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Sula by Toni Morrison Discussion

The protagonist of Toni Morrison's Sula is undoubtedly Nel. The novel is narrated in

third person limited point of view, with the majority of the story being told from Nel's

perspective. I agree with the assertion that the real protagonist of Sula is Nel, not Sula (Morrison,

72). Nel is the one who goes through the most transformation in the novel, both in her

relationships and in her own sense of self. One key scene that illustrates this is when Nel

confronts Sula about her affair with Jude. Up until this point, Nel has always been the more

reserved and proper of the two friends, while Sula has been the wild one. But in this scene, Nel

finally stands up to Sula and tells her off.

It's a turning point for Nel, who finally starts to assert herself more and to live her life on

her own terms. "You think just because you're bad, you're better than me. But you're not. You're

just bad." (Morrison, 185) This quote shows how Nel has finally realized that she doesn't need to

live up to other people's expectations, and that she can be her own person. She's no longer going

to be the good girl who always does what she's supposed to do. Sula, on the other hand, doesn't

really change that much over the course of the novel. She remains the same free-spirited,

carefree person she's always been. Even at the end of the novel, when she's dying of cancer, she's
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still more concerned with living in the moment than with looking back on her life. "Sula said to

herself: I am me. I am here." This quote shows that, even at the end, Sula is still focused on the

present and on enjoying life, rather than on reflecting on the past or on her own mortality. So, in

conclusion, I think the assertion that Nel is the real protagonist of Sula is correct. She's the one

who goes through the most transformation, both in her relationships and in her own sense of self.
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Works Cited

Stein, Karen F. "Toni Morrison's Sula: A Black Woman's Epic." Black American Literature

Forum. School of Education, Indiana State University, 1984.