Individuals are silenced when they are denied agency in shaping their own experiences.

Agency is the concept that individuals make choices that shape their own lives and that

they are solely the product of their environment. The character of Celie emphasizes the

silencing of African American woman as experienced through male family members, in

particularly fathers and husbands. Surprisingly enough, woman within the African

American community also serve as vehicles that perpetuate silencing. Celie's stepfather

is able to silence Celie through abuse and isolation. The beginning of the novel offers the

reader an intimate view of Celie's oppression by her stepfather. The many obstacles that

Celie must overcome in her life are, the abuse and silencing from her stepfather, the

further abuse and silencing from her husband, and Celie's breaking of silence.

The reader quickly discovers that Celie's stepfather has impregnated her

twice. "First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grap

hold my titties. Then he push his thing up inside my pussy. When that hurt, I cry.

reveals the inner strength of it's main character, celie.

extent that she has authority over Albert. In Albert's effort to show that Celie can do

between Celie and a mule. The symbol of black woman as mules not only means that

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Approximate Word count = 1219
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)