Dear God

The Color Purple begins with the main character, fourteen year old Celie,'s memory of her father's command that she stays quiet about his abuse of her. He says, "You better not tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy," (Walker 1). Celie is the main narrator of the story, and she tells what happens in her life through letters to God. Being a poor African-American woman in the 1930s, Celie has no voice, but she finds one in her letters to God. At the beginning, the main conflict is between Celie, her sister Nettie, and her father because the father sexually abuses Celie, impregnating her twice, and wants to do the same to Nettie, but Celie won't let him. She knows that Nettie is smart and will make something out of herself someday. Her father also gets rid of her two children.

Next thing Celie knows, her father marries her off to a man that she refers to only as Mr. ____, and he treats her the same way that her father did. Celie also has to take care of Mr. ____'s children, who resent her because she is not their mother, especially the oldest one, a boy named Harpo. Nettie runs away from home and stays with Celie, and things are better because Mr. ____ likes Nettie more, so he doesn't beat Celie while she is staying with them. When Nettie refuses Mr. ____'s sexual advances, though, she is forced out and life returns to normal.

Celie manages to befriend Harpo, who confides in her that he got his girlfriend, Sofia, pregnant and he wishes to marry her against her parents' will. Sofia is the exact opposite of Celie; Sofia is broad in body type and outspoken whereas Celie is frail and submissive. Sofia also has an extremely spunky spirit that cannot be subdued. She helps Harpo and Sofia get married and fix up a small shack on the edge of Mr. ____'s property. A conflict between Sofia and Celie develops when Celie tells Harpo that he should beat his wife like Mr. ____ does to her in order to make her more passive.

Shug Avery, Mr. ____'s lover, becomes sick (most likely because of a sexually transmitted disease) and no one will help her. One day, Mr. ____ brings her home in his wagon and tells Celie to take care of her. Celie is fascinated with Shug Avery, but does not express her feelings because she is used to being passive. There is some initial tension between Shug and Celie, because even though she is weak and feverish, Shug's tongue is still sharp as nails and insults Celie almost immediately saying, "You sure is ugly," (Walker 46). Celie doesn't mind, though, because she is fascinated by the sexy nightclub singer. When Shug Avery begins to feel better and is back to her old self, they become friends, but Celie feels a little resentment toward Shug, because Mr. ____ obviously loves her more.

The final piece of drama in this section is once again between Harpo and Sofia. Harpo starts overeating in an attempt to become bigger than Sofia (Harpo is extremely skinny) so he can beat her and put her in her place. All he succeeds in doing is giving himself a potbelly making him look like a fool. Eventually Sofia decides to take her children and move to her sisters's house away from Harpo. He tries not to show any emotion, but does wipe his face with one of the baby's articles of clothes.

I liked how Shug Avery has made Celie's life better. While she is there, Mr. ____ doesn't beat Celie and even orders Mr. ____ around saying, "I don't want to smell no stinking blankety-blank pipe, you hear me, Albert?" (Walker 47). I also like how Shug speaks her mind, unlike Celie, who has become accustomed to having no voice therefore she often doesn't say anything. Shug Avery has a sharp tongue, which I think is part of what makes her attractive in Mr. ____ eyes. I find it slightly ironic that Celie befriends Shug Avery, especially when she is the mother of three of her husband's children.

I predict that the author will bring Nettie back into the story in the next section that I read. Nettie has been gone from Celie's life ever since she left her house, and Celie believes her to be dead. Nettie not being in her life has taken away from Celie's soul leaving her slightly depressed. Nettie is too important a character, to the story line and to Celie, to be completely taken out of the text, so I think that she will eventually return with her own life and her own stories.