For years American society held beliefs that men are superior to women and therefore held the perogative to abuse and dominate them. In The Color Purple Celie represents the general population of American women. In the beginning of her life she is raped and abused. The movie opens with her father insulting Celie and then with her giving birth to his children. The novel opens with Celie tellig God what has happened because she had nobody else she could turn to. Likewise, women have a history of being forced to tell only God when they have been abused both sexually, physically, and emotionally just so they can keep up the appearance of respect within their family. Later in the story Celie gains confidence when her husband stops beating her at the request of his mistress. Now the two partners near equality in their positions within the marriage. However Celie still feels the sting that her husband still has the power to keep her from her own sister. This situation is the closest to that of modern American society. While women can be independent from men, women are still paid less on the job and do not possess all of the same benefits as men. Just as women united in the Women's Movement, Celie, her lover Shug, and through newly found letters Celie's sister Nettie all unite together against Celie's husband, Mister. In the novel, Celie begins signing her letters. In the movie, she leaves Mister to go to Memphis with Shug and never returns to her abusive husband. The same events happen in the novel except that Celie does return to Mister but lives in total peace and equality with him and Shug. This is the level that American society is yet to reach but women still strive for.
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