Celie and Shug in Alice Term Paper

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What is interesting about this statement is the fact that Celie used to see herself as a tree that fought back her negative emotions.

Shug is instrumental in Celie's mental growth. She becomes Celie's confidant but, more importantly, Shug helps her view God differently. For example, Celie's earlier impressions of God are that he is a man that behaves much like the other men she has encountered in her life. She writes that God is "just like all the other mens I know... Trifling, forgitful and lowdown" (199). It is through Shug that Celie begins to recognize God is inside her and "inside everybody else" (202) and he is not a "he or a she, but a it" (202). Furthermore, she helps her see that God "ain't something you can look at apart from anything else, including yourself. I believe God is everything" (202). Shug's ideas help Celie understand God on a deeper, more personal level, which ultimately allows her to appreciate herself as well.

Shug and Celie are also very different people is regards to authority figures. In the beginning of the novel, Celie has a profound respect for Shug who had authority over Mr. ____, which is a complete contrast to the relationship Celie had with him. Celie is weak and literally takes the verbal and physical abuse heaped on her by the men in her life. She never questions it and never fights back.

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(43) Through the help of others, she begins to realize this and slowly she evolves into a woman who believes she can rise above such treatment.

She becomes assertive and can even face herself and life chooses to throw her way. Later in the novel, she writes, "I'm pore, I'm black, I may be ugly and can't cook... But I'm here" (214). This statement reveals how she believes that she can make something of her life. Close to the end of the novel, she admits that she is "at peace with the world" (255). These developments illustrate how Celie overcomes her weakness to men and their authority over her.

To conclude, She and Celie represent two very different personalities in Walker's novel the Color Purple. Celie undergoes a dramatic transformation through her relationship with Shug. She not only learns to view men differently, but she also learns how to see God and herself in a more positive light. Shug is assertive and serves as a foil to Celie's character. Without Shug's influence in her life, Celie would have never come to mature as a woman and….....

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