SKIN 
 

March 2018     Volume 2 Issue 2 
 

Copyright 2018 The National Society for Cutaneous Medicine 155 

COMPELLING COMMENTS 
 

 

Rorschach Nevus 
 
Kevin Cao BS

a
, Tyler Marion BS MBA

a
, Jorge Roman MD

b 

 

a
The University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine, Galveston, TX 

b
Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas, TX 

 

 

 
 
In the novel Sula by Toni Morrison, a 
powerful use of symbolism was expressed in 
the main antagonist’s skin. Sula Peace was 
described as a “heavy brown with large quiet 
eyes, one of which featured a birthmark that 
spread from the middle of the lid toward the 
eyebrow, shaped something like a stemmed 
rose.”.

1
  

 
The most interesting facet of Sula’s 
birthmark is how it is perceived differently by 
different characters. The shape that other 
characters perceive her mark perhaps says 
more about them than about Sula. Sula’s 
birthmark functioned as a Rorschach test of 
sorts for various characters in the novel. To 
the people of the Bottom, the predominantly 
black community in which the characters 
grow up, Sula embodies adventure, 
freedom, passion, danger, and 
independence; values that are in stark 
contrast to the community’s societal norms. 
As such the people of the Bottom despise 
Sula and view her birthmark as something 
threatening and fearful. The community 
perceives the mark looks like a snake. To 
Shadrack, who made a living from fishing, 
Sula’s birthmark looked like a tadpole. A 
World War I veteran suffering from “shell 
shock”, Shadrack undergoes a 
psychological metamorphosis through the 
story. To Jude, the mark also resembled a 

snake. Symbolic of the serpent in the garden 
of Eden, the mark becomes archetypal of 
the sin that the married Jude commits when 
he has a sexual affair with Sula.  
In Dermatology, the skin has traditionally 
been portrayed as a window to the internal 
state of the body. Rarely however, do we 
consider how the skin can give us insight 
into ourselves, a mirror within the window.  

 
 
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None. 
 
Funding: None. 
 
Corresponding Author: 
Jorge Roman, MD 
8200 Walnut Hill Lane 
Dallas, TX 75231 
joromanMD@gmail.com 

 

References: 

  
1. Morrison T. Sula. London: Vintage; 2004. 

 
2. Hirsch M. Mother/Daughter plot: 

narrative, psychoanalysis, feminism. 
Bloomington: Indiana University Press; 
1989.