The Growth of Celie in The Color Purple and the Survival of African Americans in the United States

【Abstract】 The Color Purple，one of the most well-known works of Alice Walker， concentrates mainly on the life of African American in the 1930s in Southern United States. Through the story of the heroine， Celie， the author unveiled the process of wakening and growing-up of female African Americans and African American people as a race. This paper aims to analyze this process and key elements in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

【Key Words】The Color Purple； African American； growing-up

【作者簡介】姜明（1984-），男，上海民航职业技术学院，讲师，硕士，研究方向：大学英语教学及英美文学。

Published in 1982， The Color Purple is one of the most famous works by American author Alice Walker. It received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in the year 1983 and later National Book Award. The novel was adapted into a film and musical later with the same name. As an African American female writer， Alice Walker has written constantly on issues of race and gender. In the The Color Purple， the heroine Celie gradually grows up from a timid little girl to an independent woman who wins both the respect from her husband who used to abuse her and her personal freedom.

In the character Celie， the author embedded her ideals for African American women. First of all， the independence of African American women is the precondition for their social status； then to be equal with men， African American women should always realize their own value； finally， in order to get real freedom and independence， women are supposed to help and care for one another. With all these ideals， we are attracted by the story as well as the character. From the growth of Celie， we can find three different stages of the struggle for independence and equal social status of African American people especially African American women in the 1930s. The first one is the stage of suffering and tolerating without even thinking of fighting back. The second stage is featured by the wakening of the self-value and motivation of fighting and at the last stage， they finally get the freedom and independence that they have been fighting for.

In the beginning， Celie is only fourteen years old， and her step father treats her badly. Although life is not easy for her， she enjoys the company of her sister Nettie. As a young girl， she knows about suffering but she has no choice but to tolerate. At this stage， she does not even have the idea to fight and the only chance for her to vent out the misery is to talk to God and waits for the plan that God has for her. When her stepfather gets married， her miserable life seems to come to an end as well， but life throws her into the control and abuse of another man， her husband Albert who does not love her. With all the ill treatments， she manages to live through her tough life. The appearance of Shug gives her some changes in her life and brings her growth to another level. At this stage， Celie start to realize her own value and fighting spirit starts to grow. Celie does not hate Shug for being the lover of her husband. Instead， she gradually finds support， care and even love in Shug， although when they meet for the first time Shug insults her by saying “You sure is ugly” （Walker， 1992：18） Because of Shug， Celie starts to know freedom， equality and confidence， and the indifference to the abuse and suffering fades out. With Shug， she is not alone mentally. She finally has someone to share her feelings and Albert does not beat her as often. Growing gradually in Celie， the fighting spirit eventually gives her the urge to kill Albert when she knows the letters from Nettie are hidden by him. Shug stops her in time but her anger breaks out at a family dinner resulting in her leaving with Shug to the North where African Americans are treated more equally. Another element that gives Celie courage is Sofia. “Sofia does everything according to her own will and refuses to be dedicated by others” （Cui， 2010： 6） In a society where white males are in the dominant position， an African American female like Sofia is nothing. The oppression is not only from white people； it is also from African American males. That is why at first Celie tells Harpo to beat Sofia. Celie just accepts the fact that women should be obedient and listen to men. However， Sofias fighting spirit， to some extent， wakes Celie up from her indifference. Sofia says， “All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles.” （Walker， 1992： 33） Her fighting can not change the social attitude， nor could it change her life in a good way， but the spirit stirs up something new in the life of Celie. Celie get to the north with Shug. There she can enjoy the freedom and independence but she seems overwhelmed. She wants to help Shug to iron her clothes and do other trivial things like a maid. But Shug tells her that she brought her to Memphis to love her and to help her to get on her feet. Then Celie comes to the third stage of her growth. She started her own business and enjoys her own independent life. When she gets back to her hometown， she is not the timid girl any more. Years of experiences in the north gives her confidence and makes her into a totally different woman. Even Albert treats her differently. Facing a Celie totally different from before， Albert treats her with politeness and decency instead of beating and cursing.

The growth of Celie in The Color Purple shows， from another perspective， the gradual growth of African Americans in American society. To survive in a white-dominant society， especially American society where African Americans used to be treated as slaves， African Americans as a race has to struggle and fight more vigorously. The stages for Celie to grow up to be an independent woman are also stages for African Americans to stand up and get equal rights and treatment.

African Americans have to fight to make their voice heard. In The Color Purple， we can find more tolerance than fight. However， the character Sofia who fights all the time is so hard to ignore. She is brave enough to face the challenges and stand up to them. When she has some different ideas with Albert， she sticks to her own opinion. When Harpo beats her， she fights back， and when the mayor offends her， she fights the mayor. Because of her fights， she spends some miserable years in jail. Also because of fights like that， more and more African Americans realize that their life can be changed. More importantly， African Americans fights wake up more white people. They begin to think about the privilege which they used to take for granted. Of course， the methods people use can be various. They could choose to follow Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. They could also choose to follow Black Panther Party. All the fights and struggles help African Americans to stand up and push the Civil Rights Movement forward.

In order to get equal rights and acceptance， African Americans have to be confident and accept their own cultural identity. In the novel， Celie grows from a timid and dependent girl to a confident and independent woman. With this growth， comes the change of peoples attitude. When Celie gets back again， her growth changes Alberts view towards her. Although in the novel， this confidence helps Celie to face a man of the same race， the acceptance and confidence in their own culture will surely help African Americans to deal with racial problems in the same way. With White Anglo-Saxon culture in the dominant position in American society， more and more “white” ideas are accepted by African Americans， which is helpful in intercultural communication and racial harmony， but it is not so good if African Americans lose their own cultural identity and accept everything of white people. In that case， their culture is dying and their own identity is rootless. Only with the recognition of their own culture， could African Americans find the confidence of their own， and only with this confidence， could they fight for equal rights and real freedom.

Under the influence of the African-American Civil Right Movement against the racism and sexism which was becoming intensively and extensively all over America， Alice Walker starts to write about racial and sexual oppressions on African Americans， and The Color Purple is one of her best works if it is not the best. The story is about growth and struggle of African Americans especially African American woman. Celie is symbol of womens liberation. Also she is a symbol of equality between black and white. From the Celies life， we can learn the stages of womens growth from helplessly suffering to confidently fighting. And from the story we can find the critical factors for African Americans to survive and get equality in American society. Nowadays racial segregation and discrimination are illegal， but still slavery in the countrys comparatively short history influences peoples view consciously and subconsciously. As Barack Obama became the first African American president of United State of America， we see more hope in a future with more equality and less racial problem. Meanwhile we can also hear some complaining and even angry voices. It seems that there is still something we can do. With a positive perspective， we can expect that one day the fight for real racial equality will have a happy ending just like Celies happy ending in the novel.

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