Celie

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Since joining this class, I've developed an interest in Womanist theology. I've come from a town that is primarily African American. Some of my closest friends back then were African Americans, who lived down the street from me. I remember this one time that still lies in the back of my head. My friend Tk came from a very dysfunctional family. Her father was constantly fighting the law while her mother did nothing. Tk and her mother did everything he asked because of how much love and support he demanded from them. Tk would come over for dinner at lot. She always told my parents how grateful she was but still felt guilty for eating our food. Later on, the Department of Child and Family Services carted her off after her father broke his parole. …show more content…
In doing so, she grows in experience, her observations become sharper and informed and her letters are written with more authority. Celie and Shug’s friendship grows as the quality of their lives improves through embracing spirituality and sexuality. “This intimate relationship with Shug allows Celie to re(claim) her physical body and sexuality for herself rather than to view them as something taken by others. This (re)claiming of her body leads also to the (re)claiming of the Spirit within her” (Thyreen 56). Through this spiritual and sexual awakening, Shug helps diminish Celie’s negative image of God as a white, dominating and destructive male figure and promotes a more loving God who encourages others to celebrate life and all it's pleasure (Gregory 370).This vision of God promotes interconnectedness to nature. The destructive God declines after talking to Shug and as Celie gains control of her life. All her life, she was never in control. Men controlled everything she did. It wasn't until she saw God in another light that transformed her life and gave her the courage to take …show more content…
Her last letter is addressed to “Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God” (Walker 292). “Celie's ensuing actions reveal that her understanding of God has undergone a significant transformation. She has come to see God on a personal level, beyond gender, and realizes the strength within herself to find value as a woman, no longer to be treated as a mule or prostitute. She discovers her own God, not one forced on her by whites or one she associates with her oppression as a woman; it is rather a God that is "in everything," that allows her to enjoy and appreciate life” (Thyreen 64). The story comes to a close when Celie and Mr_ reconcile. He had gone through a transformation that allowed him to see Celie for who she was and the wrongs he had to account for. Celie is finally reunited with her sister and her children. “Perhaps we can say that Walker’s vision, by writing the novel, is to help her readers improve the quality of relationships with each other, with nature and with a higher being, to improve personal and professional judgments” (Gregory
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