Who Is Celie's Identity In The Color Purple

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple chronicles the lives of African-American women living in the deep American South during the 1930s. Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the novel addresses the many issues that plague black women, especially their exceptionally low status in the social culture. Walker cleverly tells the story of two sisters, Celie and Nettie, through a series of letters and diary entries. Celie, a poor, uneducated young woman, has been sexually abused by the man she believed was her father, and at the tender age of fourteen is forced to be the wife of a physically and mentally abusive widower, and the caretaker of his unruly children. Contrary to her sister, Nettie manages to escape the sexual advances of her “father,” as well as, Mr.______, Celie’s husband, and become an educated and traveled missionary. Sisterhood is defined as a “congenial relationship or companionship among women; mutual female esteem, concern, or support.” In the end, it is the sisterhood that surrounds Celie, as well as the hope Nettie supplies, that allows her (Celie) to escape the authoritative control of her husband and embrace her own identity. As I read this novel and I compared its details with my experiences as a black, female, college student. I begin
to wonder if the idea of sisterhood between black women has become null and void. Because of the competitive nature of society, black women seem as though they do not want other women, or their competitors, to succeed. For example, Shug, Mr._______’s mistress, who comes to live with the family as a result of her poor health, displays her lack of respect for Celie by copying her lover, abusing Celie and adding to her humiliation. However, unlike present times, Celie admired Shug’s strength and her liberated version of femininity. Moreover, once Shug became aware of the physical abuse Mr.____ demonstrated toward Celie, she resolved that she would stay and protect Celie. In today’s society, black women, first, would not be keen to the idea of allowing another woman into her husband’s bed. Second, another woman’s strength would not provoke an attraction, such as the one between Shug and Celie. Instead, this other relationship would simply make a woman even more insecure. While, I acknowledge the time period (setting) of the novel does play a part in the consent of extra marital affairs, I also believe it was an internal desire to be like Shug that influenced Celie’s actions. Unknowingly, Shug’s loyalty to Celie was the beginning of their sisterhood. The next example of their sisterhood was the loyalty displayed toward Sofia after she was incarcerated for hitting the mayor.
Celie, initially, was jealous of Sofia’s ability to vocalize her opinions. She demonstrated her jealousy by telling Harpo to “beat her,” referring to Sofia’s inability to “mind.” But when the time came, Shug, Celie, and Squeak managed to get Sofia out of jail and help look after her children. Ironically, Harpo was still married to Sofia, and Squeak was his girlfriend. Yet it was Squeak, once physically at odds with Sofia, who sacrificed herself to get Sofia from behind bars and in the Mayor’s home as a maid. The sisterhood continued despite the issues between the individual
women. I believe the common link in this sisterhood was these women understood that they were all viewed as inferiors by someone, be it husband, lover, or other town’s people. They recognized this commonality between one another and attempted to uplift each other. Shug ultimately help each woman recognize their voice. However, in today’s society, black women would rather eliminate the competition instead of making the playing field more level and increasing the competitors. While some feel Alice Walker’s novel emphasizes the abusiveness of black men, I believe her novel was a method of identifying the strength and unity of black women.