Beneath all the chaos and gaiety of the wedding scene is an atmosphere of loss and resignation. One of Morrison's typical reversal scenes, the wedding reception masks the disappointment and rage Jude harbors because bigotry keeps him from his true dream of a better job.
Jude marries Nel not out of love for her but rather out of anger at not getting the road work. Morrison writes of Jude, "So it was rage, rage and a determination to take on a man's role anyhow that made him press Nel about settling down." Nel accepts his choosing her and thus fulfills her mother's dream of hosting an elaborate wedding and the community's expectation that Nel will assume the traditional female role of wife and mother. With Nel to smooth the rough edges and "shore him up," Jude will shelter her, and "the two of them together would make one Jude." Nel has taken her mother's counsel to heart: She will be good and rub away any glow or sparkle of unpredictability in herself, which the oppressively predictable black community — including Nel's mother — wants her to do.
