Color Purple Relationships

The importance of female relationships in standing up against oppression and abuse within the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

In the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker the reader is immediately introduced to the harsh reality of the protagonists’ life through the very first sentence, “You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.” (p.1). From that point onwards the narrative follows young Celie from she raped and abused by the man she believes to be her father to becoming the wife of Mr._____, with his decision being almost solely based on the fact that their consummation agreement includes both her and a cow. In the beginning of the novel Celie is portrayed as being a victim of oppression from all of the men in

This familial bond connected the two girls so closely that even when pregnant with her Pa’s second child, Celie still vowed to protect her little sister from being harmed from him. While going through her Pa’s abuse and even in the beginning of her marriage to Mr.____, Nettie was there to tell her that she was smart and capable. Later on in the novel, after meeting both Sofia and Shug, Celie finds out that Mr.____ has been keeping Nettie’s letters from her and this discovery triggers a shift within the novel. Celie from then onwards no longer addresses her letters to God, whom she imagines to be a “big and old and tall and graybearded and white.”(p.194), but instead to her sister Nettie who has always been a prominent figure within her life and does not represent yet another male figure in her life that has not taken care of her. The discovery and reading of the letters led to finally Celie believe and have the courage to stand up to Mr.____. Nettie’s view portrays a world much larger than Celie has ever known and one that is not entirely male dominated. Even when Nettie is faced with the issue of girls not being able to go to school, she manages to overcome it. Without the knowledge that one of that Nettie, one of the only people who had encouraged Celie to become more than a victim, Celie may never have faced her