The Color Purple
...completely unable to resist those who abuse her. Remembering Alphonso’s warning that she “better not never tell nobody but God” (pg 1.) about his abuse of her. Alphonso, Celie’s father, has turned to Celie for sexual gratification because Celie’s mother is ill and can no longer endure Alphonso’s sexual demands. Celie feels that the only way to persevere is to remain silent and invisible. Celie is essentially an object, an entirely passive party who has no power to assert herself through action or words. Her letters to God, in which she begins to pour out her story, become her only outlet. However, because she is so unaccustomed to articulating her experience, her narrative is initially muddled despite her best efforts at transparency. In Shug and Sofia, Celie finds sympathetic ears and learns lessons that enable her to find her voice. In renaming Celie a “virgin,” to Shug, a woman’s real loss of virginity is not her first sex act, but the first time she experiences the pleasure of an orgasm. Celie finds the idea of pleasure sexy, otherworldly, and shocking. (pg. 81.) Shug shows Celie that she can create her own narrative, a new interpretation of herself and her history that counters the interpretations forced upon her. Gradually Celie begins to flesh out more of her story by telling it to Shug. However, it is not until Celie and Shug discover Nettie’s letters that Celie finally has enough knowledge of herself to form her own powerful narrative. Celie’s forceful assertion of this newfound power, her cursing of Mr. ______for his years of abuse, is the novel’s climax. Celie’s story dumbfounds and eventually humbles Mr. ______, causing him to reassess and change his own life. Though Walker clearly wishes to emphasize the power of narrative and speech to assert selfhood and resist oppression, the novel acknowledges that such resistance can be risky. Sofia’s boldness gets her in trouble. When the mayor’s wife, Miss Millie, notices the cleanliness of Sofia’s children and asks Sofia to be her maid, Sofia responds with a curt “Hell no.” The mayor slaps Sofia for her sass, and Sofia knocks him down, an offense that lands her in jail (pg. 90.). Sofia regains her freedom eventually, so she is not totally defeated, but she pays a high price for her words. Finding one’s self has to do with the...