Poem # 25 – Loop Poem

Guidance

My life was miserable

Miserable from the years of abuse I received.

Received only because I was a girl, Celie

Celie, the ruined child.

My life was miserable

Miserable from all the criticism I received

Received only because I was a woman

A woman with the voice of soul, Avery.

Meeting Celie changed my life,

A life I felt was worthless.

Worthless like the trash that I am,

Am not anymore.

Meeting Shug Avery changed my life,

A life I thought was over long ago.

Long ago I forgot who I was,

Was that same beautiful girl that Shug said.

Add a comment November 8, 2009

Blog # 23 – Shug Avery and Celie

I’ve decided to do my blog on Shug Avery and Celie. I chose this because we had just watched the part of the movie where Shug sings “Miss Celie’s  Blues” and I remember back to the class where we discussed their relationship. After watching up just past where Shug leaves for Memphis again, I witnessed enough of their relationship to discuss how they interact within the movie. So, without further ado, I’ll discuss why Shug and Celie are each other’s guides according to the movie.

When Shug Avery arrives, she’s pretty ill. She calls Celie ugly and then lays in bed for a long while. When Mister tries to cook breakfast, Celie notices how he goes about trying to make everything perfect for Shug, only to have that breakfast tossed out the door and all over the wall. Celie then takes a stab at it and Shug doesn’t fling it all over the wall. Celie also took the time (and mostly because her husband demanded her) to take care of Shug. If it wasn’t for Celie, Shug probably would not have pulled through her illness. Even Shug realized that after a while.

As for how Shug helped Celie, in the book, they share an intimate moment over a mirror, which was basically Shug telling Celie that she was beautiful and she just needed to see it for herself. In the movie, Celie keeps covering her smile and Shug tells her that she’s beautiful and she shouldn’t hide such a beautiful thing. Celie was in dire need of a strong female character (like Nettie) to help her gain a self identity. Since Nettie hadn’t written, Shug served as that role. Celie even became attached to Shug before she even met her: She saw her in the photo graph that was kept by her husband’s bedside.

I chose the poem Yin and Yang  by Nicole Nicholson. (Here’s the link: http://ravenswingpoetry.com/2009/06/02/yin-and-yang/) Even though she states that the poem is written about her and her fiance, I felt that it portrayed Shug and Celie just as well. Both Yin and Yang are wandering in misery alone, and until they come across one another, nothing is whole. Once they meet, it’s like all is well, because the one helps the other.

Add a comment November 8, 2009