How Does Celie Change In The Color Purple

Celie: Celie starts out as a scared young kid, who is abused and raped by her stepfather. She does whatever anyone tells her and barely ever speaks up for what is right. In the beginning she feels so alone and thinks it's better not to stand out for it will only hurt her. When Mr. ______ begins to act violent towards her, she still acts in a passive manner. Celie gets more and more afraid until she meets Shug. Shug is a female friend whom is much stronger than her. She learns more about a sexual relationship, and how to be her own person. Celie learns to fight back and reinvent herself. Celie changes her perspective on religion to. God may not be the person she always thought he was. The letters from Nettie also change Celie, in fact now she knows she has family. She gains self worth in the fact that her kids, and sister are fine. In the very end of the book Celie becomes a new person, working and sewing as a job. She doesn't rely on men nor does she feel worthless.

Celie feels very little about herself and feels that she can’t please very many people, especially her “Pa”. “ She bout ten thousand times more prettier than me” (Walker 6). This quote that I found in the book reflects on how low Celie’s self confidence is. She finds just about every woman better looking than herself.

In order to survive this harshful life, Celie believes her best bet is to stay quiet and invisible. Consequently, Celie becomes a woman of slave labor, and completely bypasses the opportunity of self-discovery. Among meeting women who are mentally stronger than her, including Shug and Sofia, Celie chooses to survive rather than stir up a physical fight. Instead, she finally begins to battle back in sneakier ways, such as spitting in Albert’s father’s drink when he criticizes

Shug acts as an opposing force to gender roles because she is so willing to push the boundaries of life and announce all of the flaws people possess. During that time era, men were automatically considered the dominant role in a relationship. By talking about a man being flawed, showed Celie that nobody is perfect. Shug’s descriptions of Mr. ____ allow Celie to interpret life in a new way, instead of being confined by the mainstream ways of thinking. Recognizing the existence of these alternatives gives Celie a sense of control and is an important step in her move toward independence.

She learns that a person does not have to be extraordinary to be loved, in fact people can be very ordinary, like herself, and deserve to be loved just the same. During this time in the novel Celie also finds the courage to stand up to Mr.___ and leave him. This action takes a great deal of self-respect because here for the first time the reader sees that Celie knows she deserves better than Mr.___. Celie is set over the edge when it is discover that Mr.___ has been deliberately separating Celie from her sister Nettie for many years. When Celie finds all Nettie’s letters Mr.___ has been hiding it set her into a spiraling rage that Shug calm her down from. Celie tells Mr.___, “Until you do right by me, everything you touch will crumble” (intext). The only way Celie can cope without killing Mr.___ is by making pants. The pants of course were Shug’s idea and Shug funds Celie so she can make as many pants as her heart desires. Later in the novel Celie has moved out of Mr.___’s house and made so many pants that she is something of a master. She opens her own store to sell her popular pants and finally is self sufficient. At this time Celie also was able to mend old bridges. When Shug left her for a younger man Celie found good company in Mr.___. Celie also was able to fully love Shug and do what was best for her even if it hurt Celie. (quote about loving shug) With all

Celie believes that Sofia is a complete contrast of her in terms of their behaviors. Sofia does not care to respect Harpo or Mister; she is fearless of them. When she was asked a typical women question of locating and finding objects, Sofia tells the men that she does not know where their belongings are. Moreover, when Celie obeys all these commands that Sofia disobeys, Sofia looks surprised and pities Celie. This gives Celie the notion that Sofia is not being submissive like she is supposed to be; she almost seems jealous that Sofia is able to gain such power against men, so she gives Harpo the advice that he should beat her to have the upper hand. For the first time in her life, Celie is able to see a women not being submissive to her husband and doesn’t seem to understand the reason behind

Shug asks why Celie gets beaten and she responds with, “For being me and not you” (42 PDF) This shows that Celie is passive and does not retaliate, but she is strong because she takes the beating and continues on with her life. Although Celie is a strong women, she is very naive when it comes to the injustices she has faced. This is most evident in her relationship with her father. Celie

In her award winning epistolary novel, The Color Purple, Alice Walker tells the story of Celie, a young African American woman growing up in the American South during the Reconstruction period (1930s). In a series of letters to God and to her younger sister Nettie, Celie tells the story of her life, ranging from the trauma of physical and sexual abuse she encounters to her success and wealth she earns as an adult. If suitable, The Color Purple is an essential learning tool for mature high school readers to help better understand the treatment of African Americans and what issues they were faced with and overcame in the South after the Civil War. The Color Purple opens with Celie’s memory of her father’s command to keep quiet about his

So far in the book, she lets other people run all over her. This time, she stands up for herself and defends her actions. She also tells Albert off for being mean to her for the past few years. “She shows in transformed relationships that the worst cruelty committed by one person on another does not prohibit a change of heart” (Color). This is referring to Celie and the way she treats Albert by the end of the book.

However, for no justified reason she is abused arbitrarily by Albert regardless of how well of a worker she is to the household and the children. In her little discussion with Shug Avery, she explains how Albert beats her for no apparent reason. “He beat me when you not here, I say”, “What he beat you for? She ast. For being me and not you” (75-76). Fortunately, towards the end of the novel, Celie makes a decision to leave the continuous cycle of abuse and becomes an independent woman who has her own clothing company. Celie knew she was better than what Albert thought of her and because of her epiphany she discovered more inner beauty and self- confidence. All in all she received more respect and was looked more as a human being than a servant. Ironically Celie’s antithesis, Sofia, had her poor decision making progressively get her into a deeper

The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker, is an ode to the life of African-American women from the mid-1900s to the early 1940’s. There are several major themes Walker efficiently weaves in her writing such as religion, as the epistolary style shows the main character’s - Celie - journey with her beliefs; and love, since the tie between Celie and her sister is able to connect them over different continents, as well as how love is not only about romance, but also about respect and care. The issue of domestic violence is arguably the most important theme throughout the course of the novel, mainly due to the trauma that affects Celie, as well as the parallel concerns of male dominance and sexism that are uncovered. Eventually, the violence Walker

Shug does not choose for her. It is Celie that decides to leave, to first go to Tennessee and then back to Georgia to take over the land that is rightfully hers, to be a seamstress that does not have to depend on anyone for money or anything else, having learned to stand on her own feet. Her choice to be independent is what leads to her happiness. When Celie writes that “Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt” (pg. 251, The Color Purple), she is referring to how the growth, of how the establishment of her own independence, has made her happier than she has ever been in her life.

After 20 years of marriage, Celie finally gets the courage to leave her husband, begin a lesbian relationship with Shug and start her own trouser making business. This journey of constant abuse throughout her adolescence to a strong, independent woman with her own business seems typical of a novel to have a happy ending, but the novel has raised many questions about her portrayal of black female character and about where it fits in her other work in her

One of the most critical parts of Celie’s life while growing up are the flourishing relationships with Sofia and Shug Avery who give her confidence to talk about the problems she is dealing with and empower her. Celie is severely abused by her husband, Mister, but is first seen opening up about how she feels about him with Sofia (Walker 60). Celie is hesitant to admit much to Sofia and only says after being asked her opinion about him, “I mean, he all right in some things, not in others.” Although this does not provide much detail, it shows that Celie is truly trusting another person with her feelings and

This passage is important because it shows us Celie’s sexuality. One day Celie get’s beat because she supposedly wink at a boy at church but she tries to tell her “Pa” she don’t look at men but women because she is not scared of them. This shows us that Celie probably has a love interest in women due to the physical trauma she has experienced with her “Pa.” Later on in the book this allows her to move on into new relationships and disconnect herself from Mr._______.(5.1-4)