The Color Purple And Felice From Woman Hollering Creek

Synthesis Quiz #2
Being yourself and happy to be yourself is what makes a person resilient. Resilience is staying strong to yourself regardless of outside influences. The characters Sofia and Celie in “The Color Purple” and Felice from “Woman Hollering Creek” are all characters that have displayed the characteristics of resilience. Resilience makes a person whole and strong. It allows them to sustain any situation that may come their way. Resilience is what ultimately makes the barrier between surviving and truly living.
Celie is resilient before she found her voice and after she found her voice. Celie thought she had to be quiet and submissive to Mr.. She was satisfied at the time. She thought that submission was the only way to live. She
even suggested along with Mr. that Harpo should beat Sofia, so she would be submissive. Celie believed that submission was the only way to live. After she found her voice, Celie was making pants. Making pants fostered freedom for Celie. She at first had a seemingly unhealthy addiction to making plans. Her addition turned out to be beneficial. Wearing pants represents being the head of the family. Even though Celie did not have a family to head. She became the head of her own life.
When Celie was living with Mr., her resilience did not give her a real life. When she was with Mr., she was not free. She was a slave working for Mr. not a wife. Celie’s hands and feet did not need to be shackled. She did not need to be locked in a room escorted with artillery, because Celie was a prisoner in her own mind.
Celie shut herself off from all her pain. Shutting herself off from her pain and emotions did not only imprison Celie, but also sustained the true Celie until she could be free. Celie found her freedom in Shug. Shug was Celie’s savior from her rough and rancid past. Shug was the one who brought Celie back from her psychological prison. When Celie was with Shug, she was free to be herself. Celie is an independent woman now who can survive despite Mr.’s ridicule. Celie’s pants company allows her to build her pants empire. Celie is no longer ruled by abusive men, but is leading young women in her own business. Celie’s change is amazing because she was able to sustain herself in her affliction, so that she can blossom into a new person. Celie preserves her self by leaving a small town in Georgia that causes her so much pain and moving to Tennessee with the one she loves, Shug, to increase her resilience.
Sofia was resilient when filling her prison sentence and when she is free with her family.
Sofia was originally falling apart in jail. The white folks who beat and arrested Sofia took her resilience away. For the time Sofia was in jail, she did not have any resilience. She was weak not strong. Former amazon Sofia was feeble worn and broken. Even though Sofia was in this state, she would not be torn forever. Sofia is a Phoenix. Even though she may not be in the ashes of prison during the very same eleven and a half year sentence she would start to rise. When Billy, the mayor’s son, was playing with his sister, the ball fell near Sofia. When Billy crudely shouted at their maid, Sofia, to pass the ball to Sofia, she verbally back by saying “she is here to watch not throw” (Walker 100). As Billy comes to kick Sofia, She trips him on her leg. This is Sofia‘s first act since her incarceration to gain her resilience. Sofia is a very interesting character in Walker’s The Color Purple. Sofia seems to be portrayed as a beastly bully that is ready to beat up anyone that glimpses her path. This is far from the truth. Everything that Sofia has done was defensive. When Mr. attacked Sofia with her being out at the club when she should’ve been with her six kids and being a pregnant unmarried woman, she responds and verbally defends herself. When squeak and the mayor slaps Sofia, she physically responds by giving them the beating of a lifetime. When Sofia defends herself, she does so to the
extent that not only the recipient but everyone in the vicinity knows that she is not a person to be trifled with. Even though Sofia may fight with a fistful of remarks or a literal fist, she is not a volatile person.
Sofia’s strength is in her values. Sofia would a kill man before she would let them beat her (40). Sofia does not even let her brothers, sisters, Squeak, the mayor, or even her husband Harpo beat her. It is important for Sofia to hold onto her values. When Sofia was beaten during the arrest she lost her values and consequential she lost her strength. The benefit of living is that when Sofia lost her strength she can regain her resilience by being her true self again. This is how she will also regain her values. Sofia keeps her resilience by returning home to Harpo wishes free to be her own Harpo-loving, Amazon-like self. Sofia is able to continue loving her now bigger extended family and continuing to build her home physically and her relationships emotionally.
Felice in “Woman Hollering Creek” is a flat character.
She is not presented as a dynamic character in any capacity. Also Felice does not change in Cisneros’ short story, regardless she is the a epitome of resilience. For Cleófilas, the story’s protagonist, Felice serves as a living example of resilience. Felice owns the truck that she drives, provides for herself, and is free to live her own life. She does not to fill the feminine stereotype of being an over-reliant, baby-making, homemaker in anyway. Felice is strong because she is free and that is why she is resilient. Felice’s resilience comes from her lifestyle. She does not fling herself into finding a man to take care of all her needs, but takes care of herself because she knows that she’s capable. Every woman is capable of taking care of herself to some extent. Many women believe that they are unable to be there own independently strong person. The mind is powerful. Powerful enough to create barriers when they are not present physically. Felice is mentally strong because she does not let the societal obligation of submission to eliminate her independence. Felice is preserving her resilience by just living her life as the independent wonderful woman she
is.
Resilience is vital for every woman not only to survive, but to truly live. Surviving is not enough surviving is nearly eating, breathing, and living the day not knowing what’s coming tomorrow. To live is to have dreams, to have plans ,to look forward to the future, and to be free to do whatever you want whenever you want. Marriage does not limit resilience nor does it prevent a person from being independent. Sofia is able to be a wonderfully strong and resilient person while loving her husband harmful at the same time. Even though Celie is not married, she can still hope for one day to be married not for someone to rule over her as a companion but as a friend. As readers we do not know the marital status of Felice. Whether or not she is married, she is still capable of living her life being free and making the most of what she has.