Sula characters

First appears in chapter 2

A woman from the Bottom whose memories frame the friendship at the center of the novel. As a girl she is cautious, observant, and shaped by a respectable but emotionally constrained household.

First appears in chapter 2

Nel's closest childhood friend, raised in the crowded, unconventional Peace household. Bold, imaginative, and resistant to other people's rules, she gives Nel a sense of freedom and a second way to understand herself.

First appears in chapter 3

Sula's grandmother and the commanding head of the Peace household. After being widowed with three children, she secures her family's survival by drastic means and creates a home open to boarders, strays, and constant activity.

First appears in chapter 3

Eva's daughter and Sula's mother, a warm, pleasure-seeking widow who enjoys men without seeking another husband. She loves Sula but speaks about motherhood with a candor that wounds her daughter.

Also known as Plum

First appears in chapter 3

Eva's youngest child and only son. He returns from the First World War changed, dependent on drugs, and unable to resume an adult life in the household.

First appears in chapter 2

Nel's disciplined mother, determined to keep her daughter away from what she considers disorder or shame. A trip south to visit her own mother exposes Nel to both Helene's authority and its limits.

Appears from the start

A shell-shocked veteran of the First World War who returns to Medallion unable to accept the normal passage of time. He lives on the community's margins and repeatedly announces a National Suicide Day.

First appears in chapter 4

A neighborhood boy whose friendship with Nel and Sula ends in a sudden accident beside the river, creating a secret the girls carry into adulthood.

First appears in chapter 6

A handsome young man who courts Nel as she enters adulthood. Conventional and attentive, he offers her the established family life that contrasts with Sula's restless independence.

First appears in chapter 8

A self-possessed man Sula meets after returning to the Bottom. Their affair unsettles her because he meets her without fear or dependence and awakens a lasting attachment she did not expect.