Discrimination In The Color Purple

Life can be unfair and cruel, but it can also be filled with love and caring people. Some people forget all the good in the world and focus on the bad. The Color Purple is a very empowering novel that explores sexism and discrimination through the 1900s to the 1950s. Women in the novel, like Celie and Sofia, are treated differently because they are female and they are also black. Celie finds her voice by the end of the book because of certain powerful situations she has to overcome through her life. Sofia gets her family back after being abused by the white power. Then, Mr.__ is influenced by gender oppression and treats women cruelly. Mr. __ starts to learn how strong woman is and how cruel he used to be. Celie, Sofia, and Mr. ___ all make

choices they regret, but they also use the power of those choices to better themselves.
Celie is the protagonist in The Color Purple by Alice Walker. The story shows her struggles, thoughts, and growth as a character. Celie from the very beginning of the novel has been abused by power hungry men. She was sexually and physically abused by her Pa. Her Pa then married her off to a man named Mr.___ who would also physically abuse her. This leads Celie to be fearful and timid to men. By the end of the novel, Celie finds her voice and speaks out against the men that abused her. She obtains the power of standing up for herself and getting what she deserves. Shrug Avery helps Celie become the woman that she desires to be; Shrug convinces Celie to leave Mr.___ and his abusive ways and to find what she loves in life. The power of hatred can overcome the power of fear. For Celie, she started to fill with hatred more than fear when Mr.___ hid Nettie’s letters from her. Celie finally speaks up at a family dinner about her leaving Mr.___. He doesn’t like what she had to say and Celie ends up stabbing him in the hand. Celie’s actions show that she is finally free of Mr.__ power and has the ability to speak up for herself. Not only has Celie been under the power of hatred, abuse, and fear, but she also has the power to forgive and love. Celie forgives Mr.___ for all his wrong doings when he shows her how decent he can be after Celie left and moved out. Celie was also able to love Shrug and forgive her for running away with different men. Shrug was the love of Celie’s life and that helped Celie grow as a person. Celie’s innocence was taken from her at a young age, but she was able to find the power to overcome her struggles and become an independent woman.
Another woman in The Color Purple that had to overcome different life struggles was Sofia.

Like Celie, Sofia had an abusive father, but she had the power to stand up to him and protect her Ma. Sofia did not want to be put in the situations that she grew up in. Sofia married the man that she loved, which was Celie’s stepson, Harpo. When Harpo starts to try and hit her to show male dominance, so Sofia beat Harpo up. The power of courage and speaking up was a quality that Sofia had in the book up to one incident. When Sofia was shown the true abuse system by the white power, she started to be timider towards people. She was ”sassing the mayor’s wife” and then pushed the mayor. Sofia ends up in prison working in the laundry house and then taking care of the Mayor’s children for ten years (Walker 84). She makes through those ten years of planning revenge and filling her thoughts with hatred. The power of hatred got Sofia through some of the toughest times of her life. Unlike Celie, Sofia never learns to forgive those around her; she also doesn’t act like she forgives people. For example, when Miss Eleanor Jane brings Stanley Earl over and tries to get Sofia to praise him. But, she doesn’t because this family took her family away from her and she didn’t get to see her own kids grow up. Besides this moment with Miss Eleanor, Sofia stayed somewhat humble and didn’t speak her mind as much like before the incident with the

Mayor.
A man that went through self-conflicting difficulties of power was Mr.____. Mr.____ tends to be weak and fearful when it comes to his father. When Mr.___ wanted to marry Shrug his father wouldn’t approve and made him marry a different girl. Mr.___ also learns gender oppression from his father. He would always see his father beat his mother to show that he had more power in the household. Growing up in the male dominance household, Mr.___ also began to beat his wife, Celie. Mr.__ beat Celie for different reasons than his father beat his mother for. Mr.___ hated how Celie wasn’t Shrug Avery and he also hated himself for letting Shrug go. Mr.___ also wanted to feel in control and that’s what he when he beat Celie. Mr.___ power hungriness formed from his father’s actions. But in the end, Mr.___ shows how gentle he can be and how loving he is. The power of caring helps Mr.___ and Celie’s relationship grow after Celie gets back from Memphis. Also, their love for Shrug connects a bond between Mr.___ and Celie. Mr.___ went through many different stages of struggle and power in his life.
Celie, Sofia, and Mr.___ all dealt with different situations that their feelings are what empowered them to make it through the situations. Celie and Sofia both used the power of hatred to get them out of situations of abuse. Celie and Mr.___ used their power of love to make it through times when Shrug left them. Mr.___, Sofia, and Celie all grew up in tough situations with the abuse of father figures in their life. They all wanted to make a life for themselves and to be happy. Mr.___ found his happiness through himself once everyone left him; Celie found her happiness in sewing and running away with Shrug; Sofia found her happiness in her children and when she first met Harpo. The Color Purple shows the strength and weakness of power and how people use power to overcome multiple different situations. Celie, Mr.__, and Sofia wanted to be free from oppression and judgment and they achieved in their own personal ways.