The Color Purple Women

In Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the main character Celie is a women in the early twentieth century, this was not a simple task, especially for a women of color. She has dealt with rape, postpartum depression, suppression, silence, loss, and much more. Her life was a difficult one, if it could even be called a life in the first place. To have life is to know self, and Celie does not discover who she could be until the end, therefore, she is not truly living until more than half her life has passed her by. This is what it was like to be a victim, but the most significant victimisation is that of colored women, being suppressed not only because they are the “weaker” sex but because they are also that of an inferior race, not to mention her

His blame is placed upon his own, unruly character. He assumes the role of a man, one like his father, and is immediately dominate to Celie. He does not ask her opinion or consent on most everything, and only uses her for work and sex. She is suppressed by him, and any power she might have had is taken away, therefore, she cannot even call Albert by his name. “In Celie’s case this is reflected not only in her silencing but also in her inability to name her male oppressors; thus she refers her husband, Albert, as “Mr ̶ ”. Tucker suggests that “naming is a means of having power”, and she further argues that “Celie needs to be able to name in order to establish selfhood” (Krejčová 13). His idea that a name is power if quite crucial throughout the entirety of the book, the pattern goes on as more male characters are met within the book, and Celie has trouble calling them by their names. As her struggle to gain power continues, it is easier for her to call those men by their names. And by the end of the book, she is even able to refer to one of her greatest suppressors as Albert, instead of

She creates a stirring in Celie, a sexual one that she has never before felt. “Shug introduces Celie to the mysteries of the body and sexual experience, making possible both Celie's discovery of speech and her freedom” (Ross 71). Shug also guides her to that new, all around vision of God, a guiltless deity that does not judge, but only encourages the love people have and share. “God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it find it. And sometimes it just manifest itself even if you not looking, or dont know what you looking for” (Walker 198). Celie begins to not lose hope in God after Shug tells her this, and even begins to believe in God the way Shug does. This releaves the tension that has built up inside her, and has given her a new hope that she does have a God to believe and trust in, one that is good, and not purely hellish. Through Shug, Celie has begun the route to self discovery, and through God, she is able to find love for her newly discovered self and also for