| Often, novels successful in chronicling a heroine's journey to a point of personal emancipation rely on skillful portrayals of significant friendships between and among women. Contemporary American writers Alice Walker, Paula Sharp, Toni Morrison, and Terry McMillan have created narratives which highlight female friendship. In The Color Purple and The Woman Who Was Not All There, heroines benefit from the examples and support offered by other women. In Sula, the identities of protagonist and primary woman friend merge, preventing either character from fully utilizing the other as an emancipatory tool. Ultimately, in Sula, the central character secures her own emancipation by mournfully accepting literal and figurative separation from her friend. Conversely, in Waiting to Exhale, believable significant growth fails to occur in the lives and personalities of four interesting female characters, a fact that parallels McMillan's failure to allow her characters more than superficial contact with each other. |
