Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
As a character, Celie's own experiences have not engaged her on the same levels that Shug's sexual experiences have. This is to say that Celie's life and collection of experiences have not been personally gratifying or freeing in the way that Shug suggest sexual experiences should or can be. To Shug, sex is more about the personal gratification and the freedom of bodily and emotional expression that comes with the act of making love (Selzer, 69). Since Celie's life has revolved around taking care of her children and making sure the men in her life are happy, she really hasn't had much time to develop her own personal sex life in a gratifying or selfish way.
It is important to make the distinction between acting selfishly as the men in Celie's life have and acting selfishly as Shug suggests Celie do. These are two separate things, and the act of making love is supposed to be a shared emotional and physical expression of love. This is where Shug's interpretation of virginity comes into play. She argues to Celie that if she has not experienced sex through the lens of a personal expression of her own sexual...
At least not to the full potential that humans, or a woman like Celie could hope to experience (Selzer, 70). Shug is simply offering Celie an alternative view that sex is not just a physical necessity or weapon to be used against men or against oppression, but that for a woman, sex is to be an extension of their own love and connection with a mate. In this way, sex becomes sacred or divine, because it can only be experienced in the context of personal gratification, freedom, and expression with a lover.
Works Cited
Gates, Henry L. And Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African-American
Literature, 2nd Ed. New York: Norton, 2004.
Hamilton, Carole. "Dutchman: Baraka's Concept of the Revolutionary Theatre." Drama
for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. pp. 228-235.
Selzer, Linda. "Race and Domesticity in the Color Purple." African-American Review,
Vol. 29, No. 1 (spring 1995): pp. 67-82.
Walker, Clarence E. "The Philosophy of Alain Locke: Harlem Renaissance and Beyond."
African-American Review, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Winter, 1992): pp. 675-682.
Wohlpart, a. James. "Privatized Sentiment and the Institution of Christianity: Douglass's
Ethical Stance in the Narrative." American Transcendental Quarterly 9, No. 3 (September 1995): pp. 181-94.
Works Cited
Gates, Henry L. And Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African-American
Literature, 2nd Ed. New York: Norton, 2004.
Hamilton, Carole. "Dutchman: Baraka's Concept of the Revolutionary Theatre." Drama
for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. pp. 228-235.
White Too Long Book ReviewJones argues in his book White Too Long that the problem of white supremacy in American Christianity centers on the fact that white churches focus mainly on their own safety and security, protecting their own safe spaces, within the context of a larger and wider system of social, economic and political inequality. In other words, white churches care more about white power and white supremacy than
Christian Biotechnology: Not a Contradiction in Terms Presented with the idea of "Bioethics" most people in the scientific community today immediately get the impression of repressive, Luddite forces wishing to stifle research and advancement in the name of morality and God. Unfortunately, this stereotype too often holds true. If one looks over the many independent sites on the Internet regarding bioethics, reads popular magazines and publications, or browses library shelves for
Chemistry and Biology on Christian Mind The Effects Chemistry and Biology on Christian Mind Science and Christianity share a very conflicting relationship. There are different faces of this relationship and we can determine this relationship by using different models. One of such models suggests that science and Christianity are in conflict with each other. Though both of these areas ask you the same question but the answers which they seek are
" (13) It is thus that Costen poetically paints a picture of an inherently spiritual and devout people channeling their faith in the diaspora. Costen more than adequately achieves the goal of defining a unique, beautiful and empowering culture encapsulated in the intercession of Christianity and African-American heritage. One of the reasons that the text seemed to be so effective in achieving its aims was in its close emotional connection to
African-American History- Christian Denominational Involvement The African-American church, and African-American clergy, have been at the forefront of "nearly every major social, moral, and political movement in the black community," according to the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics (Djupe, et al., 2003, p. 9). And there is not one particular denomination that African-American Christians are drawn to, any more than there is any one specific denomination that Caucasians are drawn to.
Jesus' Teachings, Prayer, & Christian Life "He (Jesus) Took the Bread. Giving Thanks Broke it. And gave it to his Disciples, saying, 'This is my Body, which is given to you.'" At Elevation time, during Catholic Mass, the priest establishes a mandate for Christian Living. Historically, at the Last Supper, Christ used bread and wine as a supreme metaphor for the rest of our lives. Jesus was in turmoil. He was