Characterization

I am on page 92 of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Mr. _____ sure is an interesting character. He marries Celie because he needs help with the kids and can’t get the girl he really wants, Shug. Then he beats Celie because she isn’t Shug. He never works, just watches Celie slave away all day, then “rapes” her at night. I put “rapes” in quotation marks because it is not technically rape if they are married; however, he does it selfishly without thinking about how Celie feels about it, so in that way it most definitely is. I think he has some personal issues that he needs to overcome, but that gives him no right to take it out on innocent Celie. He even sleeps with Shug while Celie is there. At this point in the book, I would classify Mr. _____ as the antagonist, and a definite flat character. He does have a nice side, however. “I can’t believe it, she say. She sit down on the bench next to me real hard, like she drop,” (75). That is her reaction when she finds out Mr. ____ beats Celie. Mr. _____ is always so nice to Shug she can’t even believe he would think of beating Celie. His entire personality apparently changes depending on who he is with.