The Color Purple Sexual Awakening Essay

Throughout the novel, The Color Purple, Celie’s sexual awakening is primarily started when Celie met Shug, who later on developed a relationship with, and to add, it was Celie’s first affectionate relationship as well. When Celie was little, her Pa raped her and ended up impregnating her at a young age, after that she married Mr.__ and on her first day there she got hit in the head with a rock, and Mr.__ paid no significance and had intercourse with her. Growing up, Celie felt as if sex was never meant to be meaningful and filled with pleasure. She never got the chance to know what it felt like to truly be loved, made love to, and most importantly, love herself. Back in the day, most women got used to the idea of men controlling them and just

Sex has been used by men as a weapon to take away power and use it to their advantage. Once Celie meets Shug, they eventually start developing a romantic and sexual relationship. Through all of this, Celie begins to heal and work on her self-worth and starts to take power from her abusers. Within this, Celie finds a sense of beauty, worth, and self-pleasure she lacked thereof, by Shug’s attention and affection. For instance, the novel states, “All the men got they eyes glued to Shug’s bosom. I got my eyes glued there too. I feel my nipples harden under my dress. My little button sort of perk up there too. Shug, I say to her in my mind, Girl, you looks like a real good time, the Good Lord knows you do” (Walker 82). This illustrates how Celie starts to feel for the first time, a euphoric feeling of desire towards someone, in this case, Shug. Celie questions these new feelings she has because she has never felt such a thing before, in this case, an intimate crush. Celie states out loud: “Anyhow, I say, the God I been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens I know. Triflinf, forgitful and lowdown.” (Walker 175). Both quotes illustrate how Celie’s past trauma affects how she sees God and how she slowly starts discovering her attraction towards Shug. The story of where it all began for Celie is very complicated and overall a traumatic experience. So the key related things to know about Celie’s

It starts with Shug “interrogating” Celie regarding her sexual relationship with Mr.__. Shug manages to convince Celie to open up about the act of sex and they share a moment of vulnerability. Celie feels as if she has to pretend to enjoy her “sex life” with Mr.__ to make Shug feel good but deep down; Celie hasn’t ever gotten the chance to even know sex could be pleasureful. Later on, Shug teaches Celie how much she could do for pleasure. “You like to sleep with him? I ast. Yeah, Celie she say. I have to confess, I just love it. Don’t you? Naw, I say. Mr.__ can tell you, I don’t like it at all. What is it to like? He git up on you, heist your nightgown round your waist, plunge in. Most times I pretend I ain’t there. He never know the difference. Never ast me how I feel, nothing. Just do his business, get off, go to sleep.” (Walker 75-76). This reveals how Celie never had that display of affection or any type of attraction whatsoever and instead feels a strong emotion of disgust. Furthermore, Celie gets proven wrong by Shug and is shown that there is a possibility of feeling pleasure. “I look at her and touch it with my finger. A little shiver go through me. Nothing much. But just enough to tell me this right button to mash. Maybe.” (Walker 77). These instances illustrate that from the conversation that Celie and Shug shared, Shug introduced Celie to exploring