The Color Purple 2 Essay Research Paper

The Color Purple 2 Essay, Research Paper The Color Purple By Alice Walker And Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger Alice Walker and J.D Salinger demonstrate how faith helps their main characters to discover their true potential. Both authors use their novels to show the readers how faith, religion, and human interventions can promote a positive and meditative change within a person. In Alice Walker’s novel “The Color Purple”, protagonist, Celie, relies upon her faith in God and her sister to give her strength in times of hardship. This faith is later transferred to a blues singer named Shug Avery, who teaches Celie about the true meaning of life and of being free. J.D Salinger’s character Franny, from “Franny and Zooey” becomes morose after reading the novel The Way

of A Pilgrim because she realizes that she is no better than the people around her. Her brother Zooey convinces her that her problem is not really a problem at all. He tells her that she needs to face the fact that, even though she is like everyone else, she still has a divine spark inside of her, as do all others. He tells her that she needs to respect that. Both Celie and Franny have people in their lives that help them overcome their hardships. These two women experience extraordinary transformations discovering the true meanings of life, religion, faith, and the love and kindness of others. At the beginning of the novel “The Color Purple”, Celie is a weak and submissive African-American woman who relies on her faith in God to give her the strength to protect those she

loves. This faith in God causes her to write to him describing the misery that she is in because of her situation, “Dear God, He start to choke me, saying, You better shut up and git used to it” (Walker 2). Celie relies upon her knowledge that He is there to keep the misery from crushing her completely. “The only person who has knowledge of her circumstance is her abusive father, and with no one to help her, she feels isolated and powerless”(Untitled-pg12). Celie uses God as a means to escape her predicament. He becomes the centre of her universe until her sister Nettie leaves. When Nettie is taken away from Celie, she feels that even God has turned His back on her, “[She] don’t write to God no more, [she] write to [Nettie]” (Walker 199). She feels that God does not

care about a lowly black woman like herself. Due to this loss of faith in God, Nettie becomes Celie’s constant source of hope and spiritual guidance. Nettie, is Celie’s only constant friend. Even though she is absent for most of the story, she offers something that no one else does; a sense of support. Celie suffers many incidents of incest, mental and physical abuse at the hands of her father. Nettie is spared the atrocities of abuse because of Celie’s self-sacrifice to marry a man like her father. This enables Celie to shield Nettie from the gruesomeness of abuse. From her previous home to her new home the horror follows her, Mr.____’s eyes start to wander, and when the affection isn’t returned, Nettie is sent away, “Well, us done help Nettie all we can. Now she got

to go. Where she gon go? [Celie] ast. I don t care, he say” (Walker 18). Celie, unable to keep faith in God, gives up all hope on Him and puts faith in her sister instead. Both Nettie and God are two figures who are unable to help Celie in times of need, Nettie because she is in Africa, and God because Celie feels he does not care for her,” the God [Celie] been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens [she] know. Trifling, forgitful, and lowdown.” (Walker 199), They are individuals who Celie speaks to, they give her the courage and hope she needs to continue. Until Celie meets Shug Avery, who teaches Celie what life and life with freedom can really be like if it is something that is truly and wholeheartedly desired. Shug Avery is probably one of