"Character list - The color purple
Celie : She is the protagonist and narrator of The Color Purple. Celie is a poor, uneducated black woman with a sad personal history. She survives a stepfather who rapes her and steals her babies and also survives an abusive husband. As an adult, Celie becomes friends with and finds intimacy with a blues singer, Shug Avery, who gradually helps Celie find her voice. By the end of the book, Celie is very happy and self-confident woman.
Nettie: Celie's younger sister, whom Celie's Husband initially wanted to marry. Alphonso was really Nettie and Celie's stepfather but they didn't know that until someone was telling her a story in which helped her realize that he really wasn't her biological father. Samuel and Corrine come across Nettie and they adopt her. With them, she moves to Africa to preach.
Celie's Husband: Celie's husband, who abuses her for years. Celie's Husband , whose first name is Albert, pines away for Shug during his marriage to Celie and hides Nettie's letters to Celie in his trunk for decades. After Celie finally defies Celie's Husband , denouncing him for his abuse, he undergoes a deep personal transformation, reassessing his life and eventually becoming friends with Celie.
Shug Avery: A sultry blues singer who first appears as Celie's Husband's mistress. Shug becomes Celie's friend and eventually her lover, all the while remaining a gentle mentor who helps Celie evolve into an independent and assertive woman. Shug does not at first appear to be the mothering kind, yet she nurtures Celie physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Shug gives Celie the idea of sewing pants for a living.
Sofia: An independent woman who betrays Celie in order to marry Harpo. Sofia refuses to submit to whites, men, or anyone else who tries to dominate her. After defying the town's mayor, Sophia is sentenced to twelve years in jail, but the sentence is later commuted to twelve years labor as the mayor's maid. The hardship Sofia endures serves as a reminder of the costs of resistance and the difficulties of combating cultural and institutional racism.
Harpo: Celie's Husband's eldest son. He confesses to Celie about his love for Sofia, cries in her arms, enjoys cooking and housework, kisses his children, and marries an independent woman, Sofia. However, Celie's Husband's expectations of stereotypical male dominance convince Harpo that he needs to beat Sofia. His efforts at abusing Sofia fail, since she is much stronger than he is. At the end of the novel, Harpo reforms his ways, and he and Sofia reconcile and save their marriage.
Alphonso: Celie and Nettie's stepfather, who the sisters think is their real father until Nettie learns the truth years later. When Celie is young, Alphonso rapes and abuses her until she moves out of the house. Unlike Celie's Husband and Harpo, who have changed, Alphonso continues with his abusive nature until he dies. Celie inherits her house and property after Alphonso dies.
Miss Millie: Is the wife of the mayor of the town where Celie lives. Miss Millie is a very racist person but she likes how clean and nice looking Sofia's children are, so she asks Sofia to be her maid. Sofia replies, “Hell no,” and is sent first to jail, then to Miss Millie's, where she ends up working as her maid after all.
Eleanor Jane: Is the mayor's daughter. Eleanor Jane develops a strong attachment to Sofia and turns to her for emotional support. Toward the end of the book, Eleanor Jane at last begins to understand the inequality Sofia and other blacks suffered. She tries to atone for her part in the unjust treatment of Sofia by taking care of Sofia's daughter Henrietta.
Adam: Celie and Alphonso's biological son, who, like Olivia, is adopted by Samuel and Corrine. Adam falls in love with Tashi, a young Olinka girl.
Tashi: An Olinka village girl who befriends Olivia and marries Adam. She chooses to undergo two painful African traditions-facial scarring and genital mutilation-as a way to physically differentiate her culture from imperialist culture.
Grady: Shug's husband. Grady is a loving and sweet man, but also a womanizer. He smokes marijuana quite often. When Grady and Squeak begin an affair, Shug seems relieved to be rid of any responsibility to her relationship with Grady.
Olivia: Celie and Alphonso's biological daughter, who is adopted by Samuel and Corrine. Olivia builds a close sister like relationship with Tashi. This friendship serves as an example of the strength of relationships between women."
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