. Instead, he is offered Celie by her stepfather. He resents her as she is not his first choice and therefore treats her as a slave.

Celie’s life consists of caring for Albert’s poorly behaved children and tending to his unkempt home. She is raped and beaten on a regular basis. Because of this level of abuse, Celie reverts into a state of almost silence and withdrawal. She has really never known anything other than hardship, abuse, patriarchal dominance and rape. Unfortunately, these events are frequent and seem normal to her Celie as it is all she has ever known. A source of strength for Celie however, is her close friendship with her sister Nettie. In fact, Nettie comes to live with Celie and Albert for a time. During this time, Nettie and Celie share and enjoy a close sisterhood where Nettie teaches Celie to read. Albert however, consistently attempts to force himself on Nettie just as he does with Celie. Eventually, Nettie angers Albert when she rejects him. This causes Albert to throw Nettie out of the house which then separates the close sisters from one another.

Celie is able to find closeness with another individual when Shug Avery comes to live with Albert and Celie. Shug is centrifugal in showing Celie how to find strength and acceptance within herself. Celie shares a close and almost romantic kinship with Shug but ultimately, Celie blossoms into a woman of tremendous character despite her terrible and unfortunate childhood and youth.

Margaret Atwood has written several works in her career as a great essayist, which explores the concept of identity as well as the loss of self. The two works in particular which depict such concepts and events are titled Great Unexpectations and Travels Back. The first work, Great Unexpectations is actually an autobiographical forward where Atwood discusses her origins as a writer as well as her fears surrounding writing as a woman. Atwood points out the cliché of writers&nbsp.around the time period of the sixties as being both “dead and English”.

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