get off, go to sleep (Walker 81). Celie hates Mr.____ for this, and she lives her life with him like it is a dream. She wishes that she could just disappear. But, Celie will not run away. She is too scared of life without Mr._____. Celie has never been by herself and that scares her (Clarke 2). Celies first sign of hope comes from a woman named Shug Avery. Abuse of the wife by the husband was very common at that time. The males had the need to prove themselves to the wives and they did this through control. Women were supposed to obey their husbands and if they refused they were ostracized by society. The women in the household were expected to do all of the housework including cleaning, cooking, taking care of the children and waiting on the husbands hand and foot.Womens rights worldwide were non-existant during the 1940s. They were seen as second-class citizens. Celies sister Nettie, a missionary in Africa, quotes an Ethiopian woman, A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband can she become something...She can be the mother of his children (Walker 162). This shows the status of women across the world. The women of Ethiopia were expected to be subservient to their husbands. They were not allowed to be schooled and were banned from learning. When Nettie tries to teach girls she is asked to stop doing so or leave Ethiopia. The men protect the women to an absurd degree. The women are not allowed to hold any position in society. They are not even supposed to look a man in the eyes. To look in a mans face is a brazen thing to do. They look instead at his feet or his knees (Walker 168). Nettie makes the comparison that that is the way she and Celie looked at their father. Celie becomes aware that she is not the only woman who is suffering because of the men in her life. She comes face to face with her problems with the help of a new friend.Shug Avery is Mr._____s ex-lover and when Shug becomes ill, she returns to...
