Albert's Redemption

Some of the most interesting fictional characters experience drastic change. Finding redemption is one of the ultimate goals for cruel characters and marks the completion of a cycle of growth. Such a cycle occurs in The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Albert--only referred to as “Mr.___” by the book’s narrator, Celie-- was an abusive, broken shell of a man. For the duration of his marriage to Celie, Albert fails to show even basic compassion for her and for his children. He remained unable to move on from his past romance with Shug Avery and abused women because of his resentment towards his failure to live happily with her. Eventually, both Celie and the temporarily-returned Shug left him alone with his stewing guilt. In spite of his initial …show more content…
Albert finally begins to see himself as the monster he is and then strives to become better; Shug serves as a spark for this change. Upon coming to understand the depths of Albert’s cruel, broken state, Shug is shocked and horrified. She wonders if the man she once loved had been lost (Walker, 123). Discovering that he had been withholding letters to Celie from her long-lost sister Nettie provided the final push for Shug. As he later came to realize himself, Albert knowingly preventing loved ones from hearing from each other displays not only cruelty, but also a lack of human empathy and compassion. Shug could not abide by such inhumanity towards women, so she decides to abandon Albert once again. In regards to love, she chooses Celie over Albert and declares on one fateful evening that she would be leaving for Memphis with her. This act affects Albert deeply; it was the fact that Shug had decided to be with Celie--whom he deemed to be unlovable--instead of him that upset him most. He had loved Shug for the majority of his adult life, so her turning her back on him forces Albert to face the error of his own ways. Furthermore, Albert has to contend with guilt over his actions and treatment of Celie. Both she and Shug view him as a monster, but it is one of Celie’s parting words to him that shake him to his core: “Until you do right by me everything you touch will crumble” (Walker, 200). Albert takes her words to heart and begins to regret his actions. He truly believes that he must “do right” by Celie and falls into a deep depression because of this belief. Celie is just as much a catalyst for change as Shug once was. Once again Albert is broken completely and once again he endures, albeit changed. In order to find empathy and humanity once again--similar to when he was first with Shug--Albert needed to understand his own