This is a tough book. It addresses a lot of issues of the time, some of which unfortunately are still hot topics. But it's also a learn-to-love book. Celie was a simple girl, but she knew how to love, once she found people whom she could. Even if she didn't love, say, her husband, or some of her children, or some of the people in her life (who truth be told, did not deserve her love), she knew how to love the people she did love. Like her sister, her sister's family, this force of nature called Shug who blows through town and changes the way Celie approaches life forever- no longer meek and timid, Celie learns not just how to love...
but how to live. She makes the best of what she has, and she hasn't got anything- talk about something from nothing. Celie has nothing. But as aforementioned, she made the best of it that the possibly could, and in that she was a force of nature greater than anyone born to power, who had it easy from Day One.
Why do you think she loved everyone, especially the ones who didn't deserve it?
ReplyDeleteShe sounds like Ulysses in that she loves everybody, but is she just as naive as Ulysses? I like how you said that she doesn't only learn how to love but how to live. Do you think the two are linked? Also, this sort of reminded me of Harry Potter and how Voldemort (did I spell that right?) lives without love and how that really affects his whole life. Would the story (The Color Purple) have taken a different turn if Celie wasn't able to love.
ReplyDeleteGood questions, Polly. DD, I would bet there is a connection between learning how to love and learning how to live... wouldn't you agree? Some people have relatively little hardship in their lives and can't deal with even that very well. And others have, well, more than several servings, shall we say, and manage to come through it better for it. I really think you learn the measure of a man (or woman) by watching him deal with serious adversity. Until that point, it's hard to know what we're really made of...
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can see shug actually partakes in the story as it changes Celie's view. How did he do this? Does he get her to fall in love with him or does she just watch him from the side lines getting ideas?
ReplyDeleteHannah that was exactly my question but then when you think about it some people are just capable of giving more love than others what i think the reason for this is because they are able to think in that persons shoes and are more easily swayed by other people emotions their fore they are always aware of how people are fealing according to their emotions so they can then decide how much love to give to that person....i feel liek what i said just made no sense but alot of the things i say make no sense so haha
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