'The Color Purple' A. Walker - Shug Avery Example Essay Paragraph [40]. Explores the presentation of Shug Avery in the beginning of the novel, includes: quotations, terminology, analysis and context.
Topic sentence - a key idea linked to task
Quotations - ideally 3 from different places in the novel
Terminology - with every quotation
Analysis - the effects created by techniques
Context - relevent
Alice Walker presents Shug Avery as an successful and headstrong woman with a strong
sense of self throughout the novel, who is seen in the assimilated stage where she is
accepted as a blues singer in the US, suggesting her self-resilience as a Black woman. The
habitual “be” in “she be dress to kill” indicates that Shug is always how Celie describes her in
the beginning; she’s a confident and fierce woman who radiates an intimidating energy with
her presence. Moreover, the verb “kill” in “she be dress to kill” further implies she is viewed
as a threat by men in the community in the way she presents herself, as she rejects
Christian norms and enjoys dressing seductively which men find difficult to resist. Walker
mentions specific traits in womanism which includes women of colour being “outrageous,
audacious, courageous [with] willful behaviour”. The use of the past modification of “dress”
also conveys her appearance is shocking enough to be associated with the action of “kill”,
which supports Walker’s idea of womanism and depicts Shug Avery as a womanist since her
presence and actions are viewed as outrageous yet she enjoys other people’s reactions.
The asyndetic list “strumpet in short suit, smoking cigarettes, drinking gin” is used to
describe Shug Avery’s appearance as unorthodox and unacceptable in a patriarchal society
in the 1940’s, especially as a Black woman, which we could argue was also seen as
threatening and intimidating since this presents Shug with strong masculine energy.
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