The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a epistolary novel about two sisters. Both of them have very similar experiences but in different situations due to the fact that they live thousands of miles apart. Celie lives in the United States and Nettie lives as a missionary for the majority of her life. They have very different ideas about religion. They have also had similar experiences in gender and racial inequality.
Celie and Nettie are very different in their religious beliefs throughout the novel. Celie doesn't really believe in God, as explains she to Nettie here, “I didn't write to God no more. I write to you. Who that? I say... What God for me?”.(page 192) Celie explains that she doesn't believe in God because she has no proof he exists and he hasn't done anything for her. On the other hand, Nettie is very serious in her religious beliefs, so much so that she goes as a missionary to Africa and tries to teach the Olinka people to be Christian . Celie may believe in spirits if she doesn't believe in God, this is shown here, “Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear people. Dear Everything.”(page 285) I think that this shows that Celie’s relationship with God affects how he life is doing at the time. For instance, this quote happens right when Nettie comes home with Celie's children. Nettie is really loyal to God, especially when she shows so much sorrow after the church is destroyed.
Celie and Nettie have both experienced gender inequality throughout their very different lives. Celie would be much more appreciated in Nettie`s life because she is a hard worker and she doesn't have enough confidence to speak up for herself and resist the oppression applied by men. Nettie would be more appreciated in Celie`s life because she is educated and opinionated. To the modern society, it is important for all women to be educated. To the Olinka, women are just used for working, not anything intellectual. Africa only values women that don’t question the superiority of men. Celie has had very negative experiences with men, such as when her “father” (who turns out to not actually be her father) rapes her and when she is married off at a very young age, to an abusive husband. In Nettie’s case, she has had an O.K. experience with men. This is shown when she gets to choose her own husband, something that Celie wasn't fortunate enough to do. Nettie marries her old friend Samuel, who treates her much better than Mr. treates Celie. Near the end of the book, Celie is finally able to stand up to Mr. and get her “freedom”. Nettie, on the other hand, can’t overcome gender inequality because of the primitive African culture, which says that women can’t have rights or an opinion.
Celie experiences racial inequality a lot more than Nettie. Celie lives in a time and place where there is racism everywhere. She cannot overcome racial inequality because white oppression is too strong. The story of Sofia is a good example of white oppression of black people. I Sofia is more or less “enslaved” by the mayor’s wife as shown:
“All of your children so clean, she say, would you like to work for me, be my maid?
Sofia say, Hell no. Mayor look at Sofia, push his wife out the way. Stick out his chest. Girl,what you say to Miss Millie?
Sofia say, Hell no.
He slap her.”
Sadly, after this part in this book, Sofia is forced to become a maid or rot in jail. It is sad that one group has so much power over another, enough, that someone of the superior group can just demand that a person work for them. That is the brutality of the racism that Celie constantly experiences. Nettie is lucky enough not to have experienced that much racism in her life in Africa. This is because in Africa everyone is black so there is no difference in race and there cannot be any racism. The only racism I noticed in Nettie’s life was on the ship ride home. She saw an old lady traveling with a little black boy who she described as her grandchild. Every person on the ship gave the couple weird looks throughout the trip.
In their lives, Celie and Nettie have both experienced gender and racial inequality. Their religious views can be compared because they are similar and different. I think Alice Walker wrote this book to convey the difference between African and American culture. She did this by writing about two sisters that have very different lives but experience many of the same problems.
