Metamorphosis of Celie in Alice Walker's Color Purple

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The Metamorphosis of Celie in The Color Purple

For people to be equal they need a chance to become equal by self-discovering themselves. As we are growing older during our childhood we depend on our environment, parents, and peers to create our self-image. Within our environment we are always trying to develop new insights in order to identify, clarify, connect and account for our beliefs. Even the underlying cause of dysfunctional relationships lies in crucial events in our life experience. The environment in which one is raised and developed will have a large affect on the individual. Most of the people that succeed in life come from stable families, in well positioned environments. While those that are not fortunate enough often don't have the opportunities to rise to the top or even get a chance to self-discover themselves. Self-discovery is important because it is intended to increase an individual's self-awareness, and help them to identify their own beliefs, skills, potentials, and talents. But when an individual is forced or destined to grow up in an atmosphere in which there doesn't exist a stable and firm family or environment, it will generally be hard for the individual to self-discover himself and succeeded in life. These kinds of individuals that grow up under these circumstances mainly suffer from depressions, sadness, and most importantly from low self-esteem. They suffer from low self-esteem because they were raised in low standard environments. Their personalities are excessively sensitive to social rejection, humiliation, and shame. One of the greatest literary examples of this situation is Celie, the main character in the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker. "Devoid of any and all respect, Celie, a p...

... middle of paper ...

...as reborn as a different person. A person who not only had the courage to tell Albert off, but someone who left her husband to

go with Shug to Memphis to start a pant factory, with two girls working under her.

The book is truly a book about self-discovery and learning to love. Celie's path is an expression of all people's quest for themselves. The novel is the story of a timid woman finding herself. She did so with the love and support of the women in the novel who understood and loved her, under a safe and secure environment. Without this untraditional love a Celie would have lived her life shadowed by fear and pain. Celie's journey through her mind, in an effort to discover her true self, is where the true greatness of this book lies.

Work Cited

Klosowski, John E. "The Color Purple and Its True Color." Houston Cronicle. December 14, 1995 : 42-44.

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