First time somebody made something and name it after me.“ Walker
1982 : 77
In Memphis, Shug teaches Celie to do business, to make her powerful, Shug is also the one who develop her ability to appreciate herself.
“ I sit in the dining room making pants after pants. I got pants now in
every color and size under the sun.” Walker 1982 : 218
“ one day when Shug home, I say, you know, I love doing this, but I got
to git out and make a living pretty soon. Look like this just holding me back. She laugh. Let’s us put a few advertisements in the paper, she say.
And let’s us raise your prices a hefty notch. And let’s us just go ahead
and give you this dining room for your factory and git you some more woman in here to cut and sew, while you sit back and design. You making
your living, Celie, she say. Girl you on your way.” Walker 1982 : 220 – 221
4.3.3 Nettie
Netie is Celie’s younger sister. Nettie is the only character who loves Celie consistently and unconditionally through out the entire of novel. She
loves Celie strongly. Unlike Celie, Nettie is an educated and independent person it is because of Celie’s sacrifices. Celie steers away their father fro
Nettie so that Nettie can get the better life and continue her education. Celie also marries Mr. ___ instead of Netie, thus keeping Nettie from being a
married woman, and tied down to her husband’s children.
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Nettie is an eager learner and always interested in sharing her newfound knowledge with her sister. Nettie tries to teach Celie when their
father takes her out of school.
“ the way you know who discover America, Nettie say, is think bout
cucumbers. That what Columbus sound like. I learned all about Columbus in first grade, but look like he the first thing I forgot. She say Columbus
come here in boats call the Neater, the Peter, and the Santomareater. Indians so nice to him he force a bunch of ‘em back home with him to wait
on the queen.” Walker 1982 : 10
When Nettie runs away from Celie’s husband home, she lives with a preacher family. She goes to Africa, and England with her new family,
because they are an African Missionary Society. Nettie learns much here, she also teaches Celie about the life outside and by sending her letter.
“saying good-bye to our chruch group was hard. But happy,too. Every one has such high hopes for what can be done in Africa. Over the
pulpit there is saying: Ethiopia Shall Stretch Forth Her Hands to God. Think what it means that Ethiopia is Africa All the Eethiopians in the
bible were colored. It had never occured to me, though when you read the bible it is perfectly plain if you pay attention only to the words. It is the
pictures in the bible that fool you. The pictures that illustrate the words. All of the people are white and so you just think all the people from the bible
were white too. But really white white people lived somewhere else during
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those time. That’s why the bible says that Jesus Christ had hair like lamb’s wool. Lamb’s wook is not straight, Celie. It isn’t curly.”
Walker 1982 : 140- 141 from this letter, the writer assumes that Nettie uses her experiences to
expand Celie’s view of the world relating her stories of Africa, gender politics, and religion.
As quoted from McDowell noted, The majority of Celie’s letters represent the private paradigm of the African American female tradition in
the novel, and the majority of Netties letters can be said to represent the public paradigm. The two perspectives are subtly suggested by the different
registers used by the sisters. As Nettie is more fortunate in getting a much wider chance to improve herself, she represents the educated and conscious
member of both her race and sex, who sacrifices her life for the cause of black people everywhere in the world by becoming a missionary in the land
of her ancestors. Her letters often assume the quality of essays, pamphlets, or public speeches when she talks about the indignations caused by her African
experiences. These meditations and also the style of the letters reflect social awareness, and give a self conscious interpretation of the experiences quite
opposed to Celie’s lack of ability to understand either the world around her or her own condition. Thus the two kinds of experiences overlap in the two sets
of letters to mutually support the underlying message: the universal condition of oppression of Black women.
Here Nettie is the primary source of information for Celie. Giving her pride in her Africa heritage and knowledge of the world outside of the
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America. Losing Nettie, the one who is very loved by Celie hurts her. When Celie never receives Netti’s letter, Celie looks Sofia for her inspiration.
