The chapter begins with Nel's exaggerated perception of herself as a "good woman." Since Jude's abandonment of her three years earlier, Nel has lived a hard life, working to support her children and maintain her home. She has done what was expected of her as a deserted wife and mother, and has taken her place with the rest of the women in the community. In the same way that she has been a "good woman," she is, again, a good friend to Sula, whom she never betrayed; Sula betrayed her. Now, she will break the silence and close the gap between Sula and herself.
For the most part, the sickroom conversation between the two women is driven by Nel, who really doesn't know what to say or how to deal with Sula's ambiguity and arrogance. They are at odds, still opposites who, together, form a whole. Nel extols the virtue of hard work; Sula rejects it. Nel blusters about Sula's man-like independence; Sula acknowledges it with pride.
Sula's candor is confrontational as she still refuses to conform — even in dying — to "what every colored woman in the country is doing." They are all, she says, "dying like a stump," while she is "going down like one of those redwoods." Nel, however, clings to what she knows and retorts that Sula has nothing to show for her life but loneliness. Sula's rebellious spirit is fueled by her freedom; any loneliness she has felt is hers alone because she paid the price for her adventures. If Sula is lonely, her loneliness is hers. In contrast, Nel's loneliness is made from and dictated by other people; according to Sula, Nel's loneliness, compared to Sula's, is a "secondhand lonely."
