She molested him when they were watching television and that "dream" remained in his mind for a while. He acted like Aunt Helen never even touched because she was his favorite relative. After the death of his aunt, he still felt abused and thought he could have saved her life. The bottom line is Charlie never wanted to believe that Aunt Helen was an abusive relative and the gifts were only meant to keep his secret quiet between them. Most victims of abuse have to live with their psychological horrors from abuse their entire life.
She ast. For being me and not you”. What this quote means is that Cecil endures violence from her husband mainly because she is not her other husband’s lover, Shug. In Page 131 Netties states “he [albert] followed me on his horse…… I tried to ignore him…...After a while I had to rest, that’s when he got down from his horse and started to kiss me, and drag me back in the woods”. What this quote means is that Albert tried to sexually assault Cecil’s sister, Nettie and he tried to do so by using physical violence.
Gender violence is a problem indicated in the novel, which has been passed down from generations to affect today’s society. To commence, Celie is subjected to trauma at such a young age, just because she is a woman. She writes in her journal, explaining the situation with, “He start to choke me, saying You better git used to it. But I don’t never git used to it. And now I feels sick everytime I be the one to cook,” (pg.
After Celie moves out with Shug, Grady and Squeak in spite of her husband’s wishes and threats, Celie finds that she is much more content with her life. In a letter to her sister, Celie writes “I am so happy. I got love, I got work, I got money, friends and time… [Darlene] say people think [I’m] dumb… What I care?... I’m happy” (215). Once Celie stands up for herself and speaks her mind to Mr. ____, she begins to feel happier and content with her life.
Celie is forced into a marriage with a man who has no feelings of affection towards her and goes on to become the next abuser in Celie’s life. Her husband is never mentioned by name, and is only referred to as Mr___ which only reinforces the power he has (Selzer 2011, p. 13). By being nameless, he almost
Themes of sexism and racism are prevalent in the entire novel, probably as a reflection of the social contexts surrounding the novel’s setting. Celie, as the main protagonist and narrator, shows some form of internalized oppression. Racism as an issue is seen in how Sofia was imprisoned and violently beaten for rejecting the white mayor’s wife’s offer to be her maid. Nettie (Celie’s sister who had ran away from the ill-treatment), in her letters, also indicates her reflecting the racial stereotypes held by American Blacks against their African counterparts. Many characters in the novel break the boundaries of traditional male or female gender roles.
She is denied to go to school, because according to her stepfather, she is ‘too dumb to keep going to school’ (CP 9). She is repeatedly raped by him and becomes pregnant twice, but the babies are taken away from her. Celie becomes a mother of two children born of incestuous union but they are sold by Alphonso for monetary benefit. Celie’s life is the representation of the female slaves whose children were forcefully taken away by the slave masters who enjoyed the financial gain by selling children. Celie mingles her physical suffering with the psychological torture through many letters that she writes to God and her sister.
Pecola was emotionally abused by her classmates who usually called her ugly because she was black. She experienced a lot of things when she was in that age, and everything piled up which resulted to her mental abused self. Pauline breedlove, Pecola’s mother, did not care about her and neglected her the whole time. She was never there for her and was a very distant mother. When pecola told Pauline about Cholly raping her, she did not believe her but rather, she hurt Pecola for thinking that she was lying.
As Celie and Shug's relationship progressed daily, Celie learned how to stand up for herself. Celie showed the new side of her at dinner one night. She yelled at Mr. _ and told him she was leaving with Shug and not coming back. This proves that Celie has grown respect for herself. Mr. _ admits that the only reason he abuses her is because she is a woman.
Lennie seems frightened of the woman, though he is not the victim. The instinct to immediately put his hand over the mouth of the wife is an example of how terrifying human are. The surges of panic Curley’s wife feels conveys that Lennie is the true villain in the book, not the protagonist. After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, she lays, “with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face.