Roses to rattlesnakes

"And the other one, the one with the scary black thing over her eye, laughing softly and egging their mother on.... this slight woman, not exactly plain, but not fine either, with a copperhead over her eye.... that her wide smile took some of the sting from that rattlesnake over her eye."

Earlier in the story, Sula's birthmark was referred to as a budding rose or a rose and stem, all suitable analogies in view of her age and physical growth. As a young girl, she was like a blossoming flower, which adheres to the common stereotype likening women to flowers; however, it should be noted that she was likened to a rose with its stem that bore thorns. It could be thought that whatever viciousness that was within Sula to give her thorns as a child flourished wholly once she left since the mark is scary and serpentine upon her return to Medallion. As the imagery changed, I noted the shift and my apathy toward Sula's character changed to fearful apprehension. She was no longer a child victim of the oddities around her, but a woman instigating unrest. With the rose above her eye, she is mere witness to her mother's death. With a snake, a scary black thing, above her eye, she is the render of kin, destroying Nel's marriage and unconsciously prompting Jude to abandon his children. The birthmark is definitely a symbol of Sula's identity. In fact, it is one of the first things mentioned about her in the book and one is given the sense of its impending darkness. If only I had recognized that as a foreshadowing of her character, I would have anticipated her wicked ways.

"Of the few who were not afraid to witness the burial of a witch and who had gone to the cemetery, some had come just to verify her being put away but stayed to sing "Shall We Gather at the River" for politeness' sake, quite unaware of the bleak promise of their song."

"You reap what you sow." I feel nothing of surprise, only justice. It causes me to wonder if that means I am already a bitter woman. Not truly a witch, the anger and evil ways of Sula mark her a witch. All her bold declarations of hell and awaiting it reiterate the idea, a witch being one allied with the Devil. The song seems to reflect her first dark act, the death of Chicken Little, whose funeral was attended by mourners that truly seemed to care for him in contrast to the anxious spectators of Sula's funeral. It seems death is also the reflection of identity and the way others reflect upon oneself as seen in these two funerals.