Introduction
 Good vs. bad or right vs. wrong is a very important
theme
 The conventional idea of good and bad is altered in
Sula
 This alteration derives from the society
 This difference between Nel and Sula is what caused
this friendship
Different environments
This is shown in the different
environments they live in
•
Pg. 29
 Sula and Nel are portrayed through their households
 "household of throbbing disorder constantly awry with
things, people, voices and the slamming of doors"
 "surrounded by the high silence of her mother's
incredibly orderly house, feeling the neatness pointing at
her back"
1939
 Sula sleeps with Jude, causing the abandonment of Nel
 We can argue that this event is a direct result of
Hannah’s life
 Pg. 42
 Sula herself knows that the townspeople "despised her
and ... framed their hatred as disgust for the easy way she
lay with men"
The ambuiguity
 Nel judges Sula
 “You laying there in that bed without a dime or a friend to
your name having done all the dirt you did in this town and
you still expect folks to love you?” pg. 145
 Sula raises the debate
 “How you know?” Sula asked.
“Know what?” Nel still wouldn’t loot at her.
“About who was good. How you know it was you?”
“what you mean?”
“I mean maybe it wasn’t you. Maybe it was me.” pg. 146
Conclusion
 " Without her "evil" influence to rally them together,
the moral righteousness Sula inspired in the
townspeople begins to crumble.”
 Do we (society) need evil to remind us of what are
good actions?
Different views
 Eva’s missing leg has many explanations, all of which
include providing for her family
 If any of these are true, and it was to provide suitable
housing and food for her children, then it is all out of
altruism
Family care
 Eva sets Plum alight
“lit it and threw it onto the bed where the kerosene-soaked
Plum lay in snug delight.” – P.47
 Can be seen as a purifying action
“Some kind of baptism, some kind of blessing, he
thought.” – P.47
Conclusion
 Whether doing harm to yourself for the benefit of your
family is right or wrong, this has many different views, none
of which are even justified in the text.
 Eva kills her own son, Plum, because she does not want him
to fall deeper into heroin addiction, and end up taking his
own life – Eva does not feel it is quite right, but she seems to
feel as if she must do it.
 With it being seen as a purifying action in the text, it can be
hard to say whether her actions are rightly justified.