life and death

What It Takes to Overcome Suffering

When dealing with hardship in one’s life, people deal with it in diverse ways. One may overcome suffering through their own thoughts and ventilation, or by through their relationships with themselves, other people, or even a higher being. Alice Walker, an African American writer, narrows the scope of suffering to a single, courageous woman in her novel, The Color Purple. Through this remarkable woman, Celie, Walker illustrates that even when life can’t get any worse, one can overcome impossible odds. Alice Walker illustrates through Celie’s triumph over Mr. _____, one overcomes suffering through the presence of strong positive relationships. The obstacles that Celie overcomes are indicative of the relationships that she acquires. Through the relationships that Celie forms with God, Sofia, Nettie, Shug, and the ultimate relationship she develops with herself, she is able to overcome the abuse and hardship that is present in her life and her past.

Celie’s upbringing was not one, that which someone would call typical. She must care for her brothers and sisters, and is already burdened with the cooking and cleaning of the household because of her mother’s deteriorating health. And if that is not a harsh struggle enough, Celie is being continuously raped by the man she knows to be her father. Celie gives birth to two of her father’s children, whom he sells after Celie gives birth. She is tormented with the thoughts of her two born children, and why these horrible things happen to her. Celie is mistreated and abused day to day, and accepts this as the norm childhood. Not only is the young, innocent Celie raped

Ventura 2 again and again, she is beat by this man, when she does something he does not approve of. “He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church” (Walker 5). She is victimized by this man repeatedly and cannot help but only wonder why. She is thought of as nothing but a sexual object, and is taken advantage of over and over. She is stepped on repeatedly by her stepfather and is threatened not to say anything. “You better not never tell nobody but God. It’s kill your mammy” (Walker 1). She is silenced not to tell anyone about her explicit rapes because she knows it would kill her mother, and therefore only expresses her hardship to God. This poor young girl deals with hardship most adults do not even encounter, but handles it with her own prerogative.