But I don’t never get used to it. And now I feels sick every time I be the one to cook." (1.4-5) (Walker)
"Everybody say how good I is to Mr._________ children. I be good to them. But I don’t feel nothing for them. Patting Harpo back not even like patting a dog. It more like patting another piece of wood. Not a living tree, but a table, a chifferobe. Anyhow, they don’t love me neither, no matter how good I is."(17.10) (Walker)
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”
Celie although she is a kind person, is unable to feel any sign of affection towards the children of Mr.____(Alberto), because they are not her very own. She feels that her life is gone and there is no reason to feel any affection for anyone or anything, especially after having lost her younger sister who had run away recently. This quote exemplifies the simplicity of a mind, how losing something so important causes such a drastic change in the mentality or ability of a person, such as portrayed in Celie.
"He come home with a girl from round Gray. She be my age but they married. He be on her all the time. She walk round like she don’t know what hit her. I think she thought she love him. But he got so many of us. All needing something." (4.1)
Alphonso's needs increased and not only could he have Nettie and Celie under his control, but he had to bring along another wife into the picture after having Celie and Nettie's mother die. Alphonso's new wife seemed so innocent, she was imaged with the idea that Alphonso was a good man and she was truly in love with him, but in the process of being married realized that she was in for trouble with having to stay with him. This quote generated the simplistic behavior of an innocent girl and how it is able to be tricked so easily into believing one thing and actually being another.
"He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church. I may have got somethin in my eye but I didn’t wink. I don’t even look at mens. That’s the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I’m not scared of them. Maybe cause my mama cuss me you think I kept mad at her. But I ain’t. I felt sorry for mama. Trying to believe his story kilt her." (5.1) (Walker)
In order to not arouse suspicious of on the mother of Celie, Alphonso creates a fake boyfriend for Celie to take the blame for her odd behavior and sexual relations. The thought of Celie doing such a disgusting thing, was the cause of Mama's illness, Celie believed. In this quote you come to the conclusion hat after having undergone such psychological and physical traumas that dealt with a male figure, caused Celie to become only interested in women. Celie feared men, but as she did not fear women, she began to feel a closeness and attraction for them.
God is meant to create a sense of completion our job as people is not to fulfill the happiness of God, or much less the other way around. God has a hope that we as people will create and generate and peaceful life and that is how we create a sense of giving him back something. In the quote, God is illustrated as a person who is greedy and always wants something, when in reality God is someone who benefits from the well being off people,. This quote means to educated people on what God is really suppose to be about.
“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ask. And that in wondering bout the big things and asking bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, the more I love.”
People of different skin color were made to believe in one single thought, that they were not sufficient to equalize the role or ability of white society. However, to wonder beyond this idea was a pleasant and freedom filled world, to wonder what things would be like or how I would live in such a more peaceful world. Wondering is what creates such a fascinating person and better world. Celie wonders and as she wonders, she grows to love more the idea of a happiness that she can finally gain. This quote illustrates the development of imagination in the life if Celie and how this acts as her escape to the terror of what used to be her life.
“The Olinka girls do not believe girls should be educated. When I asked a mother why she thought this, she said: A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband can she become something.
Why, she said, the mother of his children.
But I am not the mother of anybody's children, I said, and I am something.”
Women throughout centuries of history have been proclaimed subordinate to men, due to the false characterizations of the ability of man. Men are meant to be superior due to the bible, but no one was able to testify as to where this entry was so proclaimed. The maltreatment of woman continued on for centuries and even millenniums and still to this day, you can witness an act of sexism. "Women belong in the kitchen," the only way to stop such accusations and limitations is to fight against the idea, unlike in the quote where the woman has succumb to believe and adjust the role of women's inferiority into not only her lifestyle, but her children.
Themes:
Sexism:
Throughout the novel, Celie is treated by multiple men as a subordinate, especially due to the era in which this book takes place, from 1920s-1940s. Celie was first continuously abused and molested by her step father, Alphonso, who swore her to secrecy to not tell of his acts. Next, she was continuously abused when she wed Albert, or known as Mr._______, in the novel. During the 1920s through the 1940s, it was common for woman to be portrayed an inferior to men, so to be beaten and raped was a not a topic for discussion. However, in the novel through a set of slow developing acts of violence, Celie finally gives up and decided to move away from Mr. _____, where she begins a new life and is finally happy. Celie had been so accustomed to the idea of being subordinate that when she returned, she was surprised to find that her and Mr.___ could actually have a healthy relationship. Other acts of sexism, would been when Harpo tried to beat his wife in submission, but failed due to the lack of strength Harpo possessed and so instead was beaten. Sofia was one of the few women who stood up for her right to do as she please, but this personality went away after having succumb to almost torture when refused to be the maid of the mayor's wife. Sofia was then made to be the maid of the Mayor by complete order and the novel proved again, the acts of superiority and violence a man did just to prove the women who was in charge.
The power of female relationships:
Throughout the novel, although women were depicted as subordinate to men, together as a whole the women in the novel were much more stronger than all of the men combined. Sofia, Squeak, Shug, Celie and Nettie were all strong an independent women who helped one another to make the best of the situation the were in. Celie and Shug most portrayed this idea of a strong relationship, Shug was the one to help Celie escape from Mr. _____, stop the beatings, fall in love and find the letters Nettie had promised to write Celie. With Shug in the novel, Celie would have been hopeless and had to deal with the unpleasant ways of Mr._____ her entire life. Sofia had sympathy for Celie, after having witnessing how obedient she was when Mr.___ asked for anything to be done. Celie and Sofia became close and Sofia helped Celie to generate a sense of self-worth and dignity, by create a more self-reliant and content Celie. Celie needs a female relationship in order to stand for something, as do all the female characters in The Color Purple. Shug needs Celie to make a stand, Sophia needs her sisters to be strong and Celie needs Nettie to be happy.Characters:
Nettie: The sister of Celie, who is much more educated and is able to find a hopeful side in life after having escaped the wrath of Mr.______. She continually writes to Celie in hopes of being able to give her the news that she has found her children and in hopes of being able to one day be together again. She befriends a couple, Corrine and Samuel and journeys to Africa as a missionary to help the people in hope of creating a peaceful unity with whites and blacks. In the end of the novel, Nettie marries Samuel.
Shug: is a very scandalous women, who is unusually independent for the era of this time framing She is wild, rebellious and sings about sex. Almost everyone in the community despises her, mostly the women, because they are everything she is unable to be. She end sup being the love of Mr._____ and has a brief relationship with him, as well as befriend Celie in the process and helps her find her identity in life.
Harpo: The son of Mr.___, who marries Sofia. Harpo expects his woman to do everything he wants, but is unaware that Sofia is not willing to succumb to any abuse, she will defend her right to do as she pleases, which results in her leaving Harpo. Sofia defies the mayor's wife and is tortured and nearly killed and made to be the maid of his wife for many years, until she is released. Harpo and Sofia remarry at the end of the novel.
Alphonso: The step father of Celie who created psychological and physical trauma to Celie, which in turn made her turn into a subordinate woman, as well as alter her lifestyle and make her become a lesbian. He was the one to give away Celie to Mr.____, where she underwent even more abuse. Alphonso and Celie gave light to two children.
Albert: also known as Mr.____, was the husband of Celie, but in love with Shug Avery. Although he beat Celie, in reality he used to be a gentleman when he was younger, but in the process of being heartbroken by Shug became a completely different man. He wanted to marry Nettie in the beginning of the novel. In the end of the novel, him and Celie are content with their relationship.
Sofia: The wife of Harpo who is willing to defend her right to do as she pleases. She beats Harpo continually, after he tries to beat her, ale to beat him because she is much more physically muscular and tough. Gets arrested and made to be a maid where she barely is able to see her children for years, return back home and remarries Harpo at the end of the novel.
Corrine&Samuel: Friends of Nettie and are the caretakers of Celie's children. Taker Nettie to Africa with them. At the ends of the novel, Corrine dies and Nettie is able to tell them that she is the aunt of the children. Samuel and Nettie end up married at the end of novel.
Celie: She is the protagonist and narrator of the novel The Color Purple. Her live was complete tragedy, already beginning by the age of fourteen, after having been sexually molested by her step father Alphonso. Due to this trauma, Celie become a very obedient women, especially when it comes to men. However, in the middle of the novel she befriends a woman by the name of Shug Avery and develops such close of an attachment with her, she falls in love with her and with her guidance is able to achieve self confidence, independence and happiness.
Plot Summary:
Celie was just fourteen when he so called father, Alphonso raped her, as he characterized by his need to exemplify superiority and need to release sexual frustration. Alphonso had not attempted any of abuse before this, but due to the lack of physical ability of the mother, Alphonso needed someone to have sex with and he took this out of Celie. Celie was a young an innocent girl and never thought about the idea of even having sex, this experience completely corrupted her into thinking that all men are evil and from is day forth Celie was abused, due to her continuous acceptance of certain events. Celie swore to be the strong one in her family and take all abuses, so long as she could ensure safety on her younger sister Nettie, that was the only care she had.
What can she become? I asked.
Celie and Nettie are two sisters who undergo a heartbreaking separation that ends in the happiness of both. Celie as a young girl was continuously rape by her so called father, Alphonso she gave birth to two children who she never saw again, or atleast she thought she never would. Throughout her adolescent, Celie was continuously abused and maltreated , her only hope of ever having a pleasant life was to ensure no harm was ever done to her younger sister, Nettie, who showed such promise to be someone in life. In the novel, a person by the name of (Albert) Mr. ______, became interested in making Nettie his wife, but Alphonso refused and decide to give him Celie instead. After Alphonso tried to abuse Nettie as he did to Celie, Nettie ran away from home and took shelter under the roof of (Albert) Mr._______ and Celie. However, (Albert), still became obsessed with the idea to make Nettie his and so he made it his priority to claim Nettie as his which completely frustrated Nettie to the core, thus causing her reaction to run away from the house of Celie as well. Celie became so depressed after her sister left, but she was hopeful that her sister would keep her promise and write to her daily. Letters never came and Celie settled for the worst and believed that Nettie had possibly died. Years passed and Celie endured torture and abuse from Mr. ______ (Albert), this is until Shug Avery and Sofia fell into the life of Celie. Sofia was the women whom Harpo, (Albert' son) married, she was a strong and independent woman who never let anyone have their way with her. Sofia unlike any woman, fights against Harpo's abuses and one day gets completely tired of it and leaves with hers and Harpo's children, only to return years later. Shug Avery arrived in Celie's life after having become desperately ill to the point of almost dying, Celie nursed Shug for months and she soon recovered. Shug became close friends with Celie and developed a relationship with (Albert) Mr.______, who you later find out used to be lovers back in the day and have two children together. Celie is in love with Shug and as the book moves along, you realize Shug and Celie both love each other and at one point have intimacy. In the process of having stayed at Celie's house, Shug helps Celie undercover the real truth of where Nettie, Celie's sister really is. Celie and Shug find the hidden letters (Albert) has been hiding from Celie all these years. It turns out Nettie knows where Celie's children are and Nettie is now in Africa doing missionary work and being happy. Celie reads all of Nettie's written letters and then decides to write back and at the end of the book, the two sisters rejoin once again. Celie and Shug move to Memphis, Tennessee where they both become successful, Shug as a singer and Celie as a sewer. Years later Celie meets up with (Albert) again and this time they actually do fall in love and enjoy the company of one another and so, remarry. Sofia and Harpo remarry after having gone through such a rough time and Nettie marries Samuel, the former husband of her boss. They all live happily in the end.
Author Background:
Alice Walker, best known for her novel, The Color Purple, was the eighth child. As a young child, she became blinded in one eye. In high school she went on to become valedictorian. Attended Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence college in 1965. She was married in 1967, but divorced in 1976. As prior to her career as a writer she had always written short stories that involved: racism, sex, violence, rape, isolation and troublesome relationships. In 1982, she published The Color Purple and became a widely acclaimed writer throughout the world. However, her book did create controversial debates. People argued that her book gave a negative aspect of men. Walker also published a biography on a well known poet, Langston Hughes. She is also given full credit of creating the word "womanist" in her support to feminism. She wrote two other books, The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy, all her books dealt with women overcoming obstacles. She was especially known for using black women in all her stories and the acts of violence that change the outcome of their life. She depicts her books as a read to understand the struggles of life and how to overcome and subordination and achieve success, especially to women.
Very helpful, thank you!
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