While reading The Color Purple I was shocked by the development of Celie’s inner-self. Her entire being was defined by those around her. It appeared as if Celie had no hand in creating who she was. I could picture Shug, Mr. , and Her father molding Celie’s body like a piece of clay until Celie truly believed she was an ugly, dumb, and worthless servant. It was shocking to see the destructive power of something as simple as words. Words seem to have the single handed ability to destroy life itself.
The power of the word in The Color Purple particularly struck me because I was simultaneously reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The Four Agreements is about the wisdom of the ancient Toltec. The Toltec is a way of thinking about life, and of filling ones life with happiness and love. According to Ruiz, the problem with most of us is that we have allowed the world around us to create our agreements for us. Our parents instilled beliefsagreementsinto us from the time we started trying to make sense of the world around us.
And what we arewho each of us is as an individual human beingis determined by our agreements. Ultimately, who we are is defined by what we believe and our beliefs shape the world around us. In order to redefine ourselves the Toltec teaches that there are four agreements which we must learn to live by. The first and most important agreement is to be impeccable with your word. The word gives the power to create. The word creates the world around us and is therefore a tool of magic.
However, as Ruiz says our word is a double-edged sword, and we can use it to create a beautiful dream, or we can use it to destroy everything around us. Misusing the word creates a living hell. Being impeccable with our word creates beauty, love, and heaven on earth. Ruiz continues to explain that the human mind is a fertile ground where opinions, ideas, and concepts are constantly being planted. Because the word is magic, humans are like magicians, and they are capable of casting spells.
If the parents tell a child repeatedly that she is not very pretty, or that he is not very smart, the child will accept this as true. It will become an agreement in the mind of the child. And the agreementthe beliefbecomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. “I’m ugly, so there’s no use putting on makeup, or dressing in nice clothesit won’t make any difference”; “I’m dumb, so there’s no use studying, or trying to prepare myself for collegeI just don’t have the brains for it. ” This is precisely what occurred with Celie.
The power of the word was used destructively against her. When she was told she was ugly, dumb, and worthless she created these agreements with herself. She stopped smiling, she stopped making an effort to stand-up for herself, she devoted herself to housework, and she denied herself any sort of enjoyment or satisfaction. She truly believed she was not entitled to even the smallest pleasures. Celie’s inner-worth was so destroyed by the power of the word that she continually submitted to rape. She believed that Mr. was granted complete control of her mind and body.
Throughout the novel Celie’s father and Mr. constantly degraded and beat her to reinforce their superiority. Celie learned to accept the superiority of men as a fact. As a child Celie was rapped and threatened by her father. Later in marriage Celie’s sexual encounters with her husband were sordid and unloving “Just do his business, get off, go to sleep” As Shug remarks, Celie “make it sound like he going to the toilet on you. ” Because Celie accepted herself as worthless she allowed men to completely take advantage of her.
She accepted the role of man as a rapist and therefore never realized how wrong and harmful it was to her. It is not until Shug points out the ecstasy of passion and pleasure that Celie begins to form new social constructions and inner agreements about sexuality. Although Celie’s life was destroyed by the power of the word it was equally created. Celie began to examine her own life through her letters. Her letters gave her a voice. They were her inner words. Celie’s letters to God and Nettie allowed her to examine her self-worth and create an individual.
Through her own words Celie was able to observe the world around her and eventually come to her own conclusions and beginning forming her own agreements. Shug also greatly helped in changing Celie’s past agreements. Shug explained to Celie that she was a beautiful woman and that her smile could brighten an entire room. She devoted one of her blues songs to Celie. In the movie, she allowed Celie to dress in some of her elegant gowns. All these small gestures and words of appraisal began to form a new agreement in Celie’s mind.
It became apparent that a new confidence and self-worth was growing within Celie. In terms of sexuality, Shug introduced Celie to the idea of passion. She informed Celie that sex was not supposed to be painful or dreaded but wonderful and enjoyable. Shug gave Celie a positive sexual experience. This action alone showed Celie that she had the right and the capacity to enjoy herself. Sex was not just meant for men. But as Shug explained, sex is enjoyed greatly by women as well. I feel that this is an important lesson for women today.
In class we have often talked about how women continue to participate in sex without enjoying it. I feel many of us can relate to Celie on this level. Women often do not feel pleasure from sex but are satisfied as long as their man orgasms. Is it possible that we make this agreement with ourselves at some point as young girls? In our society women are not seen as sexually beings. In addition, we live in a patriarchal world. Words are constantly telling us throughout our lives that the man must “come” first. As Virginia Wolf so eloquently states, “men must be reflected at twice their natural size.
By the end of the novel, Celie has successfully broken away from all the past ideas she once held about herself. She was able to break free of the social constraints and the labels that people and society used against her. She learned to use her words to gain power and transcend society. She formed her own identity against unbelievable odds. I think this novel vividly shows how we construct society everyday by imposing our beliefs on others. It further demonstrates the enormous amount power and happiness that follows once we break from of our social roles and false agreements.