Samantha Shipley Final

    


     The Color Purple is narrated by an African American woman named Celie who makes her way through the ups and downs of life in deep, rural Georgia. She is portayed in such a way in the begging that you as a reader take pitty on her. A young girl of fourteen, she is confused about why she is treated the way she is. Her mother was dying and her "father" turned her into an object of sex. It is no wonder her demeanor is so depressive. The negativity surrounding her in a way allows her to believe she is not superior and must obey others. "She ugly. Don't even look like she's kin to Nettie. But she'll make the better wife. She ain't smart either, and i'll just be fair, you have to watch her or she'll give away everything you own. But she can work like a man" (Walker 8). She is characterized as the lesser of the other charcters, constantly being put down by the men in her life. Not only was she constantly put down by her collegues but her opinions were represed too. Never did Celie have a say in what she wanted. She was known as the girl who was forced to do things against her will. Raped, forced to marry, and allowed herself to be beaten by those who took advantage of her. It was not until the end of the novel when Celie stood up for herself and the other women that I began to see Celie as a stong, an independent charcter.

     My love and understanding grew for Celie as the novel progressed. When she finally took all of her repressed feelings and opinions and told Mr._____ how she felt, I realized the whole time she was very much capable of sticking up for herself and had a good head on her shoulders.  My opinion changed from feelings of pitty and dislike, to feelings of understanding and compassion for Celie. Never have I ever thought of her as an independent woman. It seemed she only survived when she had a shoulder to lean on whether it was welcoming or cold. She is mostly definiatly characterized as a follower, not a leader. It was not Celie who chose to be married, nor was it Celie who chose to pack her bags and runaway to Tennesee, but those who she depended on to survive.

     You as the reader really get to know and understand character who is deemed author whether or not protagonist or antagonist. I as a reader believe the author choses there narractor for that reason exatly. Why would Walker chose such a woman like Celie to narrate? She an uneducated women who is constanly being mistreated by those around here. Maybe that is the reason she was chosen in the first place. We get so much of a deeper understanding of Celie when we read the novel because everything portayed, is portrayed from her perspective. First hand account. When I read from Celie's perspective, it in my opinion added a sense of charcter and allowed me to grasp a better understanding of the story. We are hearing the story from someone who is the victim and it deinaitely makes others in our minds seem like animals.

    In my whole hearted opinion, I loved the way Celie narrated and constanty wrote to God for guidance. "Dear, God I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happenng to me" (Walker 1). It gave the novel a sense of reality. She wasn't just wrting to a journal or a diary, but something real. It was as if we took the place of God under the circumstances and Celie was venting to us. We feel involved as the reader and it allows us to be put in a certain mindset that makes us feel part of the story. If the story had been narrated by another charcter of the story, say Mr.____ or Pa, we would have somehow taken pitty on them and only saw Celie as a lowly African American girl. This was Celie's story and that's why I believe the author chose her as narrator.

                                                                                            Samantha Shipley