Celie's bruises,Sophia's beaten face, Flowers in the field; It is The Color Purple...

An epistolary Drama novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker explores many topics such as points of gender inequality, mistreatment or woman, and how certain events can affect the rest of someone’s life. The novel starts with two sisters, Nettie and Celie, desperately in need of escaping their abusive home life. However the two sister’s spirits and thinking are very different, and because of that they end up being opposites in fortune and life in general. Nettie and Celie have three major differences between them: the way Celie lives was more like a man than Nettie, in terms of working; she does a lot of hard labor. Celie also has to deal with abuse. Nettie has more opportunities than Celie, who suffered a lot of misfortune.

Nettie could not handle the work that Celie does, based on what she thinks is tiring. Every day, Celie cleans, cooks, sews, and caters to Albert’s household needs. She is like the house maid; she suffers from him beating her, but often acts like nothing even happened. She works in the fields more than Albert ever does. She does everything in the house; it was more like she wears the pants in the house literally. Nettie also works hard as a missionary, building homes and schools. Yet she does it on her own free will. She is not forced to do anything while she is there; being a hard worker is much harder to do when it is forced.

“No matter how down I maybe and sometimes I get very down indeed, a hug from Olivia or Adam completely restores me to the level of functioning.”pg164

Nettie wouldn’t have had the long term resistance to being mistreated like Celie, she would die. Celie became immune to the beatings and sexual abuse from an earlier age which is the reason that she is able to put up with it. However Nettie was treated correctly and never has much to do except to do well in school and then is protected the rest of her life. That shield makes her incapable of surviving on such terms as Celie does. The fact that Nettie feels down from just being tired, when Celie is tired, unhappy, worked to death, and sexually abused, is proof that she probably wouldn’t be able to handle it. If Nettie even knew what Celie went through, she would have tried to escape with Celie.

Celie was also often abused, but Nettie never had the same experience as Celie. Celie is always obedient and never does Albert wrong, but he beats her for just being herself and not Shug, Albert’s past lover. He wants Shug, and he cannot have her. She has to deal with mistreatment for all those years, when Nettie was never really hit.

“He beat me when you not here, I say. Who do, she say, Albert? Mr._____, I say. I can’t believe it, she say…what he beat you for? She ast. For being me and not you.”pg75

Coping with being beaten for no reason is a big deal. Nettie was only hit with rocks by Albert in the book, Being protected by Celie when they lived at home and being safe with the preacher and his wife, she is save. She is never abused sexually and only teased. Nettie even goes as far as running away to escape her father. Celie only had to protect Nettie. Celie is trapped but only to protect her dearest, and only younger sister Nettie.

Nettie has a lot more freedoms than Celie did; she is able to express her feelings too. She goes to Africa, raises children she loves and falls in love and gets married. Celie on the other marries because Nettie cannot, rarely went anywhere, and never gets to marry who she loves. In the beginning of the book Celie is raped by her father, who automatically decides her fate. She is all alone and in the beginning her father said to her. Then even when she was marries it was arranged and she hates him and his kids. “Better not tell nobody but god it’d kill your mama.” (pg1)Most rape victims are afraid to tell, but Celie never has the choice to tell or not to tell. She also is not loved by the person she married. He loves his ex-fiancé Shug and so does Celie, but Celie and Shug cannot be together and that often disappoints Celie. Nettie is given a large amount of opportunities that Celie does not get because she was impregnated by her father. She cannot go to school, date, and after her father does bad things to her, she cannot have any children willingly. However Nettie is able to secretly date, moves on to go to Africa, after learning new languages and going to school. Then when she met the person she loves she is allowed to marry him and even have children if she wants to. This shows that Nettie is given an ample amount of opportunities but Celie is robbed of her virginity, willingness to love, children, sister, and life. She does not get to achieve as much as she wants to until she escapes.

As we’ve seen, Celie and Nettie differ in their work, family, and worldly experience. While Celie’s confinement and abuse keep her depressed and down until the end of the novel, Nettie’s travels and exposure to other cultures allow her to be happy throughout the book. Through the contrasts between these sisters, Walker shows us that in life the steps that you take, affected by others, can forever seal your fate. Celie was lucky to have had Shug, it allows her a way to leave her sad life and start fresh. Nettie is given opportunities in life that any woman in that day would be lucky to have. Overall the novel was a very symbolic and touching story that inspired the world of women writers.