Men And Women Mr Essay - 1,995 words

Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple, follows Celie down the winding road of her life. As a poor black girl living in the South, Celie endures and overcomes many hardships. As the novel opens, the readers learn that she has been raped repeatedly by her father, then later is forced into a loveless marriage with a man who treats her like a slave. Celie does not stand up for herself, and therefore gets taken advantage of in many ways, but through the friendships that she takes part in, she eventually learns to stand up for herself. "Celie is a terrorized, passive girl with little belief in herself who undergoes a major transformation in attitude and becomes a... courageous and willful woman" (Taylor, Masterpieces 107). Though the characters of Nettie and Sofia play an important role in the development of Celie's life, it is Shug who plays the most important role by teaching and encouraging her to find pride, self-esteem, strength, and love.


Sofia is a fighter and indirectly teaches Celie to stand up for herself. In the South, during the 1930 's, blacks worked for whites, and black women were expected to "mind" their husbands. Sofia does not fit this norm, in fact, she defies it. Sofia is married to Celie's step-son, Harpo, yet refuses to be pushed around by him. She has had to fight "all [her] life" (Walker 42), for as a black women, it is her only defense against black men and a white society.


Sofia tries to solve all of her problems by means of physical violence. While this may not be the best way to deal with her hardships, it is good for Celie to see that it is possible for a black women to stand up for herself and to fight for her rights. When Harpo tries to control Sofia, she fights back, beating him, and exposing her will to fight for what she believes in. Celie's traditional values come out when she gives Harpo the suggestion to beat Sofia to get her to listen to him. When Sofia hears about this, she immediately confronts Celie about it. Sofia is honest and goes after what she knows is right.


When confronted on the street by the white mayor's wife and asked to be her maid, Sofia is insulted. She curses and throws punches at the mayor himself. Even after she is beaten by the police and taken to jail, Sofia does not back down. Sofia's visible courage to fight against unknown odds is an inspiration for Celie who mirrors this later in life.


Sofia shows Celie how to stand up to men and to life's injustices, and most importantly teaches Celie to fight. Nettie's courage, self-esteem, and ability to stand up for her self, are a positive influence on Celie. Nettie, Celie's younger sister, plays a major part in her transformation. She is a well educated, mannered girl with the will to fight for her herself. Nettie displays a certain amount of strength when dealing with men, despite the racist, sexist world she lives in. She fought off Font's sexual advances and escaped him, then later fought off Mr. 's advances and escaped him.


She disobeys Mr. 's order to stop writing Celie, ignoring his threat, even encouraging Celie to fight back. Nettie's will to fight for what she believes in, eventually makes an impression on Celie. Slowly, guided by Nettie's invisible hand, Celie is transformed from a meek, accepting slave, to a women filled with fury and the will to fight. When Celie did not receive any letters from Nettie, she feared that Nettie was dead. Then, after finding out that Mr. had been withholding Nettie's letters all along, she was outraged.


That rage enabled her to "break out of a lifetime of resigned suffering" (Taylor, Masterplots 313) and to move on with her life. Celie's continuous love for Nettie has been a sustaining source of strength for her. Now that she knows Nettie is alive, Celie's confidence level soars, giving her the power to do anything, even stand up to the men who have forced her into submission for so long. Even in the first letter Nettie stressed the importance of Celie's need to fight: "You " ve got to fight to get away from Albert [Mr. ]. He ain't no good" (Walker 131). It was Nettie's encouraging words that lead Celie to realize the true anger she had trapped inside of her.


Nettie displays courage and knowledge of her self-worth. After being separated from Celie, Nettie travels to Africa with a black missionary couple and their two adopted children. She defies all odds when working with an African tribe, the Olinka, teaching them "traditional religion and values" (Taylor, Masterplots 313). The Olinka look down on unmarried women, therefore, they think very poorly of Nettie. After being told by an Olinka woman that she is nothing but a "missionary's drudge" (Walker 162), Nettie defends her honor, saying: "I am something" (162). Through Nettie's letters, Celie is able to witness Nettie's incredible act of courage.


Celie watches as Nettie travels to an unknown country, to live with people she knows nothing about. Nettie changes her lifestyle completely around, and then tries to teach people about something they have never thought about before. As Celie watches her, she gradually learns to mirror her strength and apply it in her own life. Later, white men come, and destroy the tribe's village. Because of this horrible tragedy, Nettie is compelled to accept protection under the shelter of human love. Just as Nettie is learning to trust and accept help from others, Celie is learning the same thing back in Georgia.


Shug Avery is a "confident, flamboyant, ... independent" (Taylor, Masterpieces 107) women who befriends Celie and teaches her to respect herself, to love herself, and to assert her own independence. In the beginning, Shug is hateful to Celie, ridiculing her flaws and her i ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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