Sula

by Toni Morrison

“I’m me,” she whispered. “Me.” Nel didn’t know quite what she meant, but on the other hand she knew exactly what she meant.

“I’m me. I’m not their daughter. I’m not Nel. I’m me. Me.”

Eva said yes, but inside she disagreed and remained convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested.

“I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself.”

“Whatever’s burning in me is mine!”

But Sula was so scared she had mutilated herself, to protect herself.

“We was girls together,”