Sucheta Sachan

Professor Saloni Sharma

B.A English (Hons)

Paper: Women’s Writing

1911154

15th Novemeber, 2021.

Write a note on the role of Shug in the assertion of self by Celie.

Alice Walker published her most famous novel, The Color Purple, in 1982. It

is set in time period of 1930’s, early twentieth century, when racism, oppression,

sexism and other discrimination’s were at peak. Black Americans were looked down

upon by White people, they were segregated. Women were inferior to men hence

Black women faced double alienation and discrimination whose struggles are

chronicled in the novel. Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book

Award. While the author had her ardent supporters, especially among Black female,

she also had her critics. ‘Such sisterly solidarity has drawn disapproval from some

male critics. And Walker has been accused of reinforcing racial stereotypes in her

depiction of male black characters as abusive and violent.’ (Bookdrum, 2013)

Walker in writing this novel uses an epistolary style, which is a novel that is

written as a series of documents which is usually in the form of letters or diary entries.

The protagonist Celie voices her personal feelings of pain and isolation she suffers,
addressing to God in a non-standard dialect. The language is considered as a Black

folk language while not fluent English, but raw, honest and strong. Celie has bore

physical, verbal and sexual abuse throughout her life. She is abused by person who

she thinks is her father, later we learn is her step-father. Her mother died and she had

none except her little sister, Nettie who was too young to understand. Moreover, her

father instructs her ‘You better not never tell nobody but God’ (Walker. A., 2004,

p.3) and she writes it all to God.

She had two children from her step-father, he takes them away from her. She

is married off to a person who she is addresses as Mr____. She is treated as a property

to men. She has never experienced love in her life, Mr____ beats and abuses her.

Celie has perception of all men being the same as she has been treated this way all her

life, therefore, Ablert (Mr____) is normal. Her cow is given along with her to improve

the deal with Mr____. Her husband was attracted to her younger sister and tries to

take advantage of Nettie. Mr____ needed someone to cook, to do all housework and

look after his children. ‘She ugly. But she ain’t no stranger to hard work… You can

do everything just like you want to and she ain’t gunna make you feed it or clothe it’.

(Walker. A., 2004, p.3) , these were the words of her father. She has felt ugly,

unattractive and dejected since always. She hates her identity as we see she does not

even sign her letters to the God. Her self-worth and self-esteem is so miniscule. Shug

Avery plays a great in assertion of self of Celie. Through a photograph of Shug, Celie

starts having a liking towards her. She finds her as glamorous and whereas Shug, ex

lover of Albert, is shown as rude and arrogant at first. Her first were to Celie were

‘You sure is ugly’. (Walker. A., 2004, p.44) But later when she falls ill, we come

across the real Shug, synonymous to her real name, ‘Lilly’, sweet and warm. Celie

takes care of her in her illness and Shug develops a fondness towards her. She makes
her talk about sex. For Celie, sex has never been compassionate or reprsentative of

love, it had always been painful and bad as she had repeatedly been raped by her

father and husband. Shug makes her love and touch herself. She is ‘The Color

Purple’ in Celie’s life.

Little by little she earns respect for herself and her body and understands she

does not need to submit to anyone’s oppression. It is Shug Avery who forces Albert to

stop brutalizing Celie. It is her with whom she first experiences a reciprocatory loving

relationship. “Shug spoke right up for you, Celie. She say, Albert, you been

mistreating somebody I love. So as far as you concern, I’m gone.” (Watkins, 2013)

She makes sure Albert does not maltreats her. Celie leaves Albert when she discovers

the hidden letter from her younger sister. As she gains strength and courage she rebels

even against God, she blames him for her suffrage and especially for Albert hiding

Nattie’s letters. She stops writing to him and writes a letter to her sister which shows

a sign of maturity. Shug inspires her to create her own business and make a herself

financially independent with her passion and creativity. Albert recognises his

mistakes in the end and asks Celie to marry him. Celie prefers to be friends and he

respects her decision which shows her independence as a free and mature woman.

Certainly, Shug played the strongest role in Celies assertion of self. From a

weak, uneducated, submissive girl to a strong and independent woman. Shug made

her feel important and helped her discovery her identity.

 Works cited

1. Alice Walker, 2004, Color Purple. Edition. Phoenix Paperbacks.

2. Some Letters Went To God, Mel Watkins, NY Times.com, 2013.

Available at http://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/25/books/some-letters-

went-to-god-by-mel-watkins.html

3. The Color Purple Review, Bookdrum, 2013. Available at

http://www.bookdrum.com/books/thecolorpurple/9780753818923/rev

iew.html

4. "Relationship Between Celie and Shug in ‘The Color Purple’."

ukessays.com. 11 2018. UKEssays. 11 2021

<https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/relationship-

between-celie-and-shug-english-literature-essay.php?vref=1> .