The protagonist in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, and Alice Walker’s The Color purple have many similarities but also bear a large contrast to one another. Celie and Edna both find themselves in similar situations, the rebirth of independence, finding themselves and the awakening of their femininity, but they both go about this process very differently and thus we end with very polarizing characters. Both Celie and Edna depict an inward search for independence, and self actualization. Edna feels she has lost herself to the point of no return; Celie on the other hand, with the help of Shug Avery and Sofia, finds herself and reclaims her body and mind. Both of the women from both novels conform to society’s standards of women because they feel they must. However they struggle with who they are on the inside until it devours them or they come to accept it. Edna
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Celie like Edna is a woman from a time period where most women weren’t held to high regard if any at all. Celie is a woman who from a young age was subject to constant abuse, both verbal and physical. The constant badgering made Celie grow up with the mindset that women should be seen and not heard and only to speak when spoken to. She herself decides that she can best ensure her survival by making herself silent and invisible. Throughout the story of The Color Purple Celie tries to break away from Mr.____, but she cannot. Celie’s awakening as a character happens because of her experiences with Shug Avery and Sofia. “Sofia and Shug not like men, he say, but they not like woman either….They hold they own, he say. And it’s different.” In this quote Mr. and Celie discuss how Sofia and Shug regardless of their gender manage to have unique identifies for themselves, that they are their own person. Celie learns from them and her struggle to understand ends on a much livelier note than
Celie like Edna is a woman from a time period where most women weren’t held to high regard if any at all. Celie is a woman who from a young age was subject to constant abuse, both verbal and physical. The constant badgering made Celie grow up with the mindset that women should be seen and not heard and only to speak when spoken to. She herself decides that she can best ensure her survival by making herself silent and invisible. Throughout the story of The Color Purple Celie tries to break away from Mr.____, but she cannot. Celie’s awakening as a character happens because of her experiences with Shug Avery and Sofia. “Sofia and Shug not like men, he say, but they not like woman either….They hold they own, he say. And it’s different.” In this quote Mr. and Celie discuss how Sofia and Shug regardless of their gender manage to have unique identifies for themselves, that they are their own person. Celie learns from them and her struggle to understand ends on a much livelier note than