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Support System

I think everyone can agree that having a support system is a very important aspect of living in a society; especially one that is as connected as ours is. 'The Color Purple' really demonstrates how a person grows when they have a good, reliable support system. It is very easy to see how much Celie has grown from the beginning to the current point. She started as a character who was docile and was willing to use her body to save her sister from her father,and then does it again with Mr___. Throughout her narrative she has constantly been made an example of in situation of talking about how a 'good' wife should act. The fact that almost every person who has control over the narrative has encouraged the subservient act plays a huge role in her personality: doing everything she is told to, shrugging of physical, sexual and mental abuse or regarding herself as disposable.
Now this wouldn't be that great of a novel if the character started out so abused and not have some improvement. After Celie is married to Mr____, she meets Sofia who is the girlfriend, later wife, of Celie's stepson. Sofia is the first one who has stayed long enough in Celie's life, and is strong headed enough to help her gain some semblance of control in her own life. Of course everything isn't nice and dandy which can be seen from the question Sofia asks about eating food (Celie answers that one eats to live without even considering the other reasons, satisfaction) , but we see her start to stand up for herself internally. What is important to know about the novel is that in the beginning Celie in no capacity stood up for herself, not even internally. Meeting Sofia helped her see that everything about the way she was being treated was wrong, she still doesn't stand up for herself in front of people or anything but it is a start.
Enter Shug Avery. Shug is someone who has always been portrayed as strong, in control. She adorns bold colors, isn't afraid of giving her opinion and is a very stubborn character. Her entrance is where we see Celie start to rebel. When Albert ( Mr____ who has only been called Albert by Shug) takes Shug in because she was ill his father paid his, let's say a, visit. In this visit his father made sure to express his discontent over Shug's stay but that is kind of irrelevant, what is important is Celie's reaction. Celie really looks up to Shug and does not really appreciate people bad-mouthing her crush, so she spits in the water she was asked to serve Mr_____ (the father). She also threaten to do something more drastic, but I'm not gonna talk about it so you know yeah. But all in all it's just that as soon as Shug, someone she admires, likes and idolizes comes she is standing up to authority.
This just goes to show why ideologies centering people who surround us exist. People can help you develop confidence (loyal strong people) or they could break you down and make you be a subservient docile person (toxic people). Make it a great life or not, the choice is yours( Boulan people)

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