CHARACTER ANALYSIS - JASMINE SALAMAT

There were many characters that appeared throughout this section; however the three most influential characters were Mr.____, Sofia, and Shug Avery.

Mr.____ seems to be a man who is self-absorbed. He only thinks about himself and what is best for him. He treats Celie, his wife, with disrespect and only uses her for his pleasure. Celie is treated like a slave and sadly has to deal with the bruises that Mr.____ gives her. He’s very controlling because he always tells Celie what to do and always gets his way. There was one point in this section where Mr.____ seemed like a genuine person because he took in Shug Avery when she got abandoned for being sick. The way I interpret these gestures is that Mr.____ always loved Shug Avery, and as Shug Avery begins to heal they begin to have a sexual relationship. It is obvious that Mr.____ does not care Celie thinks because knows about Shug and Mr.____ sexual relationship. If he was truly loyal to Celie he would have never done such a thing. He is disrespectful in a way of never showing his affection to Celie but when Shug Avery comes along he always focuses his attention to her. This is just like the beginning of the book when he always complimented Celie’s sister Nettie.  Mr.____ seems to be a character that brings negativity and is a bad role model to his children. His eldest child Harpo was unsatisfied with his wife because she never listened to Harpo and stood up to him. Harpo explains how he should beat her just like Mr.___ does to Celie because his wife doesn’t do what he wants her to. Mr.___ needs to take others feelings into consideration and treat them with respect.  

This next character is very unique and different compared to the others and is definitely distinctive from the other females in this novel. Sofia is a character who is independent, confident, and very violent. In this section it has been revealed that Sofia was once married to Harpo and eventually left him. I felt like this was a big deal because in this novel it displays that women are very vulnerable and cannot stand up for themselves. In Sofia’s case, she decided to leave Harpo and get control of her own life again. It seemed as if Sofia was so strong and independent that Harpo was frustrated that he couldn’t control her. “But not Sofia. She do what she want, don’t pay me no mind at all. I try to beat her, she black my eyes.” (Walker 63). I think that people should fear Sofia because she stands her ground and whenever situations go wrong, it ends up concluding badly with someone getting hurt. In this section, Sofia was put into two arguments that resulted with her punching people. Sofia got in an argument with Squeak, her ex-husbands girlfriend, and the mayor’s wife. Unfortunately, Sofia was put into jail and suffered there but still stuck through her duties and survived after being brutally beat up. Sofiia was most definitely an influential character in this section because she portrayed many characteristics a lot of women in this novel couldn’t.

Shug Avery was one of the most influential characters of this section because you can see how her character changed dramatically in a positive way. At first it seemed like Shug Avery was a negative and rude person, this was revealed when Mr.____ took her in when she was miserably sick and no else wanted her. The first thing Shug says to Celie was, “You sure is ugly, she say, like she ain’t believed it.” (Walker 46). I believed that the environment in the house was going to be even worse now that Shug Avery was living there but it got significantly better. Her gracious and kind-hearted self was revealed mainly toward Celie. Shug listened and comforted Celie when she talked about her past and made Celie feel like she belonged. “Nobody ever love me, I say. She say, I love you, Miss Celie.” (Walker 112-113)  This demonstrates how caring Shug is by making Celie feel something that she’s never felt in a long time, loved. “I won’t leave, she say, until I know Albert won’t even think about beating you.” (Walker 75) This displays the protective and strong side of Shug as she tells Celie she won’t go anywhere until things around the house are right. She knew that Celie wouldn’t stand up for herself with Mr.____ and Shug sacrificed herself to stay and made sure not to leave until Celie was in capable hands. Shug and Celie gain a solid relationship throughout this section. They became so close that Shug made a song for Celie. Shug loved singing and got back on her feet by performing at Harpo’s juke joint. I infer that Shug has great confidence in herself because of all the fans and customers that come watch her perform. She performed wonderfully many times which is also how she got some of her fame back. Therefore, Shug Avery was a character that shows confidence, strength, and kindness. She loved and cared for many and fortunately, received the same thing back.