Celie

At the beginning of the novel Celie embodies the traits of endurance, passivity, humour, naivety and bravery (in her efforts to protect Nettie). Walker's use of simple, graphic language emphasises Celie's youth and innocence: 'I am have always been a good girl.'

Celie’s early married life is a continuation of her life under the care of Alphonso. She is a drudge; she’s beaten and sexually abused. She sees sex as Mr------ doing ‘his business’. She has no self respect and therefore commands no respect from him. The more slavish she is, the more she sinks in his regard as he later admits. Escape being impossible, she escapes in her mind, thinking about Nettie while Mr does ‘his business’ and making herself ‘wood’ when he beats her.

Alice Walker’s presentation of Celie is entirely sympathetic so the reader is encouraged to empathise with her. Many reasons are advanced to account for Celie’s passivity: she has no one to turn to; she thinks Nattie died because she resisted; she has too low an opinion of herself to believe herself capable of taking action to remedy matters. Her youth, naivety and lack of experience are emphasised through her own simple, direct language, with all of its inaccuracies and her ignorance of even the facts of life and the onset of her own pregnancy. Her profound faith in God provides another reason for her compliance; she believes that ‘heaven last always’ and is therefore able to accept the privations and sufferings of her earthly life.

Alice Walker, then, exerts herself to show Celie as a helpless victim with whom the reader should sympathise. She is largely successful in this, but occasionally there is a danger that the reader might become irritated by such supine behaviour and almost come to think Celie invites such treatment. This is averted by instances of Celie’s such as when she sacrifices herself to save Nettie from being raped by Alphonso. She also occasionally performs small, secret acts of defiance, such as spitting in Albert’s father’s glass of water. Though there are moments of almost Dickensian pathos as when Celie is stutteringly grateful for the first dress that no one else has worn, there are also hints of the tougher Celie beneath the surface; when Albert’s sister thinks she deserves better, Celie says ‘I think so too maybe.’

 

Nettie

 

 

 

 

Shug

Shug is presented through Celie's eyes.

Her interests shown by her choice of magazine

high life cam/fountains / gd times - white woman

Celie interprets Shug's behaviour using the simile 'like a child . . . toy'

symbolises Shug following this high life but it's not satisfying her

It is also typical of Celie that she uses such a domestic simile; she knows about children and there recognises the childlike qualities in Shug.