Overall I really enjoyed this book. It took me a little while to get into it because it was a little confusing to me at first but by the end I could not put it down!
The first passage that I had a strong reaction to was when Nel caught Sula and Jude in the bed room.
"Her chin was in her hand and she sat like a visitor from out of town waiting for the hosts to get some quarreling done and over with so the card game could continue and me wanting her to leave so I could tell you privately that you had forgotten to button your fly because I didn't want to say it infront of her, Jude. And even when you began to talk, I couldn't hear because I was worried about you not knowing that your fly was open and scared too because your eyes looked like the soldiers' that time on the train when my mother turned to custard."
First of all this part of the book I had a strong reaction to becasue I thought it was so unexpected and it totally caught me off gaurd. I took this passage and got the image of Sula sitting on the bed leaning on her hand with this attitude look towards Sula, like a snotty little teenage girl that knows she did something wrong but refuses to admit it, so she has an attitude. I also found it interesting how Nel went into shock. All she could think about was the button on his fly, she didn't want Sula to notice becasue she thought it would be akward for her to look at that part on Jude, which would be a normal reaction but not after they had just saw each other naked. I think I would react in a similar way that Nel did, obviously not really knowing how I would but I think I can relate to her state of shock.
The second passage was a quote from Sula that just made me stop for a second and think about what she had just said.
"I was good to you Sula, why doesn't that matter?"
Sula turned her head away from the boarded window. Her voice was quiet and the stemmed rose over her eye was very dark. "It matters, Nel, but only to you. Not to anybody else. Being good to someboidy is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don't get nothing for it."
The part of this that caught my attention, is Sula saying that being good to someone is just as risky as being mean to someone, and it is totally true. Being nice to someone is probably more risky than being mean , because you don't have a garentee that they are going to be nice back and not mean. It is like love, it is a risk, but it is also a risk of losing something great if you don't love. For once in this part of the book, Sula makes sense, even if I don't agree with her saying that it only matters to Nel that she was good to her.
4 comments:
I really liked the second part of your comment, the part where Sula tells Nell that being nice to someone is just as risky as being mean to them. I was intrigued by your take on that, thinking that it is in fact a true statment. I never really thought being nice to someone was risky, but after reading your comment I would have to agree with you. Some people, I'm sorry to say, are just not open to niceness from others.
I really agreed with the first passage that you wrote about. When I was reading that part I had to go over and read it again because I was confused on who was with Jude. I could not believe and did not want to believe that it was Sula. Also, someone else wrote about that second passage as well and once again I think it shows Sula using her experiences in life and giving Nel advice, which friends often do.
I liked the second half of your comment a lot. I totally agree that being nice to somebody is as much a gamble as being mean. If they do not respond in the way you hoped, it can ruin things forever. I do, however, agree that it only matters to Nel. Relationships are between two people, except for maybe the deweys.... But anyway, I think that it would only matter to Nel how Sula treated her. Nel's children would not care, nor would they be affected by it. Her mother, Helene, certainly wouldn't care. Nel is a grown woman and if Sula did something to her, good or bad, it would not affect anyone but Nel.
I also liked the second passage as a few have said above. I thought long and hard about the comment about being nice and being mean, after I read this in the book. It is a true statement...being nice is a risk. But even though sometimes it doesnt gain a kind act back, when it does come back to you, it usually is worth the risk. Just as when you are mean to someone, some people go around all day acting like the rudest person in the world and most of the time people just overlook it. Sometimes, however, when the person who always is mean gets a nasty result from someome, it is usually worth it. I have seen this happen so many times, when the mean natured person finally has someone stand up to them it is usually such a thrashing that the person leaves with their tail between their legs!
I have to comment also on what Sula said, about it only counting to her. I have to disagree with this, I mean they were best friends. I just do not see how Sula could treat Nel so badly after all the good things and stuff they shared. It just shows that Sula does not have the same weigh of guilt that normal people would when they wrong a friend. Sula surely had a unique way of thinking and it shows throughout the entire novel.
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