The Color Purple by Alice Walker is an epistolary novel about a girl named Celie and her sister Nettie. They both go through unfortunate events that begin to separate them. When they were young, their life was difficult because of their stepfather who was like a dictator to them; he would abuse them and make their decisions. Celie was then married to Albert and Nettie later ran away from their stepfather. I believe that Celie and Nettie have many more differences than similarities. Their differences are in freedom, roles, discrimination, and uses of God.
One big factor that Celie and Nettie have in difference is the amount of freedom they have. What I mean by this is they are able to do certain things without consequences. For example, Nettie has a lot of freedom compared to Celie. Nettie can go anywhere she wants without receiving any consequences. Celie, however, has little to no freedom. She hardly has any freedom because of her husband and his kids. An example of having no freedom is that Celie was not able to choose whom to marry. In the following quote, Albert and the stepfather are talking about Albert marrying Nettie or Celie.“…I can’t let you have Nettie. She too young… But I can let you have Celie. She the oldest anyway. She ought to marry first.” (7) The stepfather suggested Albert to marry Celie instead of Nettie. Celie had no choice but to marry if Albert accepted, which he did later on. This means that she did not even have the freedom of choosing her own husband, while Nettie was able to choose whom to marry. Nettie married God, and became a missionary. This is essential because Nettie was able t chose whom to marry.
Another difference is their roles in life. Nettie is a missionary for her religion and travels around the world. Celie on the other hand, just works hard in the household for her husband and his kids. She does not like her husband’s kids because they mistreat her. Here is a quote, “I spend my wedding day running from the oldest boy. He twelve. His mama died in his arms and he don’t want to hear nothing bout no new one. He pick up a rock and laid my head open. The blood run all down tween my breast.” (12) This quote shows that Albert’s kids, but more specifically the biggest boy from this quote mistreated her. She also does not like the kids because when she had her two kids with her stepfather and then he sold Celie’s kids away. Anyways, they both have different roles in society. Nettie chose to be a missionary, but Celie did not chose to be a wife, even if women are supposed to based on the society they live in.
One factor that they both share is that they both go through discrimination. There are many types of discrimination; but what they go through would be gender inequality. An example is that Celie and Nettie both experience gender inequality, but they experience it differently. Celie is discriminated and abused by her husband. In the following quote, Harpo (one of Albert’s children) talks with Albert. “Harpo ast his daddy why he beat me. Mr___ say, Cause she my wife. Plus, she stubborn. All women good for- he don’t finish.” (22) This quote shows that Albert does not have any real reason why he beats Celie, he just says “all women good for.” From this quote you could infer that other men abuse their wives for no real reason. While Nettie is in Africa, she talks to a mother and is told about women. She is told that in that part of Africa, women are like nothing, only when they are married to someone they are something. “The Olinka do not believe girls should be educated. When I asked a mother why she thought this, she said: A girls is nothing to herself; only her husband can she become something.” (155) This quote shows that in Africa, the Olinka (which is an African tribe) do not believe women should be educated. Women only become something when they get married. This says that women are discriminated against in Africa because of the culture they have. While with Celie, it seems as if only some women are discriminated against because they are seemed as inferior and society before was more biased to men having the power.
They are similar because they both pray or believe in God. Celie writes letters to God to tell her experience or her feelings, sort of like a diary. She does this to like let out her feelings and to tell someone, God. I think she began this because in the beginning she went through difficult times with her stepfather. He said, “You better not tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.”(1) This quote shows that the stepfather threatened Celie to only tell God, so it is what she did. After some time when Celie finds Nettie’s letters, Celie starts writing to Celie instead of God. So I found this as Celie finding another person to tell her feelings or stories to instead of God. When Celie starts writing to Nettie, it seems as if she stops believing in God. I think that Celie did not really believe in God because she used God as a person to tell stuff to. Nettie on the other hand really believes in God and is a missionary. She sort of encourages Celie to believe in God, but she cannot make her.
In conclusion, Celie and Nettie have more differences than similarities. They both go through the same things, but experience them differently. Celie’s experiences were more hands on and actually went though them. While Nettie’s were through culture and society, not hands on. They share experiences from religion, freedom, roles, and discrimination. Alice Walker’s point by this is that geography or locations have different perspectives on what women do in their society.
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