Control In Sula

In Sula, by Toni Morrison, the town on the hill of Medallion, ironically known as the Bottom, is filled with many people who struggle to live in the world. To them, nothing makes sense and their world is upside down. Throughout the story, Morrison proves that people like Shadrack, the Deweys, Jude, Nel, and Sula change the way they see and interact with the world in order to establish a sense of control and meaning in their lives. Like the people in the Bottom, the town’s story is made up in order to sort out why it, and the people in it, are there. A slave is given the land on the hill and told it is called the Bottom, since it’s the bottom of heaven. What the slave owner fails to tell him is that the land is winder and infertile. This ironic situation was “just a nigger

She lives her life for others, like her marriage to Jude, and only finds meaning for herself when she is with Sula, a childhood friend who compliments her personality. Together, they create meaning for themselves through each other. “[Nel’s] parents had succeeded in rubbing down to a dull glow any sparkle or splutter she had. Only with Sula did that quality have free reign, but their friendship was so close, they themselves had difficulty distinguishing one’s thoughts from the other’s” (Morrison 83). Before Sula, Nel did not know who she was and did not have meaning in her life. When Nel hung out with her, “she simply helped others define themselves. Other people seemed to turn their volume on and up when Sula was in the room” (Morrison 95). This shows how Nel creates meaning and acts as her true self by being with Sula. Nel’s life was always for others, but her relationship with Sula allows her to live a life for herself. When she rediscovers herself, then she is able to live and make sense of the world. Sula helps Nel make a different world for herself where she can actually live for and as