- bayonetnounChapter 1 →
A long metal blade attached to the end of a rifle, used as a weapon in close combat. Soldiers fixed bayonets when preparing to fight hand-to-hand.
“He ran, bayonet fixed, deep in the great grief of soldiers.”
- fixedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Locked or fastened firmly in place. Here it means the bayonet has been attached and secured to the end of the rifle, ready for use.
“He ran, bayonet fixed, deep in the great grief of soldiers.”
- devotedverbChapter 1 →
Set aside or dedicated entirely to one specific purpose. Here it means reserving a single day of the year for the act of confronting death.
“If one day a year were devoted to [death], everybody could get it out of the way and the rest of the year would be safe and free.”
- matriarchnounChapter 2 →
A woman who holds dominant authority over a family or community, making the key decisions and setting the tone for everyone beneath her.
- unabashedadjectiveChapter 2 →
Completely open and unembarrassed about something others might consider shameful or improper. The word signals that Hannah feels no guilt or shame about her sexuality.
- seductiveadjectiveChapter 5 →
Deliberately trying to attract someone sexually through charm or behavior. The text uses it to contrast with Hannah's natural, effortless quality — she was not performing or trying.
“She was not seductive; her sexuality was simply a fact, like breathing.”
- wombnounChapter 3 →
The organ inside a woman's body where a baby grows before birth. Eva uses it figuratively to mean the safe, dependent state of infancy that Plum is trying to return to.
“He wants to crawl back in my womb and I'm not going to let him.”
- kerosenenounChapter 3 →
A flammable liquid fuel commonly used in lamps and heaters. Eva pours it over Plum's body before setting him on fire.
“She rolled a bit of newspaper into a tight stick about six inches long, lit it, and threw it onto the bed where the kerosene-soaked Plum lay in snug delight.”
- snugadjectiveChapter 3 →
Warm, comfortable, and deeply at ease — here describing the drugged, oblivious contentment Plum feels just before Eva kills him.
“threw it onto the bed where the kerosene-soaked Plum lay in snug delight.”
- knickersnounChapter 4 →
Loose short trousers gathered just below the knee, commonly worn by young boys in the early twentieth century.
“His knickers ballooned and his shrieks of joy brought Nel running from the far side of the tree.”
- balloonedverbChapter 4 →
Puffed out or billowed with air, the way fabric swells when caught by the wind. It describes how Chicken Little's loose trousers filled with air as he was swung in a circle.
“His knickers ballooned and his shrieks of joy brought Nel running from the far side of the tree.”
- turbulencenounChapter 4 →
Violent, churning disorder or agitation. Here it refers to the thrashing and disturbance Chicken Little's drowning body made in the water.
“The water closed peacefully over the turbulence of Chicken Little's body.”
- comradenounChapter 7 →
A true companion who shares your struggles and stands fully beside you as an equal — a deeper bond than romance. Sula concludes a lover cannot offer this kind of solidarity to a woman.
“She had been looking all along for a friend, and it took her a while to discover that a lover was not a comrade and could never be—for a woman.”
- competedverbChapter 7 →
Tried to outdo or rival others. The text says Sula never did this — instead of trying to win or dominate, she simply existed in a way that made others see themselves more clearly.
“Sula never competed; she simply helped others define themselves.”
- settleverbChapter 8 →
Calm down and take on a stable, conventional life. The speaker means that having children would make Sula less restless and more socially acceptable.
“When you gone to get married? You need to have some babies. It'll settle you.”
- clungverbChapter 6 →
Held on tightly and desperately, refusing to let go. Here it describes how emotionally dependent Sula was on Nel, treating her as the one fixed point in her life.
“She had clung to Nel as the closest thing to both an other and a self, only to discover that she and Nel were not one and the same thing.”
- sorrownounChapter 6 →
Deep, lasting sadness and grief. The image of circles of sorrow with no top or bottom suggests a pain that has no clear cause, no end, and no relief.
“It was a fine cry—loud and long—but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”
- obligationnounChapter 9 →
A sense of duty or responsibility that makes you do something even when you do not truly want to. Nel visits Sula out of duty rather than genuine desire.
- forbiddenadjectiveChapter 10 →
Officially not allowed or banned by those in authority. The Black community was excluded from working on the tunnel, so destroying it becomes an act of rage against that exclusion.
“They killed, as best they could, the tunnel they were forbidden to build.”
- restlessnessnounChapter 10 →
An uneasy, agitated inability to stay calm or satisfied. It describes the community's growing tension and dissatisfaction that eventually drives them toward the tunnel.
- mourningverbChapter 11 →
Feeling deep grief over someone's absence or death. Nel realizes she has spent years in grief without correctly identifying who she was actually grieving for.
SulaNovel by Toni Morrison