The Color Purple, Research Paper Example

Introduction

“The Color Purple” is a clear example of a powerful female narrative voice in literature. Celie creates her self-identity through writing. Even though through her actions she does not resist people who ignore, humiliate and abuse her, through her writing, she is able to speak to one person she considers to be understanding and non-judgmental: God. She reflects on her own feelings and the things that happened to her, because she is not allowed to discuss them with anybody. She has no friends and nobody to trust. The novel is a story of a woman who never stands up for herself, but finds a way to make other people’s lives easier. She is told by her father “better not never tell nobody but God”,she speaks to God and him alone.

Writing: an action of reflection and self-identity

It is evident from the writing style that Celie is not used to expressing her feelings and coming forward. She is used to being silent. She still has her identity, laying deep inside her, and she knows that speaking up would only get her into trouble. Still, she reflects on her ways of survival in a unique way. She understands why she tells Harpo to hit Sophia. She lives in a loveless marriage, she gets used to respecting her father even though he abused her, because the Bible tells her so. She forgives. She accepts the situation when Shug moves into the house. She knows that the woman is evil, but she knows that there is no point objecting. She does not judge the woman, even when the priest and people in the church do. She looks at herself as an object, and indeed a useful one. She understands her role when she gets married; to look after the children and the house. She knows that people have practical motivations to use her. Her father’s abuse is explained by her as an action that is necessary because “he could not do it to her mother”. She does not understand love and sex, even after she gives birth to two children of her own father. She envies those who do. She cannot sleep because she knows that she caused the fight between Sophia and Harpo. But she makes peace. This is the first result of her own reflection on her actions. She starts thinking what motivates people to act as they do. She starts understanding herself. She later uses the same analytical skill to understand other people. He figures out why Harpo starts eating too much. She tells Sophia: “He trying to git as big as you, I say.” (44). She starts understanding Sophia when she tells her about how her love life got boring. But she does not feel like it is a problem in her own life. She got used to it. She knows nothing more than men climbing on top of her. For her the statement of Sophia: “No matter what I’m thinking. No matter what I feel. It just him.” is just everyday fact. But she starts to realize that there is something else out there, somewhere. Maybe in her sister’s life who ran away from their father. Maybe in Shug’s life.

Claiming a voice

Celie discovers her own identity and voice throughout the process of writing down events and reflecting on them. However, the turning point comes when Shug sings a song and dedicates it to her. She suddenly starts feeling important: a woman she admires and looks upon sings her a song. She says: “First time somebody made something and name it after me”. Her reflection is important because she is discovering her self-worth. From this point in the book, she starts realizing her role and qualities more and more.

Shortly after her self-discovery, she first time in her life, she tells somebody about the abuse: Shug. When the woman wants to leave, she comes out and tells her: “He beat me when you not here”. (48). This statement clearly explains why she put up with the situation of her husband’s lover living in the house. She is coming forward. She tells Shug that she was beaten “For being me and not you”. She starts to understand human relationships better than any time before in the book. She understands motivations, love and admiration. She openly talks to her husband’s lover about her sexual life. She confesses that she does not mind them sleeping together because she has neither feelings for him, nor passion. Through discovering her own femininity, she slowly develops her identity as a woman. She develops the desire for something more. Something magical that she never knew existed.

She meets Sophia again and the meeting gives her a new sense of self again. She sees a strong woman who could find happiness. Who fought for it. Who overcome difficulties and did not settle, unlike her. The conversation between the two women shows Celie’s self-discovery process. “Life don’t stop just cause you leave home, Miss Celie. You know that.

My life stop when I left home, I think. But then I think again. It stop with Mr. _____ maybe, but start up again with Shug.” (51). She starts thinking about her own life and options, instead of obeying others to stay away from conflicts. She discovers her own strength, and the s narrative voice is getting stronger at the same time. The reason she develops relationships and friendships with women is because she is not afraid of them. This explains her feelings for Shug and the homosexual sensation that is a theme of the second part of the book.

Her role and behavior gets a new meaning when Sophia gets into prison. She used to admire Sophia before for standing up for herself and not letting people bully her. She thought that it was another way of dealing with the situation. However, when Sophia is in prison, she uses Celie’s methods to cope. Celie becomes a role model. Sophia confesses: “Every time they ast me to do something, Miss Celie, I act like I’m you. I jump right up and do just what they say.” (55).

She realizes the power she can gain through her behavior. She is compared to other wives several times and realizes that in the end she has the upper hand. The color purple is the color she assigns for her own personality. She knows this in the beginning, but when she goes shopping for a new dress, the only options are other colors. The color choices she makes have a symbolic meaning. She has to settle with the colors she has; likewise, she needs to settle with the life and roles that she is assigned. Later, she writes,  when she awakens to a spiritual consciousness, that God made her “the color purple”. Starting fresh, with more power and a clean slate, her husband paints his house white: the symbol of a new beginning.

Freedom and obedience

While Celie is an obedient and passive figure as we get to know her in the beginning of the book, she develops into a more active woman, who is on a quest. She does become an admired strong woman from somebody who was hardy noticed before. She was only noticed by her husband and father when she was to be used in her early years. In the second part of the book, however, she becomes a leader who is followed, listened to and can be independent. She develops her own thoughts, her own way of thinking and identity as a woman. While through this development she is influenced by several people, she does not change to copy them. She is discovering herself; the power within. She understands that human relationships can empower people. She develops a friendship with Sophia and tries to understand her. She later admires Shug, who teaches her how to be independent and powerful. While the woman, according to Celie in the beginning of the novel “behaves like a man”, she becomes more aware that there are other female roles than being obedient.

While throughout the novel, Celie remains peaceful and obedient, she becomes stronger. She is stubborn, she waits and when Shug marries, she is the one who is stronger than her husband. The opening up of Celie to Shug in the bed is a symbol of letting go and accepting one’s past to be able to develop further. She starts taking initiative empowered by Shug’s determination to find out whether her husband was keeping Nettie’s letters from her. From Nettie’s letters, she finds out that there is an opportunity to become someone; even if one is black and disadvantaged.  She would never have stolen back the letters before, being the obedient wife and adhering to her assigned role. She becomes angry. She never allowed herself to be angry before; she tried to explain people’s behavior. When her mother assigned more jobs to her as a child, she was angry, as she confesses in the first letter. But she saw that she was sick so she stopped being angry. When her father abused her, she felt the same. She stopped being angry and tried to explain her father’s behavior as “being in need of a woman because her mother was sick”. This time, she is outraged. She is fighting with her emotions; trying to keep peace but desires to kill her husband.

The discovery of the family secret that Alphonso was not her real father initiates an inner change in Celie. She stops writing for God. She says:  “You must be sleep.” She starts writing to her sister. Now, she is not alone in the world, and there are people to encourage and empower her.

She develops her voice and confidence even further when she confronts her husband in front of everyone. She curses him and humiliates him in front of the family members who are shocked by the transformation. She becomes fully independent, and with the help of Shug, she starts her own business. She develops as a person and as a woman. An economically, emotionally and intellectually independent woman who is not afraid to speak up for herself. She does not believe everything others say any more: she used to assume that people were right when they said she was ugly. Now, she realizes that she can look beautiful and that men around her wanted her to feel modest and insignificant.

Conclusion

Throughout the novel, the reader can witness a great change of voice, tone, attitude and openness. As the letters describe the events, they also manifest the changes inside Celie. She starts as a humble girl who does as she is told and obeys to orders. She knows noting better. During her experiences, her eyes open. There are several characters who show her that there are other “coping mechanisms” than hers. She no longer sees obedience as the only solution. She sees Sophia resist to her husband’s abuse. She sees Shug as a powerful, independent woman who is able to control men. She sleeps with Celie’s husband to make him not hurt Celie. She is also powerful and aware of her strengths. Until Celie meets her, she has no idea about the essence of womanhood, sexuality and relationships. She knows that there is something else out there, and embarks on a quest. While she only observes other people in the beginning, like Shug and Sophia, she starts to think about how their actions bring results. She develops her own identity, though; without attempting to copy others. As her personality becomes stronger through self-realization, her letters become more powerful, intense and even critical. From being invisible as a young girl, she becomes herself: the color purple.

Walker, A. “The Color Purple” 1982, Print.