Extract
“Who’s feeding the deweys and Tar Baby? You?”
“Sure me. Anyway Tar Baby don’t eat and the deweys still crazy.”
“I heard one of ‘em’s mamma came to take him back but didn’t know which
was hern.”
“Don’t nobody know.”
5
“And Eva? You doing the work for her too?”
“Well, since you haven’t heard it, let me tell you. Eva’s real sick. I had her put
where she could be watched and taken care of.”
“Where would that be?”
“Out by Beechnut.”
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“You mean that home the white church run? Sula! That ain’t no place for Eva.
All them women is dirt poor with no people at all. Mrs. Wilkens and them. They got
dropsy and can’t hold their water—crazy as loons. Eva’s odd, but she got sense. I
don’t think that’s right, Sula.”
“I’m scared of her, Nellie. That’s why…”
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“Scared? Of Eva?”
“You don’t know her. Did you know she burnt Plum?”
“Oh, I heard that years ago. But nobody put no stock in it.”
“They should have. It’s true. I saw it. And when I got back here she was
planning to do it to me too.”
“Eva? I can’t hardly believe that. She almost died trying to get to your mother.”
Sula leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “You ever known me to lie to
you?”
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“No. But you could be mistaken. Why would Eva…”
“All I know is I’m scared. And there’s no place else for me to go. We all that’s
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left, Eva and me. I guess I should have stayed gone. I didn’t know what else to do.
Maybe I should have talked to you about it first. You always had better sense than
me. Whenever I was scared before, you knew just what to do.”
The closed place in the water spread before them. Nel put the iron on the
stove. The situation was clear to her now. Sula, like always, was incapable of
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making any but the most trivial decisions. When it came to matters of grave
importance, she behaved emotionally and irresponsibly and left it to others to
straighten out. And when fear struck her, she did unbelievable things. Like that
time with her finger. Whatever those hunkies did, it wouldn’t have been as bad as
what she did to herself. But Sula was so scared she had mutilated herself, to protect
herself.
Guiding Questions

What’s the effect of the dramatic irony in the passage?

What’s the significance of the changes in Nel and Sula’s friendship over time?
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