Shug Avery's influence on others in The Color Purple
In The Color Purple the realities of an abusive upbringing are deeply explained to the reader. Celie, the main character, is taught the importance of being strong and standing up for herself through Shug Avery. She portrays strength and independence that women have. In The Color Purple, Shug Avery teaches characters to hold the vigor and autonomy that is hidden somewhere inside of them.
Shug Avery was neglected through childhood and left without a stable environment. Her mother would avoid all ways of conveying love and outright avoided Shug. Contrary to Shug's mother, her father made inappropriate advances onto her. These occurrences caused Shug to distance herself at an early age and
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As a solo singer, Shug is viewed as a strong individual who has created a name for herself. Once Celie gets to know her better as a person she learns that not only is Shug a self-sufficient woman, but also a woman who is unafraid to go against the current and battle societal normalities. Shug's way of carrying herself rubs off onto Celie allowing her to become more independent. Through Shug's career she teaches autonomy and vigor that she and other women can hold against the patriarchal system.
Shug also reflects her independence onto characters by explaining how they have control of their own lives. Celie is afraid that she is going to be looked upon badly by God because of the abuse that she has endured. When Celie confesses this to Shug, it is explained to her that God will only be angry if someone does not take time to look and admire what is around them. As Well as this philosophy, Shug also teaches Celie that only she can govern her own self and that no one can take away her self-image. By explaining God's ways, Shug teaches the other characters to hold a sense of independence and self-value.
In The Color Purple, Shug Avery teaches characters to hold the vigor and autonomy that is hidden somewhere inside of them. Shug portrays these characteristics in her everyday career as a solo singer. Shug also helps teach characters how to stand up for themselves and hold a solid self-image
A Ticket out of the Past By (Teresa) Yung-Ching Chuang. Life is like an ascent, the more you climb, the higher you will get. J. C. Burke skilfully undertakes this philosophy as a source of inspiration for ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’. It is not another crazy adventurous tale with a heroic storyline that seems unrealistic; the novel is about individual representation as Burke insightfully illustrates the long and slow journey of Tom Brennan, navigating through his road of self-discovery that eventually leads to his destination and achieves his “ticket out of the past” (Burke, pg 182). The catalyst of the novel is a traumatic car accident causing two instant deaths and one paralysis.
In the short story The Devil and Tom Walker, written by Washington Irving, the protagonist Tom Walker, is characterized as being a negative man. This is demonstrated through Tom Walker being characterized as being meager, outspoken, fearless, greedy, stubborn, and unloving.
Within The Color Purple by Alice Walker, women are treated as inferior to men therefore they must obey them. Through the strength and wisdoms Celie gains from other women, she learns to overcome her oppression and realize her self worth as a woman. The women she has met throughout her life, and the woman she protected since young, are the people that helped her become a strong independent woman. Sofia and Shug were there for Celie when she needed someone to look up to and depend on. Nettie was able to push Celie to become a more educated, independent person. The main source of conflict in this book is Celie’s struggle with becoming an independent woman who needs not to rely on a man. Throughout the book we see her grow as a person and become independent in many ways through her experiences with the powerful women in her life.
Abigail is a liar that starts by telling one little lie, but then to cover it up she starts to lie more and more. She does whatever she has to stay out of trouble, she lies about Tituba because she is scared she will be persecuted. She wouldn’t have to worry about anything if she would of never went in the woods and done witchcraft with other girls. She says “She comes to me every night to go and drink blood!” Tituba doesn't really do this but Abigail has to lie to cover up for another lie so she doesn't get caught not telling the truth.
“The average black woman in the south is either a cook, housekeeper, nursemaid or all three in one”. Stated by Joann Marshell in 1999. “The Color Purple” is a dynamic movie that combines southern culture and tradition with the role of typical black woman. The main character Celie is the prime example of that typical Southern black woman. In the movie she possesses the traits of a housekeeper, maid, cook and untimely a mother. The series of events that occurs throughout Celie’s life consequently alters her perception on life itself.
In The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, Lady Brett Ashley is a representative of the New Woman, changing the American landscape. This is shown when she changes from a female to male role, as she pleases. For example, when she takes the place of a male role she demands that people please her such as, when she ordered Jake to “kiss” (Hemingway, 15) her “once more before [they] get there.” (Hemingway, 15) Although changed back to her female role when “she gave [Jake] her hand as she stepped down” (Hemingway, 15) For a man to help a woman out of a car is known as a chivalrous and an expected action, especially in the past, in addition, the man is suppose to initiate the kiss. Brett is a woman who wants to display a secure, stable, satisfied and independent life to the point where readers are not able to
At the beginning of the book Celie announces her dependence on God by recognising that she can “tell nobody but God” about the abuse she is receiving from her stepfather.
Shug adores the connection that she has with Celie. Celie nursed Shug back to health while Shug helped Celie with her self-esteem. “She say this song I’m about to name is call Miss Celie’s song” (65). Shug bring closure to Celie’s life, dedicating the song made Celie realize she’s not invisible and her actions does not go unappreciated. No one had brought joy to Celie’s life other than her sister who’s traveling the world. Shug could have dedicated a song to anyone but she chose Celie.
Most of all, without Shug, Celie would have never been reunited with her beloved sister Nettie. The Color Purple is a tale of epic proportion and is beautiful, tear-jerking, passionate, and suspenseful. Even after all of the abuse that Celie received and after all of the struggles that she faced, she found it in her heart to forgive and move on. Her life was truly remarkable, and she was a brave woman who defied the odds in a time of division and hatred. The love that was shared between Celie and Shug was extraordinary and went against all customs of the time period.
Events leading to Celie taking control of her life began with Celie’s relationship with Shug Avery. Shug Avery embodied confidence and what it looked like for a person, particularly a woman to use their voice and defend themselves. Celie desired to inherit traits like Shug and realized how great it would be if she took control of her own life and writes, “My life stop when I left home, I think. But then I think again. It stop with Mr. ______ maybe, but start
The second most important relationship that develops in Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”, is the relationship between Celie and Shug. Even before Celie meets Shug, she is envious of her; she starts with just word of mouth, then a picture, until finally they meet. Shug represents everything that is frowned upon in the patriarchal society. She is fatherless, sexually promiscuous, and a very talented singer. She is a strong, independent, and free woman, and because of this she is outcast from society.
Both Celie and Shug became what they were told they would. Celie was always told that she was ugly, that she was useless, that she was worthless. Alphonso and Mr.----- never lost an opportunity to tell her so. And so Celie became and believed she was ugly, useless, and worthless. Even Shug, when she first met her, exclaimed "You sure is ugly" (pg.48). Shug was told, first by her mother and then in the "respectable people's" opinion, that she was a whore, that she was wicked, and so she became a Temptress of sorts. "Even the preacher got his mouth on Shug Avery, now she down. He take her condition for his text. He don't call no name, but he don't have to. Everybody know who he mean. He talk about a strumpet in short skirts, smoking cigarettes, drinking gin. Singing for money and taking other women mens. Talk about slut, hussy, heifer, and streetcleaner." (Pg 46). She was the woman that all the men wanted and all the women hated, because there was so much she dared to do and so little anyone could do to stop her. However, neither of them necessarily wanted to take part in those roles, and both of them felt confined in them.
Not only had her father told her she was ugly, Shug Avery also took it into her own hands when attempting to make Celie feel ugly. Celie began to feel even worse when she first met Shug Avery, and the excitement she had to see Shug, was ruined as a dark shadow hovered over Celie, making her feel more ugly than she had ever thought. Shug Avery was spoken about by Albert like some kind of Goddess. She was the epitome of beauty for Celie because Albert had spoken about her so fondly.
Alice Walker's use of characterization in her novel The Color Purple depicts her main theme of female empowerment and the importance of maintaining an assertive voice. The tyrannical male characters, the victimized female characters, and the development of the protagonist, Celie, express Walker's firm views of female independence in a male dominated society. Her feminist views have been influenced by her experiences with discrimination as an African-American woman as well as her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. These experiences serve as an inspiration for developing the character Celie, a young black woman discovering her own sense of self while battling a male dependent environment.
Celie is not a typical protagonist. In Alice Walker's The Color Purple, the main character Celie is an ugly, poor girl who is severely lacking in self-confidence. However, Celie transforms throughout the course of the novel and manages to realize herself as a colorful, beautiful, and proud human being. Celie becomes a powerful individual.