Boss Line
"A soft ball of fur broke and scattered like dandelion spores in the breeze." (174)
This line is a boss line because it resolves the story and the relationship between Sula and Nel. I particularly like this line because it referenced to when she was grieving over the loss of Jude and Sula: "A gray ball hovering there. Just there. To the right. Quiet, gray, dirty. A ball of muddy strings, but without weight, fluffy but terrible in its malevolence." (109) The ball Nel describes after losing Sula and Jude is her ball of pain and sorrow. Finally she is able to howl and cry about missing Sula, and the ball breaks. This creates a great end and resolution to the story.
I love this part of the book too. I especially loved the repetition of the line "Leaves stirred; mud shifted; there was the smell of overripe green things," from when Jude first left Nel. The first time this line was used it ended in a feeling of frustration because Nel couldn't cry. She just ended up "with something dry and nasty in her throat." I loved how that-and the ball of fur- were both resolved in this scene. Nel was finaly ab;e to cry because she realized what she actually wanted to cry about. I though it was so wrenching that Nel only realized that when it was too late. When Sula was already dead.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great quote, it definitely ties into the gray ball mentioned earlier. Part of me agrees that this is a resolution but it could also be a symbol for Sula and Nel's broken friendship.
ReplyDelete