SECTION FIVE, 1922

Summary

At the beginning of this section, Sula and Nel, both twelve years old, are on their way to Edna Finch's Mellow House, an ice cream parlor where children are welcome. The men of The Bottom sit outside and watch every female in sight walk past them. As Sula and Nel pass, one of the men named Ajax calls, Pig meat." The girls are both embarrassed and pleased. Although the two girls have only dimly begun to understand the mysteries of sexuality, they are becoming interested in the opposite sex. It is obvious by their behavior that Sula and Nel have become soul mates. Although basically different, the two girls complement each other and understand one another instantly and intimately. Each believes she had dreamed of the other before they ever met.

Nel and Sula also complement each other physically and emotionally. Nel is light-colored, almost like the color of sand; in contrast, Sula is a rich, earthy brown. Nel is the picture of innocence and purity; Sula has a birthmark, shaped like a rose, on her eyelid, giving her a somewhat mysterious appearance. In terms of personality, Nel is normally calm and constant, while Sula is likely to flare up with emotion. When some white boys harass Nel after school, Sula decides to scare them away. She takes out a knife and cuts the tip of a finger off to show them how tough she is. The frightened boys flee. Nel appreciates her friend and feels safe in the company of her tough but slightly crazy protector.

One day during the summer, Sula hears her mother talking to her friends. She tells them that loving your children is different than liking them. The other women agree and say that children are a pain even though they love them. Not realizing that Sula is nearby and listening, Hannah tells the women that she loves her daughter, but does not like her. Sula is crushed by her mother's words, but hides her feelings. She runs outside to join Nel. The two girls run down to the river to play. They wildly dig a hole in the ground, fill it with twigs, paper, and grass, and then cover it up--all without speaking a word.

A little boy, Chicken Little, walks nearby picking his nose. Sula teases him, but then helps him climb a tree. Next Sula swings the little boy around and around by his arms; when her grip slips, Chicken Little flies into the water. The girls wait, but the child does not come back up. Panicked, Sula runs to the nearest house, which belongs to Shadrack. She thinks he may have seen the whole terrible incident. He has seen nothing and simply smiles at her and says one word, "Always." Sula feels it is a threat. Terrified, she runs back to Nel and dissolves into tears. Nel tries to comfort her, telling her it was all just an accident. Nel then leads Sula away from the scene of the drowning. Neither girl goes for help.

A white man down the river finds Chicken Little's body later in the day; since the child is black, he does not even bother to report it right away. For him, the discovery of a dead nigger boy is just a nuisance. Three days later a ferry brings the remains of Chicken Little back to his mother. Although the body is unrecognizable, his mother identifies his clothes and goes into shock. There is an emotional funeral at the church, which everyone attends, including Nel and Sula. Neither of them speaks a word at the funeral; they simply watch and listen in grave silence as the preacher speaks of the innocence of children. Nel and Sula hold hands tightly on their way home.

Notes

This section establishes the tightness of the bond between Sula and Nel. Their encounters with Ajax, the white boys, Chicken Little, and Shadrack, are all confused interactions between young girls who are just budding into adults; but they are beginning to realize that they live in a complex world. In most ways, Sula and Nel are typical young girls. They notice boys, they giggle, and they play in the woods, like children; but it is also obvious that they are fast approaching womanhood. When Ajax calls to them, the girls feel flattered; they are still too young to appreciate the consequences of being found desirable in the eyes of grown men.

The death of Chicken Little moves the bond between Sula and Nel from a tight one of adolescence to an unforgettable one for eternity. The entire incident is horrifying to both of them, and they are not mature enough to know how to handle it. When Chicken Little does not surface, they stare in disbelief, taking no action. When Sula finally runs to Shadrack's house, the encounter with him is almost as frightening as Chicken Little's disappearance. His one word pronouncement of always totally terrifies Sula. It is a foreshadowing that this day will always haunt Sula and Nel.

Sula and Nel pledge silence to one another about Chicken Little's death. When his body is recovered from the river and returned to Medallion, they do not say a word. When they attend the funeral for the child, they sit, watch, and listen without muttering a syllable, even to each other. Their silent feelings are in sharp contrast to the great show of emotion around them at the funeral; their inward guilt is in sharp contrast to the innocence of children preached in the eulogy. It is as if Sula and Nel instinctively know the power of this event to control the rest of their lives; but the knowledge of it makes them both more isolated and private than ever before. Drained of emotion themselves, Sula and Nel walk home from the funeral, tightly holding each other's hand. No longer innocents, they need each other more than ever. It is a tragic start to womanhood for both Sula and Nel.

When Morrison shows the callous reaction of the white man who finds Chicken Little, she reveals that racism does exist around Medallion; it will be an obstacle in the way of the development of Sula and Nel. It is sad that they must live in a world that views the death of a black child as a nuisance.