Speakman 1
Anissa Speakman
Mrs. DiGennerio
English Period 4
21 April 2012
Giving God the Ax: The Evolution of Celie
Alice Walker was a product of her environment; raised by uneducated sharecroppers and
continually feeling the keen sting of discrimination, Walker knew from an early age that she had
a passion for standing up for the underprivileged and underrepresented. Many of themes that she
writes about come from life experiences, like when a white man told her that black women have
no place in higher education institutions, or the emphasis she puts on females
bonds/relationships, even though she is estranged from her one and only child and daughter.
Although Walker made it into college on a full scholarship and became a best selling author, she
never forgot her grass roots, which can be seen in the colloquial construction of her most famous
novel yet. The Color Purple, is structured in poorly written letters with three different openings,
Dear God, Dear Celie, Dear Nettie, and the final letter's opening, a variation of Dear God. The
evolution of Celie's letters throughout the novel represent her own growth, and the contrast
between her sister's life and her own. Celie's ability to mature into an assertive person, with the
understanding that she is apart of something much bigger then herself is made possible by the
strength of women that surround her.
When the novel opens, Celie is young, and physically and mentally weak, however she
evolves into a strong, independent business women by the end of the work. Walker constructed
the novel to juxtapose Celie and Nettie, which would highlight this change in Celie, and she
created key characters to help Celie through her transformation. The letters Celie writes at the
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beginning of the novel are short and often talk about the things that surround her instead of her
own thoughts and feelings, especially when it comes to the abuse she receives from the men in
her life; “[Mr.___] took my other little baby, a boy this time. But I don't think he kilt it. I think he
sold it to a man an his wife over Monticello” (Walker 3). The entire entry that this quote comes
from is only about a paragraph long. Although Celie identifies the baby as male, she uses the
word “it” to describe the baby instead of “him”. The quote is an excellent example of Celie’s
detachment from her emotions and the decisions made about the direction of her life by others.
This attribute stays with Celie for most of the novel, as she concedes to the whims of her stepfather and her husband Albert. Slowly throughout the work, Celie’s letters become longer and
more thoughtful, but it isn’t until she creates a close bond with Shug that she makes an emotional
breakthrough; “I cry and cry and cry. Seem like it all come back to me, laying there in Shug
arms. How it hurt and how much I was surprise....then it feels real soft and wet on my breast, feel
like one of my lost babies mouth. Way after a while, I act like a little lost baby too” (Walker
114). This entry was three pages long, and has an in depth, emotional passage, and was also
addressed to Shug, who is identified as, "[t]he catalyst for the character change in Celie is the
relationship she develops with Shug Avery, her husband Albert's mistress." (Warren, Themes
and Construction: The Color Purple).
While Shug is important in bringing about the change in Celie, characters like Sofia and
Harpo are essential in representing her evolution to the readers. For example, near the beginning
of the novel, Harpo is looking for a way to make his new wife, Sofia “mind”. His father tells him
to beat her, but conflicted, he goes to Celie. She agrees with the advice given by Albert, showing
that she agrees with the ideals of her tormenters, and accepts their abusive ways. This is
evidenced by the critical essay, An Overview of The Color Purple, “Celie is so immersed in
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oppression, she accepts the point of view of Mr.: she advises Harpo to beat Sofia. Thus, she
agrees with her oppressor in the idea that a woman should only obey, work and be silent”
(Averbach). However, near the end of novel, Celie advises Harpo’s girlfriend, Mary Agnes,
nicknamed Squeak, that she make Harpo call her by her real name, a sign of respect. This shows
that Celie has learned that women deserve respect from men and should fight for it if they don’t
receive it. Celie doesn't just evolve, however, she changes from a stereotypical poor black
southern woman, to an individual, and she is not the only one throughout the novel. In fact, there
are many reversals of traditional roles in the relationships in the piece. This is evidenced by the
critical essay, Tell Nobody but God: The Theme of Transformation in The Color Purple:
“In the novel there are a number of role reversals that take place between men and
women. Harpo, Albert's son, tries to emulate his father and attempts to dominate his strongwilled wife, Sofia. By the end of the story, they have reversed traditional male-female roles.
Harpo stays home to take care of the house, while Sofia works. Celie and Albert also reverse
roles. By the end of the story, Celie is an independent businesswoman and Albert helps her in her
business. She has also learned to speak up for herself and claim her house when her stepfather
dies. The sexual relationship between Celie and Shug further breaks with the traditional role of
passive women and dominant men that the story challenges. In the relationship between Samuel
and Corrine, the missionaries who adopt Celie's children, and later between Nettie and Samuel,
Walker presents what could be called a partnership relationship between a man and woman. In
these relationships, both the man and the woman share the same goals and work together to
realize them” (Floyd and Preston).
Relationships, and the effects they have on the characters is a major theme in, The Color
Purple, and many if not all of these relationships work both ways. Something a lot of readers
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pick up on in the piece is how Shug helped Celie to transform, but Celie reciprocates this by
helping Shug recover from her illness in the beginning of the novel when no one else would take
the “Queen Honeybee” in. Celie cares for Shug like she would her own child or mother, “I work
on her like she a doll, or like she Olivia-or like she mama. I comb and pat, comb and pat...That
feel just right, she say. That feel like mama used to do” (Walker 53). Some interpretations go as
far as to say that Celie helped Shug to accept herself enough through Celie’s unconditional love
to be able to reconcile with her neglectful father. This interpretation can be seen in Steven
Spielberg’s film adaptation of, The Color Purple, in the iconic scene when Shug Avery sings her
way into her father’s church, hugs him, and whispers, “See daddy, sinners have soul too”. The
dynamic between Celie and Shug, two completely opposite women becoming the closest of
friends and even sexual partners, both with a lot to teach the other, is reminiscent of the novel
,Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg. The two main characters in
that novel, Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, have a a relationship that is extremely similar
to that of Celie and Shug, and also have to battle misogynism and racism throughout the piece.
One of the leading themes in both works in the power of forgiveness in
relationships. Although the only things Albert ever did for Celie was take her sister away from
her and abuse her, it is the same innate goodness that allowed Celie to help Shug that allows her
to forgive Albert, and even become friendly with him toward the end of the novel. The critical
essay, Themes and Construction: The Color Purple provides support for this interpretation:
“That Celie is able to forgive Albert by the end of the story and take him in as a helper
reflects Walker's insistence on the redeeming quality of the human heart. She shows in these
transformed relationships that the worst cruelty committed by one person on another does not
prohibit a change of heart. Her view is basically that the conditions under which human beings
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struggle shapes their behavior. Albert had a difficult life and took out his frustrations on Celie.
When Celie becomes self-sufficient, she could easily have turned her back on Albert, but it is not
within the framework of her character to be uncharitable. In becoming independent, Celie has
found happiness. Rejecting Albert would detract from her happiness” (Warren).
Celie’s viewpoint on forgiveness, happiness, and redemption is very sophisticated for her
character, especially when one reflects on Celie’s actions when she discovered the truth about
her sister’s letters, “I watch him close, I begin to feel a lightening in the head. Fore I know
anything I’m standing hind his chair with his razor open” (Walker 122). Celie undoubtedly grew
from the beginning to the end of the novel, into a sophisticated and independent woman, but that
growth can be seen in more ways then one. In the beginning of the piece, Celie believed God to
be a man with a white beard up in the clouds, a figure she could not connect with at all, and her
faith was beginning to fade. However, when her faith was at its dimmest, and she started writing
to Nettie instead of God, Shug showed her a new way of looking at God, “I think it pisses God
off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it” (Walker 208). Not
only did Shug enlighten Celie to the fact that her God can be whatever she needs him to be, even
if that means “he” isn’t a person at all, she helped her grasp that concept that God wants to please
humans just as much as humans want to please God. This really struck home for Celie, because
for the majority of the novel, she was perplexed as to what she could have done to make God
hate her so much, and finally settled on the notion that God must be a man. Celie was able to
reconnect with God, and by extension, was able to find her happiness. Walker is a huge
proponent of the belief in nature/spirituality as God instead of a set figure, and this shows
through in the writing, becoming the most important theme of the novel, to the extent of being a
part of the novel’s title. Celie is not the only character who has the epiphany that God is more
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spiritual rather then physical, “Celie confesses that she sees God as white, but Nettie replies that
being in Africa has made her see God differently. Her African experience has made her see God
spiritually rather than the physical form that is represented in Western Christianity” (Belding,
Historical Context: The Color Purple).
Celie’s newfound sophisticated image of God in the last stage in her transformation
throughout the novel. Although Celie has had to deal with some of the life’s toughest hardships,
her happiness overshadows any feeling of exasperation, “But I don’t think us feel old at all. And
us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this is the youngest us ever felt” (Walker 294). The “us” in
the quote is referring to her, Shug, and Sofia; these two characters are the catalyst and
representation of Celie’s evolution respectively, these two characters are what built Celie up.
However, the “us” also refers to Harpo and Albert, two men, and what Celie’s underdeveloped
view of the world told her was the reason for all pain and suffering. Now fully evolved, she can
happily accept them into her life. Due to Celie’s flowering, she is able to sit with the people that
were imperative to that flowering, and appreciate the color purple, just the way God intended.
Works Sited
Averbach, Margara. "Overview of The Color Purple." EXPLORING Novels. Detroit: Gale,
2003. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.
Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. 1st ed. New York: Random
House Publishing Group, 1987. Print.
"Historical Context: The Color Purple." EXPLORING Novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Student
Resources In Context. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.
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McKever-Floyd, Preston L. "'Tell nobody but God': the theme of transformation in The Color
Purple." Cross Currents Fall 2007: 426+. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 26
Apr. 2012.
Spielberg, Steven, dir. The Color Purple. Warner Brothers , 1985. Film.
"Themes and Construction: The Color Purple." EXPLORING Novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale
Student Resources In Context. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. 1st Harvard ed. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.
Print.