battle that rages inside of all Nel which truly makes her human.
