The Colour Purple By Alice Walker

I read the book 'The Colour Purple' by Alice Walker. The book is based on the life of Celie Harris and all the mishaps she goes through in her life. As she gets older and becomes friends/lovers with Shug Avery her life begins to rapidly change for the better. The book goes into great detail about the love affair compared to the film which just briefly touches on the subject. Even though any form of affair is wrong especially when both parties involved are married , this one can be understood a bit more as it's Shug's way of showing Celie that having sex can be wonderful, that there are other people besides her younger sister Nettie that love her and that she thinks Celie is beautiful.

Walker Alice, The Colour Purple, The Women's Press/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983, United States of America/Great Britain.

Pg. 44

She look me over from head to foot. Then she cackle. Sound like a death rattle. You sure is ugly, she say, like she ain't believed it.

Shug was initially horrible to Celie for no apparent reason nevertheless as Celie continues to tell her story we find out it is because she is jealous of the intricate detail that Celie is married to Albert. This soon changes when she finds out that Albert has many faces and has only been showing her what he wants her to see, which is that he is a loving man.

Pg. 103

Nobody ever love me I say.

She say, I love you Miss Celie. And then she haul off and kiss me on the mouth.

Um, she say, like she surprise I kiss her back, say, um, too.

Us kiss and kiss till us can't hardly kiss no more. Then us touch each other.

This shows that their realisation of their love for one another was gradual not immediate. Celie sees herself as someone that no-one will ever love and that the one love she had her sister Nettie is either dead or is just not trying to contact her anymore. She is furthermore constantly used due to the treatment her step-father and her husband Albert subject her too. To them she is more like a servant/sexual object than a person with thoughts/feelings and a voice.