In Toni Morrison's novel Sula, the characters' attitudes toward their sexuality are shaped by their processes of identity formation. Sula and Nel, despite their similarities, have conflicting beliefs about sex due to the very different female role models they grew up with. Their beliefs are further influenced by pre-existing race and gender roles in their society, which have created a complex web of rules and double standards that simultaneously sexualize women while discouraging them from participating in sexual activities. This results in the formation of inconsistent sexual identities for the novel's protagonists, as they identify with characters who also struggle to navigate the complex and paradoxical concept of female sexuality. This can be proven through a Lacanian reading of the text, as the older characters in the novel act as imagos for their younger counterparts and help them define their societal roles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayAccording to Jacques Lacan's essay “The Mirror Stage”, a person begins to form an identity when he looks at himself for the first time in a mirror and recognizes the image as a representation of oneself. Lacan evokes the mirror stage “as an identification” or as “the transformation which takes place in the subject when he assumes an image” (Lacan 2). The “transformation” to which Lacan refers is the formation of the ego, or sense of self. However, the crucial error made during the mirror stage is that the child incorrectly recognizes the image in the mirror, or imago, as himself rather than a spectral image. This happens in the novel when Nel sees herself in the mirror and has a cathartic moment saying, “I am me. I'm not their daughter. I'm not Nel. I am me. Me” (Morrison 28). This lack of knowledge becomes the basis of one's identity, otherwise known as one's personal narrative. She advances her narrative through misunderstandings as she continues to identify with various people, or imagos, throughout the story. As a result, her personality begins to diverge from Sula's as identities are influenced by the environment and they identify with different characters. However, identification is not always intentional. For example, Nel does not deliberately try to imitate Hélène. Rather than forming an identity based on Helen's, she begins to form identities in relation to other people: first Sula, then later, Jude. One of the first instances of Nel changing because of another person occurs when Sula visits her house and "Nel, who looked with fear at the oppressive cleanliness of his house, felt at ease there with Sula , who loved him” (Morrison 29). Although she does not consciously try to adapt her personality to Sula's, she naturally adapts it in order to connect with her. A more explicit example appears later in the text, when their friendship is described as being "so close" that "they themselves found it difficult to distinguish their thoughts from those of the other" (Morrison 83). In this way, Nel is more like her mother than she realizes. When they are on the train together and Helen "smiles dazzlingly and flirtatiously at the conductor's salmon-colored face" (Morrison 21), she has indirectly taught Nel to adapt and satisfy the needs and demands of desires of others. Despite the fact that Nel is humiliated by her mother's "stupid smile" and is "ashamed to feel that these men... seethed with a hatred towards her mother that was not there in the beginning but was born"(Morrison 22), she still echoes this behavior later in her own life. This moment completely changes Nel's perception of her mother, as the text says, "if this tall and proud woman, this woman who was very punctilious with her friends, who slipped into church with unparalleled elegance, who could 'a look would quiet a rowdy, if she really was custard, then there was a chance Nel would be too' (Morrison 22). Nel had never seen her mother sexualized before this moment, and this creates a shift in their relationship because it makes Nel realize that "she wanted to make sure no man looked at her that way" and that she would be “on guard”. always” (Morrison 22). However, as her later relationship with Jude shows, Nel cannot avoid the sexualization and stigma that comes with being a black woman, in the same way that her mother could not. Another parallel between the two women can be seen in their relationships with men. Helen's life is described in simple terms, as Morrison writes that she "loved her home and loved to manipulate her daughter and her husband" (Morrison 18). Despite the fact that Nel does not openly admit to manipulating Jude, she relies on him to create her own identity, such as when "she didn't even know she had a neck until Jude noticed, or his smile was something.” but parting his lips until he saw it as a little miracle” (Morrison 84). Leaning on Jude to remind her that she is a whole person is itself a manipulation of her being. Unfortunately, Nel is not alone in her predisposition to create an identity over others. The society she grew up in encourages this behavior from women? especially black women. This can be seen in the text when Jude's ideal relationship is explained because "above all, he wanted someone to care about his hurt, to care very deeply... What if he were to be a man , this person could no longer be his mother” (Morrison 82). This is not to say that he loves Nel, but he intrinsically believes that she is not his own person, but rather a figure in his life meant to complete him. His greatest desire is that “the two together would make one Jude” (Morrison 83). Nel is a perfect wife for Jude because “she had no aggression” (Morrison 83) and she rarely disagreed with him, if at all. The relationship that develops between the two of them is not only dysfunctional, it is also very common at the time. Both men and women reinforce the belief that women are not complete beings in themselves, which can be seen when Eva tells Sula, "No woman has any business without a man" (Morrison 92 ). Additionally, in Nel's argument with Sula at the end of the novel, Nel even tells her, "You can't do everything." You are a woman and a woman of color at that. You can't act like a man. You can’t wander around independently, do what you want, take what you want, leave what you don’t want” (Morrison 142). Her comment proves that she doesn't rely on others because she really wants to, but because she feels there is no other way for a black woman to act. On the contrary, Sula rejects the role of black woman that society imposes on her. His attitude towards female sexuality is unconventional, much like that of his mother Hannah. Neither woman marries, but instead maintains a series of sexual partners over a period of time. In this way, Sula attempts to create his identity as a black man rather than a black woman. She believes black men are “the envy of the world,” explaining to Jude, “everything in the world loves you. White menlove… And white women? They all chase you to the four corners of the world, look for you under every bed…Colored women worry about their poor health just trying to hang on to your handcuffs” (Morrison 104). Rather than defining her identity through her relationships with others, she does the opposite, as the text says: “Sula never competed; she simply helped others define themselves. Other people seemed to turn up the volume when Sula was in the room” (Morrison 95). Paradoxically, in her sexual relationships with men, she uses others to understand herself, but unlike Nel, she does not rely on them. Sula “slept with men as often as she could” because “it was the only place she could find what she was looking for” (Morrison 122), but the men she sleeps with are almost interchangeable for her, as she often looks at her partner "in wonder trying to remember his name" (Morrison 123). Additionally, her rejection of traditional gender roles can be seen when she asks Nel, "Is this what I'm supposed to do?" Spend my life keeping a man? (Morrison 143). Similar to her mother Hannah, Sula does not understand the possessive feeling that women have towards their husbands because she does not define herself through a particular man. Because she identified with imagos “who thought all men were available and selected among them based solely on their tastes, she was ill-prepared for the possessiveness of the one person she felt close to” (Morrison 119 ). Ultimately, it is Sula's lack of understanding of the concept of possession that destroys her friendship with Nel. Even though Sula “knew pretty well what the other women said and felt, or said they felt,” she believes that “she and Nel had always seen through them” (Morrison 119). She does not realize that “marriage, apparently, changed all that” because she “had no intimate knowledge of marriage” (Morrison 119). Their disagreement at the end of the novel comes from the different ways they define concepts like love, friendship, morality, and femininity. This can be seen when Nel says to her friend, "You didn't love me enough to leave him alone... You had to take him away," to which Sula responds, "What do you mean, l 'take away ? (Morrison 145). Sula does not realize that Nel has possessive feelings towards Jude, and for this reason does not understand why Nel can no longer be with him after he cheated on her. Additionally, Sula does not believe that her tendency to ignore social norms makes her a worse person than Nel. When Nel says to Sula, "I've been nice to you, Sula, why doesn't that matter?" (Morrison 144), she implies that since she follows the rules and cares about people in a traditional way, she is a good person. Sula questions this notion when she asks him, “How do you know… who was good.” How do you know it was you? (Morrison 146). In this scene, Sula critiques the way Nel shows her love for the people in her life by forming her identity in relation to them. In her relationships with her family and friends, Nel is able to avoid creating her own identity by putting the needs of others before her own. She believes that caring about a person means accommodating their every desire, like when she catches Jude with Sula and doesn't tell him because she "was worried that you didn't know your fly was unzipped and was afraid too because your eyes were looking.” like that of the soldiers that time on the train where my mother turned into custard” (Morrison 106). On the contrary, Sula shows her love for people by giving them what they need instead of what.