Tashi and Celie

The identity struggle Tashi is going through concerns the conflict between traditional values and a modern lifestyle. She wished to go through the “scarification” ceremony to maintain her standing in the old-fashioned culture, but this caused her great pain and distanced her from Adam, who takes a more modern view of the world. This is linked to Celie’s emotional struggle because both women are attempting to reconcile contrasting versions of the world around them and the people in that world. As Tashi must try to navigate Adam’s disapproval, her own culture, and the feelings she has for Adam, Celie is trying to reconcile the differences between the Shug she knew and the woman Shug has become, falling in love with a 19-year old boy. She must attempt to remain happy while her world is changing and the very basis of her identity and previous happiness is potentially being taken from her. Though the exact circumstances are not identical, both women are dealing with a fundamental conflict between two worlds, and both are having a great deal of trouble resolving that conflict. Tashi, unable to reconcile her past and future cultures, flees both, as well as fleeing Adam, by going into the bush to join thee mbeles. Celie cannot flee into the bush, but she withdraws from Shug, refusing to speak to her, retreating within herself and only really maintaining contact with Nettie, someone who is outside of the current situation and can give her some solace and perspective, despite the fact that she may already be dead.

Shug, Sofia, Celie

The three main women we’ve encountered so far have a few key similarities. Each of them is forced to exist in a male-dominated society that constantly tries to oppress them, to objectify them, to weaken them. Celie and Sofia both grew up in large families with men who tried to physically assault them. Even Shug Avery has been cast out from society, living more freely but constantly with the disapproval of men and the condemnation of everyone who does not live loosely like she does. Celie is different from the other two women in that she gives in to the oppression of men instead of fighting back. When she is abused or beaten, she merely retreats inside of herself, letting everything happen. In contrast, Sofia fights back physically, acting like a man and using her fists and weapons to defend herself. Even Shug has her own way of resisting, using both her words and her departure from traditional societal norms to escape from the abuse she sees. Shug Avery and Sofia are different from one another in that Sofia lives within traditional norms, raising a family with Harpo and remaining with her children and her previous family throughout. Shug refuses to stay within those constraints, and even when she bears three children with Albert she does not raise them, continuing her lifestyle of singing and partying. Shug and Sofia are also able to love men, to recognize them as individuals rather than faceless beings, and to feel real emotion towards them. Celie cannot feel anger for the men who abuse her, but she cannot feel love, either.