Malavika Kumar

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Comparison between Celie and Nettie

In the novel ‘The Color Purple’, Alice Walker characterizes two sisters, Celie and Nettie, who have two very distinct personalities and characteristics. When compared we see that Celie is mostly reserved and not as developed intellectually as her sister until later in the book. On the other hand, Nettie is more demonstrative and shares clearly defined thoughts, feelings and ideas in her letters to Celie.

Celie and Nettie differ in many other aspects. While Celie stays at home and deals with more dramatic and emotional problems, Nettie goes on a mission to Africa. Here, Nettie demonstrates emotional clarity especially when writing about the Olinka tribe. She sympathizes with them - “It was pitiful, Celie. The people felt so betrayed” – but is still able to analyze their faults and bad points, as seen when she comments on the issue of slavery - “They acknowledge no responsibility whatsoever. This is one thing about them that I definitely do not like”. In her letters to Celie, Nettie writes that she is lonely, showing that like Celie, Nettie needs someone to listen to her thoughts and concerns. Celie has a different approach towards emotions, usually bottling them up and releasing them when she is alone. She displays emotional confusion, especially concerning Mr.______ and Shug sleeping together. Instead of than confronting Shug about it, she chooses to simply keep it to herself - “But when I hear them together all I can do is pull the quilt over my head”.

At first, Nettie is also portrayed as being the stronger of the two sisters. Though younger than Celie, Nettie often acts as her defender. She fights back against Mr.____ and Alphonso when Celie does not and capably faces the hardships of a missionary’s life. Celie is shown as passive and weak in nature, accepting without quarrel all that comes her way. She doesn’t fight back when raped numerous times by her stepfather and doesn’t protest being married off to Mr.____. However, Celie is capable of great sacrifice as she marries Mr.____ to spare her sister and even keeps Alphonso away from her. As the story progresses, Celie becomes  stronger and is able to break away from oppression and hardship.

    

The sisters also differ in their views and access to education. Nettie is more intellectual and recognizes the value of education even from an early age. She tries to teach Celie everything she could, continuing to do so even in her letters once she moves to Africa, becoming a source of information of the outside world.

Celie, however, never gets an opportunity to further her learning having to leave school after she became pregnant by the man she believes to be her father, Alphonso. She is also married very early to a man of her father’s choosing, Mr.____, an unsympathetic, selfish, and abusive man.

 Unlike Celie, Nettie is educated and intelligent and is thus quite self-sufficient. In many ways, this was possible for Nettie only because of the sacrifices Celie made. Even though Celie is forced to leave school after she becomes pregnant, she keeps Pa away from Nettie so that she can continue her education. Celie also marries Mr.___ instead of Nettie, keeping her from being tied down too soon.

Celie’s lack of a formal education can be seen prominently in the language of her letters - “By the time I git back from the well, the water be warm. By the time I git the tray ready for the food it be cold. By the time I git all the children ready for school it be dinner time.” In contrast, Nettie’s letters are more refined and educated, providing an intelligent insight into the conditions of the Olinka tribe in Africa.

Both Celie and Nettie face gender inequality, but here too they differ in their reactions to it. Celie accepts all the abuse and ill-treatment that is meted out to her, though she is sick of this treatment from men - “Well, you know wherever there’s a man, there’s trouble.” Initially she believes that women are made weaker than men from birth and does little to fight back against her stepfather or Mr.______. Celie adopts Shug Avery as a role model and eventually learns to fight back, leaving her husband and becoming a successful, happy and independent woman.

Nettie escapes from this life of drudgery and virtual slavery by travelling to Africa as a missionary with Samuel and Corrine. She also fight back against abuse from the very beginning - “...You sure is looking fine Miss Nettie and stuff like that. I tried to ignore him and walk faster… I started to fight him, and ... hurt him bad enough to leave me alone.” However, she realizes that while Africa is free from racial discrimination, gender inequality exists there as well. The women of the Olinka tribe are not treated as equals, and are not permitted to attend school with the males. The Olinka men also think less of Nettie because she is an unmarried woman travelling alone. But Nettie is still happy with her life and refuses to comply with expectations and marry until she is ready to do so. Thus, unlike her sister, she has a happy and stable marriage with Samuel.

In the novel, both sisters are religious and turn to God in times of need. A major portion of the novel is made up of Celie’s letters to God. At first, she writes to God as she has no one else to write to and here, to Celie, God is a distant figure, who she doubts cares about her concerns. Having lost her sister and confidante she is desperate and uses God to try and fill up that void. The letters soon come to act more as a means of self-expression and she soon begins to feel angry at God because of all the hurt she faces in her daily life. She looks to God and religion as an answer to racism and abuse but loses faith when they do nothing to help her. Celie eventually regains her faith when she becomes independent, happy, and successful. 

Nettie finds it easier to have faith as though she witnesses oppression and abuse, she never faces it herself. Religion plays a large part in her life especially when she goes to Africa as a missionary.  

Despite all these differences, Celie and Nettie share many similar characteristics. Both women are compassionate, Celie for individual people like Shug and Sofia, and Nettie for the entire Olinka tribe in Africa. Both struggle to achieve happiness and harmony in their lives and emerge from this struggle stronger.

References

Editors., SparkNotes. SparkNote on The Color Purple. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/purple/>.

Ivan. Celie and Nettie Compare Contrast. 24 February 2011. 25 August 2014 <http://ivan814.blogspot.in/2011/02/celie-and-nettie-compare-contrast.html>.

Lau, Billy. The Color Purple: Celie vs Nettie. 1 February 2011. 25 Auguat 2014 <http://billylau12345.blogspot.in/2011/02/color-purple-celie-vs-nettie.html>.

Tarpey, Micheal. The Color Purple: A Comparison Between Celie and Nettie. 20 November 2008. 25 August 2014 <www.engr.uconn.edu/~mpt09004/2009portfolio/tcpcompandcon.doc>.

The Color Purple: Nettie. 24 August 2014 <http://www.shmoop.com/color-purple/nettie.html>.

V, Stephen. Celie and Nettie's Relationship . 28 February 2011. 25 August 2014 <http://thecolorpurplebystephen.blogspot.in/2011/02/celie-and-netties-relationship.html>.

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. London: Orion Books, 1983.

Wikipedia. The Color Purple. 21 August 2014. 25 August 2014 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple>.