Comparing Winter's Bone And The Color Purple

Celie was consistently raped and physically abused by the male dominant figure in her household--she mothered both a daughter and son from her father’s abuse.

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible has a variety of unique and memorable characters that change & progress throughout the entire play. Some characters may even change the final outcome of the entire story. Abigail Williams, an antagonist in the play is a character some may describe her as dreadful. I myself would describe her as smart and persuasive because of the way she tried to manipulate everyone. Abigail's actions are quite obvious, but I believe she doesn’t deserve all the blame for what she has done.

It is clear that Celie’s father commits several forms of violence against her when she quotes, “he [Pa] never had a kine word to say to me… First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around… When that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it. But I don’t never get used to it.” (Walker, 1-2). As a results of this, Celie finds herself in situations where she has trouble identifying with her sexual orientation as well as, becoming numb to sex after repeated sexual abuse. Moreover, not only is he physically violent with her by raping her, but later on in the novel, one discovers that he sells Celie’s children away- just like Aminata’s children- causing her to face emotional damage as well. Moreover, Celie’s father does not respect her as a human being, for the fact that he calls her ugly and does not say anything kind to her, but he also forces her to keep quiet about the way he is treating her, thus dehumanizing her. All in all, numerous forms of abuse have severely crippled Aminata and Celie, displaying oppression caused by men in their daily lives.

Celie is abused and raped by her Pa, who takes away her children after they’re born. Eventually, Pa marries Celie off to a man who is just as abusive as Pa. Celie’s new husband, Mr.__, simply marries Celie to take care of his four children, look after of his house, and work in his fields.

During the post-war modernism era writers portray the gender compound in interesting and unique ways. The book follows a group of Americans as they travel around Europe soon after World War One. In Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece The Sun Also Rises the narrator, Jake Barnes, and the other main character’s gender characterization is unique in that the main character’s gender traits juxtapose each other throughout the novel.

Celie will take any abuse to her mind and body as long as she is allowed to stay alive (Harris): “I don’t say nothing. I think about Nettie, dead. She fight she run away. What good it do? I don’t fight, I stay where I’m told. But I’m alive” (21). This causes Celie to “continues to believe that others are responsible for her destiny and that she can only have as much space as they will grant her” (Harris). The abuse Celie has gone through has resulted in her not having any self-confidence and judging herself harshly, which has led her to believe that since she is ugly, and that she

Have you ever had something terrible happen to you, but you have that one friend that comforts you and helps you get through the hard times ? Throughout the story Speak Ivy has helped Melinda clear her mind, and find her voice after a traumatizing changed her life in a bad way.

One of the themes of the novel is transformation. This theme discusses how Celie transformed from a submissive woman to a person who stands up for herself. This ties into the theme of gender roles because the women in the novel overcome the oppression of the male characters. Mr.__ and Celie's husband would physically and verbally abuse her, and Shug helped form Celie's personality into a woman who is outspoken. The abuse from men in her life hindered her true personality to show throughout the novel.

Celie also values her sister Nettie greatly and protects her when it comes to their step-father, Alphonso raping the girls. Celie says “I ast him to take me instead of Nettie while our new mammy was sick.” the casual tone of the preceding line adds to Celie's lack of self-worth; she is so used to being raped by Alphonso that it no longer makes any difference to her. As Celie transitions to the Mister’s household, she is still treated with disrespect by the Mister himself and even one of his sons. In a letter to God, she writes “I spent most of my wedding day running from the oldest boy… He picks up a rock and laid my head open.” Celie grows older in this household and submits to more abuse from her new husband.

Just say you gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t.” (1) It shows that Celie will do what is told of her because she is young and powerless to change what she is going through. In the book Celie goes to live with a man, who is verbally and physically abusive to her, leaving her with no choice but to leave her siblings behind with her stepfather. Upon starting to live with the man, Mr. ________, she doesn’t have the power to stop the situations she ends up in : “ He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church.” (5) She can’t show that she wasn’t doing anything wrong nor can she stop Mr. ______ from hurting her.

Celie is able to accept her past and establish a clear vision of herself and fulfillment through the acts of love. She meets other women who tell her that she should stand up for herself and fight, but Celie feels that it’s better to survive than to fight and risk not surviving. However, there are certain triggers that lead Celie to stand up. Like a true fighter, Celie proves herself to be willing to stand up for the people she loves. Even as a downtrodden victim of her Pa, Celie sacrifices herself and offers herself to her father so that he keeps his hands off of Nettie. As mentioned in this quote, where Pa is sexually abiding Celie, “First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grab hold my titties. Then he push his thing inside my pussy. When that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it. ” (Walker, 4). Celie has the potential by putting her efforts into other people, but not realizing she is able to stand up for herself the same ways he does for Nettie. Relating it back to the novel, “Beloved”, Sethe does the same representation when she is trying to save Beloved even though the idea is bizarre of her killing her own child, but she only does it so that she would not have to suffer the way Sethe did. Celie is introduced with Shug Avery a blues singer, who she was first found “rude”, but as the story moves along, Shug Avery becomes the reason Celie learns to love herself. Because Celie is finally opening herself up by loving someone, Celie becomes more lovable. Through Shug’s love, Celie begins to realize her own self-worth, from the minute when Shug Avery wrote a song for Celie, as said in this quote: “This song I'm bout to sing us call Miss. Celie's song.”(Walker, 73).By the end of the novel, Celie loves more

Celie practically struggled for happiness her whole existence. Her father sold her to a man who had no intent of loving or caring for her. Celies’ husband whom she refers to as Mr. physically and verbally abused her. Mr. felt that the only way to keep a woman in check was to beat her and he did just that throughout the movie. Like any woman would though the abuse Celie lost herself and respect for herself. Living with Mr. was a life full of darkness and hatred. Life with her husband was no better life than life with her stepfather. It took years for Celie to become brave enough to fight back for what she accept as true and gain understanding of how to convey amusement and have little outlook on life. After years of abuse, Celie no longer was afraid of Mr. She no longer cared for her husband or the

Celie's transformation from Mr. ____'s slave into an independent women is successful thanks to two strong women that become role models for Celie in her everyday life; Shug Avery and Sofia. Sofia is a role model in a more unconscious way for Celie then Shug is. Sofia's whole appearance and behaviour is proud, she lets no one sit on her and Celie is, at first, jealous of Sofia's self-confidence and tries to destroy it by giving her husband Harpo the advice to beat her to make her obedient; "I think about this when Harpo ast me what he ought to do to make her mind. [---] I think bout how every time I jump when Mr. _____ call me, she [Sofia] look surprise. And like she pity me. Beat her. I say"2. When this does not work, Celie realises that Sofia is someone to become more alike, not someone to destroy.

But Celie gains confidence and succeeds through the opportunities she takes advantage of, and she learns to love and be loved. Celie has had a tough life. From being abuse by her own father to having a kid and getting it sold. Celie has always been abuse by her step Father, calling her ugly, fat, dumb, etc. Eventually the situation gets worse yet better as she grows up.

Because Celie seeks to protect her younger sister Nettie from being degraded by Pa, Pa frequently targets Celie to be the subject of his physical and sexual abuse. Pa constantly rapes Celie and eventually impregnates her twice. Pa also physically abuses Celie. In one letter, Celie references an incident where Pa punches her because she accidently winks at a boy in her church (12). On top of the physical and sexual abuse that Celie suffers from, Pa also verbally abuses her. He frequently tells Celie that she its ugly and unwanted. Eventually, Celie internalizes these words and begins to think view herself as though she is ugly and unwanted, so she believes that the things that happen to her must be normal. All of the abuse that Celie suffers from at the hands of Pa causes her to characterize all men as violent and