The Color Purple "still I Rise" Essay

The novel The Color Purple written by Alice Walker and the poem “Still I Rise” written by Maya Angelou are similar in that they both describe the difficulties of being raised as black person. Both the novel and the poem demonstrate that blacks had a tough life and went through many hard times. In The Color Purple, characters such as Celie, Albert and Sophia all had weaknesses and faced many obstacles through out their lives. The stanzas in “Still I Rise” also describe the terrible situations that black people experienced and can be related to the characters in The Color Purple.

The main character in The Color Purple was Celie who had a very difficult life. She was forced to have sex with her step father and after she became pregnant, her two children were taken away from her. After her step father got tired of her, she was forced to marry Mr.__ (Albert) and basically become his servant. She had to do everything around the house including the cooking, cleaning, taking care of his children and working in fields while Albert just sat around. She also had to have sex with him whenever he wanted. Worst of all, he would slap her around and had no respect for her. Celie was weak and didn’t have the strength to stand up for herself. She just accepted getting hit and beaten without fighting back. Celie was finally able to get her own life back after she got help from her friend Shug. Shug helped her feel good about herself and also gave her confidence to stand up for herself against Albert. Shug tells Albert that she and Grady are leaving and that Celie is coming with them. After Albert says to Celie “I thought you was finally happy”, Celie responds “You a lowdown dog is what’s wrong, I say. It’s time to leave you and enter into the Creation. And your dead body just the welcome mat I need.” (Walker 199) With the support of Shug, Celie leaves Albert. She starts her own business making pants and eventually got her own home after her step father died. With courage and the help of a friend, Celie was able to leave her horrible and depressing life behind.

Celie’s husband Albert was another character in The Color Purple with many flaws. When Celie first came to live with Albert, he treated her very poorly and beat her. All day, he sat around on his porch and would not do any chores around the house. He made Celie and Harpo do all the work on the fields. He cheated with Shug and humiliated Celie. He had no consideration for her and didn’t care how she felt. Albert took Celie for granted. He acted this way because this was how he was raised and taught by his father. His father didn’t believe you marry for love. He believed that you marry a woman who will follow your orders and take care of the house and children. Albert also hated his father for not letting him marry Shug when he was younger and carried that hatred inside him which he took out on Celie. After Celie and Shug left him, Albert realized that he needed to