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A Pulitzer winning novel made into a much-nominated movie, The
Color Purple, hardly needs an introduction. It is ostensibly a story about
two sisters, Celie and Nettie, writing to each other across continents but in
reality it is a story of growing up and coming into one’s own. This is
particularly true of Celie, whose voice is stronger and more intimate of the two.
Abused and used, Celie is a typical product of her times (the
forties), race (African-American) and gender (woman) who knows no better and expects
no different. That is until Shug comes into her life. Shug, a flamboyant woman,
somewhat notorious, a blues singer for whom Celie’s husband has a thing. So
Shug first comes into Celie’s life as the Other Woman. But the fiery, bisexual
Shug quickly becomes more.
It is through her relationship with Shug that Celie finally
finds self-worth and independence. It is a beautiful example of the empowerment
that one woman can offer another via a respectful relationship.
The novel spans a period of thirty years – from the time
Celie is fourteen to the time she is forty-four. The backbone of the novel is
the relationship between Celie and Shug and the watershed changes that this
relationship has.
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