Number five in My Top 5 Influential Women in Fiction has to be 'Celie' from The Color Purple. It's very rare that a character grows so much through a novel; the change from passive, quiet and submissive young Celie to strong, independent and mindful older Celie really is a powerful journey.
I first read The Color Purple during my A Levels. It was one of those books that took a while for me to really enjoy, but once I got there, I couldn't put it down. I particularly enjoyed the format of the book; the story is written through Celie's letters to God, a God to whom she doesn't actually feel particularly close to.
The novel begins with Celie as a young girl in rural Georgia in the 1930's. She is constantly subjected to abuse at the hands of her step-father, Alphonso. She deals with this by doing all she can to make herself 'invisible'.
Her only form of expression are her letters; the early letters see Celie talk about her abuse, her relationship with her younger sister, Nettie, and the two children which her step-father took away from her at birth. She now presumes them dead. All of these things are hard for Celie to cope with, and her tone is saddened and self-deprecating.
Before long, Celie is 'married off' to a man she only knows as Mr.______. He only married her so she could keep his house clean and cook for him, and, like Celie's step-father, he also abuses her. In Celie's eyes, the only good thing about the marriage was that she was able to remove Nettie from her step-father's house and protect her. Unfortunately, Mr.______ throws Nettie out of the house when she refuses his advances. Celie and Nettie promise to write to one another, but Celie doesn't hear from Nettie anymore.
Feeling alone, Celie feels that she doesn't have much to live for. And then she is introduced to Mr._____'s mistress, Shug Avery. Shug Avery is a beautiful and seemingly empowered character, Celie sees her as a role model and wants to be like her.
Without the introduction of Shug, Celie wouldn't have had the opportunity to develop as a character in the way she did. Shug helps Celie to find her confidence and she begins to stand up to Mr._____ more than she has ever done before. With Shug's help, Celie discovers that Nettie's letters are hidden in Mr______'s trunk. Within Nettie's letters, she tells Celie that her step-father has died and that she has found her two children, Olivia and Adam, and she's with them in Africa, conducting aid work. This discovery, along with the letters, helps Celie to find her sense of self, build her confidence, and the process culminates in her becoming enraged at Mr.______. His response is his usual insulting manner, but they no longer affect Celie in the way that they used to. This turning point in the book is pivotal to Celie's character, she finds her voice and her power, and begins to get to know her own mind.
Celie and Shug leave Mr.______'s house in Georgia and move to Memphis together. This decision changes Celie's life and transforms her into a happy, successful and independent woman. She starts up her own tailoring business, and after being voiceless for such a long time, is soon a contented individual who doesn't have to rely on anybody else.
Hers and Shug's relationship dissolves into a friendship, but a firm friendship. Shug will always be the person who pulled Celie from the depths of herself. Celie soon discovers that the family home back in Georgia was actually left to her and Nettie when their Mother died many years before, so she heads back to Georgia to prepare the house for Nettie's impending return, which will also bring Celie's children home.
Nettie, Olivia and Adam return to Georgia from their aid work in Africa, and Celie's life is finally complete, along with the growth of her character from the meek and scared young child who is abused so much that she wants to make herself invisible, to the strong, self-assured old woman at the end of the book.
The novel ends with the lines:
"But I don't think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt. Amen."
This in itself shows the full circle of the characters journey, she started as a young girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and ended as an old lady, with no worries at all.
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