Celie's Razor in Hand

In the Color Purple by Alice Walker, there is one particular scene in which Celie is so upset with Mr.____, she grabs a razor to cut his throat. The gesture is missed by Mr.____, but Shug notices and is able to calm her and disarm the furious Celie. The scene occurs after Celie discovers that Mr._____ has been keeping letters sent from Nettie to Celie. The razor itself has implications for Celie. She relates through the work that she used to cut her step-father's hair. It was during one of her haircutting sessions in which she was raped by him. The razor to Celie is a symbol of her duties as a housewife to cut hair, as well as a symbol of her rape, which she also considers one of her household duties to endure. The razor serves as a symbol to combat Celie's creative nature as well. Celie's creative ability to sew is in contrast with the razor which serves to cut. As the story progresses Celie moves from her desire to kill with the razor and finds more comfort, solace, and growth by using her ability to sew and thus create. For more on sewing as a tool to create, you should keep reading someone else's ID's on quilting.

Tyson Ramirez