Sabrina Nayar
Professor Brown
ENG 222
Celie and Shug
The most important relationship in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is between Celie and Shug Avery. Experiencing multiple accounts of sexual violence and incestuous abuse, Celie struggles to assert her voice and construct an inner sense of self-worth. This is especially evident in Celie’s relationship with her husband, Mr._____; as he habitually beats her into submission, Celie is emotionally numb and remains passive and obedient. When Nettie insists that Celie learn how to fight back, Celie says “I don’t know how to fight. All I know how do to is stay alive” (Walker, 18). This state of emotional numbness and submissiveness is a fundamental part of Celie’s character, infringing her will to break out of her obedient role. Under the belief that Nettie is dead, Celie is even more cynical “I think about Nettie, dead.
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Celie has discovered the letters from Nettie that Mr._____ has been hiding; significantly angry and dismayed, Celie has lost faith in God and feels defeated. During their conversation about God, Shug tells Celie “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it” (Walker, 177). Shug explains that God loves for its work to be admired, whether that is the creation of sexual pleasure or something as simple as the color purple. This is an important moment for Celie because she undergoes a revelation that helps her see the beautiful, positive things in life that the trauma in her life has prohibited her from appreciating. “Next to any little scrub of a bush in my yard, Mr.____’s evil sort of shrink” (Walker, 177). Through this enlightening conversation, Shug serves as the catalyst of Celie’s transformation, causing her to finally harness the power of her assertive, narrative