In the novel, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, a girl named Celie is constantly abused by the men in her life while her sister Nettie succeeds through her sacrifices. Though Celie nearly tells her whole story through God, there is evidence that she does not talk to him as he is holy and almighty. There is also events all throughout the book that show how Celie is treated terribly mainly because she is a woman. She and Nettie live in completely different environments, therefore they obviously have different views in life. They look at god differently, while also reacting to the abusive men in their lives differently.
A noticeable difference that both Celie and Nettie have is how far they believe in God. “He a big and old and tall and graybearded and white... I know white people never listen to colored, period. If they do, they only listen long enough to be able to tell you what to do” (Page 194-195). This shows that Celie’s letters to God are not really religious. She constantly writes to God, but it seems like she is only writing to him like he is a friend. She talks to God about her problems, but never asks for anything to help her. She knows he won’t listen because she thinks he is a white man, but that doesn’t explain why she even bothers to write to someone she knows ignores her. “You better not never tell nobody but God” (Page 1). This proves that the only reason Celie bothers to write to the name God is because she is told to. She is told ever since the front of the book to talk to God, and only God, about her problems. This means that her letters to God aren’t really religious, they are just sent to the name of God as if God was a friend.
Nettie actually thinks of God as holy and powerful, and not just a person to share stories with. “I will write more when things start looking up. I trust God they will” (Page 171). This quote shows that Nettie actually believes God can help her. She trusts that God is real, and can guide her through her troubles which is opposite of how Celie just tells God her problems, knowing he won’t help. “…besides, they spoke of all the good things they could do for the downtrodden people from whom they sprang. People who need Christ and good medical advice.” This also shows how Celie thinks that she must allow others to have God to help them. She places confidence in God to help people in need, which shows a lot about how deeply bonded Nettie is with God.
Celie is always put down and forced to do things by men. “You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t... He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it” (Page 1) and “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” (Page 22). This show how Celie had to deal with men in his life constantly abusing her like she is a doll. Men beat and rape her, but she does not have the courage to fight back. All Celie does is let these men abuse her, and wait until she gets abused again the next day. “But she’ll make the better wife. She ain’t smart either...” (Page 8). Even though she is constantly beaten and raped by Albert and Pa, she does not even fight back. This may be because she is not educated. She does not have the mind to think of ways to fight back, let alone execute them.
Nettie, unlike Celie, isn’t forced to marry. “We love each other dearly, Samuel told them, with his arm around me. We intend to marry” (Page 238) She married Samuel willingfully and when she was ready while Celie was forced to marry Albert just so Albert could have someone to cook, clean, and work the fields. “Nettie here with us. She run way from home” (Page 16). This quote shows how Nettie knows how to fight for herself unlike Celie. Nettie runs away knowing it is the only escape to her not being abused. This intelligent decision that Celie has not truly considered may be the result of Nettie being more educated than Celie.
Nettie actually thinks of God as holy and powerful, and not just a person to share stories with. “I will write more when things start looking up. I trust God they will” (Page 171). This quote shows that Nettie actually believes God can help her. She trusts that God is real, and can guide her through her troubles which is opposite of how Celie just tells God her problems, knowing he won’t help. “…besides, they spoke of all the good things they could do for the downtrodden people from whom they sprang. People who need Christ and good medical advice.” This also shows how Celie thinks that she must allow others to have God to help them. She places confidence in God to help people in need, which shows a lot about how deeply bonded Nettie is with God.
Celie is always put down and forced to do things by men. “You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t... He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it” (Page 1) and “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” (Page 22). This show how Celie had to deal with men in his life constantly abusing her like she is a doll. Men beat and rape her, but she does not have the courage to fight back. All Celie does is let these men abuse her, and wait until she gets abused again the next day. “But she’ll make the better wife. She ain’t smart either...” (Page 8). Even though she is constantly beaten and raped by Albert and Pa, she does not even fight back. This may be because she is not educated. She does not have the mind to think of ways to fight back, let alone execute them.
Nettie, unlike Celie, isn’t forced to marry. “We love each other dearly, Samuel told them, with his arm around me. We intend to marry” (Page 238) She married Samuel willingfully and when she was ready while Celie was forced to marry Albert just so Albert could have someone to cook, clean, and work the fields. “Nettie here with us. She run way from home” (Page 16). This quote shows how Nettie knows how to fight for herself unlike Celie. Nettie runs away knowing it is the only escape to her not being abused. This intelligent decision that Celie has not truly considered may be the result of Nettie being more educated than Celie.
Celie allows Pa and Albert to abuse her by doing nothing while Nettie just simply runs away. Celie choses to write to God because of how she was told to as Nettie believes in God for his holy superiority. In the end, Alice Walker's main point in the story is that the path of life is chosen only by the one picking the directions. Celie proves that she can live her own life when she left to live with Shug. After that, Albert actually treats her with respect which shows that Celie not only changes her direction of life, but also Albert's too.
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