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Brandon Bernstein

Mr. Janosch

AP literature 1

4/2/19

Psychoanalytic Theory Essay

Psychological trauma is not something everyone can overcome in there lives. Many

people need high doses of medication or years of therapy to null its effects. Having side effects

like interrupting the development of social skills and interference in learning can all but ruin the

chances a child has at a happy life. Celie in “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, is a prime

example of someone whose ego was trapped at the bottom level of Maslow’s hierarchy of need

due to her trauma, giving her a simplistic ideology of “obey to survive”. From being raped by her

Pa, Celie lacked proper speaking skills and had fallen into a mental state with a ego that women

should be subservient to men. Throughout the story however, Celie’s personality is crafted by

meeting people who defy her simplistic “obey to survive way of life”, and drive her to push back

against others/societal norms to experience her id and disrupt her superego.

Throughout “The Color Purple” there are a plethora of characters that Celie meets, but

only a few have a true impact on her id and superego. Cellies personal point of view allows us to

examine how those who socially interacted with her affected her personality and ego throughout

the book. There are three major characters in the story that influence how Celie's personality

develops upwards on the Maslow’s hierarchy of need: Shug, Sofia and Nettie. From Celie's point

of view, we know that she was jealous of Sofia wanting her, a strong independent women, to be

in the same position she was. “Beat her. I say (pg 36),” is Celie's original response holding the

view that women should be under men and that Sofia should be the same to Harpo as she is to

her husband. But the first turning point in her mentality is when she talks to Sofia. “I say it cause
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I’m a fool, I say. I say it cause I’m jealous of you. I say it cause you do what I can’t. What? she

say. Fight. I say (pg 40).” Celie shows that her id is so suppressed by her superego from what

she has been taught/learned throughout her life that she can only say what she truly wants in

private with Sofia. Celie's point of view also allows us to see the impact of Shug on her life. “Mr.

_____ be in the room with her all the time of night or day. He don’t hold her hand though. She

too evil for that (pg 47).” Celie sees Shug as the first person to stand up to Albert, showing that

a women can be independent from the wants of a man. This allows Celie to know of the

possibility to resist Alberts ideology that a woman's place is to raise her kids. Later Celie spends

so much time with Shug and have some intimate relationship with her.t can be seen that some

of Shugs and Sofias resistant attitude rubbed off on her to push back this societal norm to

embrace her id.

Nettie however can be seen as the person Celie holds closest in her life. Looking at the

setting Celie was stuck in a abusive home, taking care of her husbands kids in an attempt to

survive. Because Nettie had been separated from Celie for so long and Nettie being one of the

reason Celie willingly took on the psychological trauma in the first place, it lead to a great

change/shock to Celie's personality when she read the hidden letters. This building of change in

the setting from them being apart for decades and Celie eventually finding Nettie’s letters that

were hidden by Albert is a huge push into what drives her to self actualization in Maslow’s

hierarchy of need. “You took my sister Nettie away from me, I say. And she was the only person

love me in the world (pg 200).” After being shown that a women can be independent and being

in a household she despised, she finally changed her ego enough to rise up above her safety

needs, having belonging and love needs. These belonging and love needs are what really drove

the building of the setting in a abusive household to seek something more. “I am so happy. I got

love, I got work, I got money, I got friends and time (pg 215).” In this quote Celie starts to look

for happiness for oneself and steering herself towards self actualization. After having

suppressed her id for so long, she has allowed her id to drive her ego beyond her physiological
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and safety needs through a change of setting from a abusive household to a more mellow

mansion lifestyle.

“The Color Purple” is not the happiest story with the terrible way Celie was treated in her

early years. However it allows us to see the impact of the trauma and social interactions on her

id, ego and superego so we can analyze what caused her progression on Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs. With the setting that she was trapped in and her personal viewpoint, it allowed us to see

how she overcame her mentality and analyze how these changes in the setting overall improved

her mental state. Even after her horrible trauma and lack of education, she was still able to

make something of herself in her later years through her creativity of making pants.
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Work Cited

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. London: Women's Press, 2003. Print.

“Psychoanalytic Theory Applied to Native Son”. Prestwick House, Inc. Print.