From Oppression to Empowerment: A Journey in 'The Color Purple'

As the novel, Color Purple, begins Celie is a young African-American girl growing up in rural Georgia before the civil rights movement occurred. Celie lives in a time of poverty, ignorance, sexism, and racism. These horrors are represented page-to-page. She endures hardship, tragedy, and undergoes a range of emotions until she eventually overcomes everything going against her and becomes a woman of strength and finally has control of her own life. In the book, Color Purple, by Alice Walker, Celie transforms from a reserved young girl to a wonderful strong-willed woman.

Growing up, Celie learns to be quite. She learns to hide in the shadows and do only what is asked of her. To understand why, you must know her childhood home life. Celie grew up in fear of men. She always wrote to God about her problems because she does not have anyone else to confide in. The novel starts off with her father saying "You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy" (p1). Celie writing to God is the first sign of strength or growth presented in the book. Her father, who she later learned is her step dad, Alphonso rapes Celie on multiple occasions and Celie has two children by him. Her father raping her is what Celie should never tell to her “mammy” because it would “kill” her. In reference to her children after she birthed her second child, Celie says

She becomes angry with God. This occurs because she finds out that Mr__ has been hiding letters from her dearest sister, Nettie. She blames God for this and has a lot of resent for him. Shug explains that she resents God because he is viewed as man, and Celie’s view on men were always negative her whole life. It is then explained to Celie that she needs to view God as thing, not a person so that she can still hold faith without blame. Celie is now closer to God because of this