Stereotypes In The Color Purple

Shug Avery is Mr. Albert’s long lost love and she comes in to move in with Mr. Albert’s family since she had gotten very sick and needed the support. The minute Celie saw a picture of Shug she had fallen for her, finding her very beautiful. Shug has supported Celie in every possible way after she realized that when Celie puts her full effort in helping her even though she was rude to her when they had first met. Shug helps Celie with self-identity, which help builds her confidence. “She say my name again. She say this song I’m bout to sing is call Miss Celie’s song. Cause she scratched it out of my head when I was sick.” (Walker, 73). In this quote Celie recognizes that someone has done something for her, they have valued her enough to do something sweet as this. Celie realizes that she has one more person who cares and loves for her. This leads Celie to believe in herself be able to take control, since she is aware that she has someone next to her. Shug also has the effect on Celie to take control when Celie confronts Mr. Albert telling him that she is leaving him, “You bitch, he say. What will people say, you running off to Memphis like you don’t have a house to look after?” said by Mr. Albert who was referring to Celie. This is a big step for Celie because she is going to be living the life she wants with the person she loves, Shug Avery. Celie has wanted for so long to get out of the

Shug Avery is not only a friend to Celie but also a lover. It is by being a lover that Celie learns self-respect and a little happiness in her life. Like when Shug Avery showed Celie how to enjoy herself. Listen she say, right down there in your … is a little button that gits real hot when you do you know what with somebody. It get hotter and hotter and then it melt. That the good part. But other parts good too, she say… (P. 79). I found this real important as it showed Celie she can enjoy herself and there is more to her then just being a slave to Mister.

Throughout the story, several women were extremely mistreated by men. The oppression of women is unmistakable in The Color Purple. It is particularly exposed in association between Celie and her farther. At a very young age Celie was subjected to oppression. Celie was raped repeatedly and pregnant twice by her stepfather and was told to keep quiet about it. "You better not never tell nobody but God, It'd kill your mammy" (stepfather). I believe this is when Celie began to fear men for most of her life. This act towards any woman is very demeaning.

In The Color Purple, Alice Walker illustrates the lives of a female African American before the Civil Rights Movement. A novel that describes female empowerment, The Color Purple demonstrates the domestic violence women faced in the South. Walker tells the story through Celie, a young African American girl who faces constant hardships until she stands up for herself with the help of her closest friends – other women undergoing the same difficulties. Even though men controlled females in the South, the author emphasizes the strength of female empowerment because females struggled to survive during this time.

“You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t” (Walker 1) stated Celie’s step father in The Color Purple. The first letter written by Alice Walker's character Celie in The Color Purple gives a brief light on how mistreated, the protagonists, Celie has been. Celie suffered through many forms of abuse and trauma. Since an early age her supposed father, Pa, sexually abused her. Celie’s husband also beat her into submission, and worked her constantly. But never the less Celie revolts against her oppressors with the help of Shug, Nettie, and life changing events. In Alice Walker’s The Color Purple the protagonists Celie is analysed through emotional and physical abuse, and hardships throughout the novel, but after many personal trials she has become a very independent character.

However, the pair forms a nurturing relationship in which they take care of one another.  These days Shug is all about love, and touch and feeling.  As Shug says of her love of cuddling, "I love to hug, period, she say.  Don't need nothing else right now" (Walker 152).  Celie learns from Shug how to care about people once more, including caring for herself.  Celie begins this journey to independence and love of self and others through her relationship with Shug.  At one point she and Shug have physical relations, but it is Walker's purpose to show this as a means of providing each other comfort, nurturing, and humanity - not as a display of homosexuality.  The entire episode is treated in the novel as a nurturing act, akin to a mother compassionate mother nursing her needy child, "Then I feels something real soft and wet on my breast, feel like one of my little lost babies mouth.  Way after a while, I act like a little lost baby too" (Walker 118).  We can see in

The movie ‘’The Color Purple’’ is a 1985 drama film that portrays the historical period. This film sheds light on the struggles that African American women faced during the 1930s. The Color Purple is about the life of Celie Harris, a poor black girl who married against her wish to an older black man. This movie was a great portrayal of history, which was directed by Steven Spielberg in a new light, this movie also shows realism and grit.

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.

“And she just about the color of a eggplant.” (87) Finally, Celie lives her life bitterly and does not notice or appreciate anything around her. Shug tells her, “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” (p. 178) Shug feels that God created beauty in the world to make humans happy. She feels that it is important that people take the time to acknowledge everything around them. From this, Celie realizes that Shug has enlightened her. She admits that she does not appreciate the world she lives in. This changes the way Celie perceives her existence. She begins to have a more positive outlook on life, despite the hardship she experiences. Celie herself can also be compared to the color purple. She has lived her life unnoticed. Once she realizes this, Celie creates an identity for herself and is finally noticed amongst her community. Another important symbol in this novel is pants. Once Celie is liberated from her marriage, she starts a pant-making business. The pants represent independence, which again is a concept that relates to the theme of the novel. Celie can finally provide for herself. In her “previous life”, Celie’s only role in society was to bear children and keep house. The pants also symbolize a change in Celie’s relationship with men. Before, the idea that men and women had anything at all in common was completely daft.

Within The Color Purple by Alice Walker, women are treated as inferior to men therefore they must obey them. Through the strength and wisdoms Celie gains from other women, she learns to overcome her oppression and realize her self worth as a woman. The women she has met throughout her life, and the woman she protected since young, are the people that helped her become a strong independent woman. Sofia and Shug were there for Celie when she needed someone to look up to and depend on. Nettie was able to push Celie to become a more educated, independent person. The main source of conflict in this book is Celie’s struggle with becoming an independent woman who needs not to rely on a man. Throughout the book we see her grow as a person and

Celie and the women surrounding her struggle for bondage. Celie finds a bond with many females. Walker introduces the hint of Celie's sexual attraction to women in church. Afraid of men because of the cruel treatment by her father, Celie turns more and more towards the company of women, who represent love, warmth, and feelings of solidarity to her. Celie affirms her sexual identity in her relationship with Shug Avery. For now, it is manifested merely as what men cannot offer.

“Us sleep like sisters, me and Shug.” The author uses dramatic irony to show the love Shug has for Celie and what Celie sees in Shug. Celie does not notice the love Shug has for her until Shug tells her she loves her and kisses her entire face including her lips. She is always there for Celie and comforts her when she is in need of it. She has never had anyone love her only Nettie but Nettie was taken away from her. This is something different for Celie, but a good different. Something that excites her. Shug is a role model, mother, sister, lover, best friend and teacher to Celie. She sees how empowered she is and at time wishes to have that power. Little does Celie know Shug will soon teach her how to become strong and confident. She will open her eyes to new

Characters throughout Alice Walker’s The Color Purple can be evaluated and analyzed using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a five-stage model consisting of fundamental needs and growth needs. His theory states that the basic, lower tiered needs have to be met before the growth, higher tiered needs can be met, to ultimately reach the top tier, self-actualization. In The Color Purple, Walker shows the eventual progress to self-actualization through the protagonist, Celie. Celie’s growth is shown through her letters to both God and her sister Nettie. Celie fulfills her basic physiological needs when she gets married to Mr._ because she is finally able to escape her father’s abuse, beatings, and rape. It takes a while, but Celie gains safety and security when Shug Avery tells her, “I won’t leave… until I know Albert won’t even think about beating you” (Walker 76). The relationship that Celie forms with Shug helps Celie satisfy her belonging and intimacy needs. Their love for each other can be shown when Shug states, “cause she [Nettie] the only one you ever love… sides me” (120). As Celie begins her life in Memphis, she meets the respect/self-respect needs when she opens her own business making and selling pants. Celie feels so pleased and shows her character development when she says, “I got love, I got work, I got money, friends, and time” (218). Celie finally reaches self-actualization by the end of the novel. She has a successful business, is able to be independent in her own house, and realizes that she can bring herself happiness and that through every situation she needs to see the bright side. This is evidently shown when Celie is talking to Mr._ and says, “If she [Shug] come, I be happy. If she don’t I be content” (288). Celie’s evolution to reach self-actualization is clearly displayed in The Color Purple as Celie faces and overcomes hardships and learns to be confident in herself.

When Shug returns from her road trip, she tells Celie she has a surprise for her. The surprise is that she has gotten married to a guy named Grady. The reader at this point is shocked, surprised and wondering what Celie’s response will be. Celie has begun to feel a sense of pain and hurt that she has fallen in love with someone else. She is jealous of Shug’s new relationship with her husband.

Shug constantly threw diatribes at Celie. Celie endured Shug’s attacks, too stunned by her infatuation with Shug, to care. Mr.____ is Shug’s sycophant which entices jealousy in Celie. Celie starts to think self-deprecating thoughts because she is not as beautiful as Shug or as wanted by Mr.____. Soon after Shug and Celie start to have a sexual relationship. “Us kiss and kiss till us can’t hardly kiss no more” (Walker 113). In the 1930’s African Americans weren’t accepted as equals to whites so a lesbian relationship would be even scarcer at that time. With religion still a substantial factor in Celie’s life she had to bend her morals into accepting her new sexuality. Shug opens up many doors for Celie and instills in her that she too is worthy of being loved. “Well, she say, looking me up and down, let’s make you some pants” (Walker 146). These pants are a symbol of Celie’s psyche transformation as she becomes more independent and stands up for herself against her husband. With Shug, Celie overcomes her fear of men and no longer has a submissive-psychological stance when dealing with situations and that is a gift Celie is deserving