When Celie is writing her letters, she starts out addressing them all “Dear God.” Later in the book, however, she changes to addressing them “Dear Nettie” because Nettie is a savior figure in Celie’s life. Celie is writing to God in the beginning because she believes that He can save her from the abuse that she experiences. When God hasn’t seemed to help, and Celie finds out that Nettie is still alive, Nettie is the one who brings her hope. Celie writes, “Dear Nettie, I don’t write to God no more. I write to you. What happen to God? ast Shug. Who that? I say” (193). It’s thinking about Nettie coming home to her that keeps Celie going. Nettie is the more stable of the two sisters; she’s the one with a job, and she’s found herself a sort of family in Samuel, Corinne, and Celie’s children. Celie needs stability like that in her own life, and she misses her children, so she has to believe that Nettie will come back to save her and to return her son and daughter. Celie believes that God hasn’t heard her cries for help; the suffering hasn’t ended, even after all of the letters she has written. Nettie becomes God in Celie’s eyes, taking over the role of savior in Celie’s life.
i dont know exactly what i think about the role that Nettie takes in Celies life as savior. towards the end when Celie feels betrayed hurt and discouraged, she turns to Nettie to fill the void of faith and continuity in her life. i think on this and my first instinct is to reject that idea and claim Celie as a sinner or project negativity on Celie as a negative character, but the more i think about it, the more i feel it had to happen. for Celie God was her confidant and journaler and it was always a one way street to where she kept him at a distance. i think in retrospect in order for her to cope with the loss of nettie and the getting her back again and then loosing her she had to make nettie less of a real person and more of a journalist or confidant that doesnt take an active participant in her life. it gives her more of distance and also lets her begin to snip the strings of familarirty and sisterhood between them.
Kristen, I definetely think that for a while Nettie became Celie's reason to hope and live, because she distrusted God for not helping her. Also, because He was referred to as a man, and as such, didn't deserve her trust. So in a way, Nettie did become a "savior" for Celie. If Celie knew for sure that Nettie had died sometime before she met Shug, I don't think she could have survived.
When Celie is writing her letters, she starts out addressing them all “Dear God.” Later in the book, however, she changes to addressing them “Dear Nettie” because Nettie is a savior figure in Celie’s life. Celie is writing to God in the beginning because she believes that He can save her from the abuse that she experiences. When God hasn’t seemed to help, and Celie finds out that Nettie is still alive, Nettie is the one who brings her hope. Celie writes, “Dear Nettie, I don’t write to God no more. I write to you. What happen to God? ast Shug. Who that? I say” (193). It’s thinking about Nettie coming home to her that keeps Celie going. Nettie is the more stable of the two sisters; she’s the one with a job, and she’s found herself a sort of family in Samuel, Corinne, and Celie’s children. Celie needs stability like that in her own life, and she misses her children, so she has to believe that Nettie will come back to save her and to return her son and daughter. Celie believes that God hasn’t heard her cries for help; the suffering hasn’t ended, even after all of the letters she has written. Nettie becomes God in Celie’s eyes, taking over the role of savior in Celie’s life.
ReplyDeletei dont know exactly what i think about the role that Nettie takes in Celies life as savior. towards the end when Celie feels betrayed hurt and discouraged, she turns to Nettie to fill the void of faith and continuity in her life. i think on this and my first instinct is to reject that idea and claim Celie as a sinner or project negativity on Celie as a negative character, but the more i think about it, the more i feel it had to happen. for Celie God was her confidant and journaler and it was always a one way street to where she kept him at a distance. i think in retrospect in order for her to cope with the loss of nettie and the getting her back again and then loosing her she had to make nettie less of a real person and more of a journalist or confidant that doesnt take an active participant in her life. it gives her more of distance and also lets her begin to snip the strings of familarirty and sisterhood between them.
ReplyDeleteKristen, I definetely think that for a while Nettie became Celie's reason to hope and live, because she distrusted God for not helping her. Also, because He was referred to as a man, and as such, didn't deserve her trust. So in a way, Nettie did become a "savior" for Celie. If Celie knew for sure that Nettie had died sometime before she met Shug, I don't think she could have survived.
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