![]() However, Shug's "blues" dimension is defined by her selfishness - which leads to lonely isolation. Shug is full of life on stage, and she seems to live a sweet life, for the most part, because she enjoys shaking and crooning. ![]() In turn, Shug brings a sense of life to her audiences with her singing, and, of course, she brings Celie to life. The blues are the simplest form of jazz - like "Shug" is the simplest form of "sugar." And the word "jazz" itself comes from a West African word meaning, literally, sperm - and, figuratively, life. Clearly, Shug's being a blues singer is central to her character. One of the qualities that makes Shug such a "natural" in this novel is the fact that Walker did not, by accident, decide to make Shug a blues singer. ![]() Shug, like Celie, never had much affection in her life, especially when she was growing up in Memphis, and although Shug and Albert have three children, Shug is not a "mother." Shug only becomes a "mother" when she begins to love and respond to the warmth that she sees in Celie. Even her lover, Albert, Celie's husband, doesn't take care of her he gives her to Celie to care for. When Shug is ill, none of the people who seem to enjoy her singing come to see her they enjoy her music more than they like her. Shug, by nature, is manipulative and superficially popular - a free spirit. The significance of Celie and Shug's sexual relationship is that Celie learns how to be proud of her body and how to use it to enjoy sex.Ĭelie, in fact, is probably Shug's only authentic friend. A psychologist would probably classify Shug as bisexual, but the terminology isn't important. ![]() Later, however, Shug befriends Celie, and still later, she becomes her lover. Her first words to Celie are "You sure is ugly." Shug, in fact, refuses to be "sweet" she is uncompromisingly honest. For example, Shug discarded her name - "Lilly" - and adopted the nickname (not a real name) of "Shug," suggesting a bite of super-sweetness, a quality that is exactly diametrical to the "real" Shug. However, just as Celie has never had the opportunity to recognize the potential of herself, Shug has tried to avoid realizing the truth about who she herself is. In particular, we never expect the self-centered and seemingly superficial Shug to awaken love and self-esteem in Celie, and we certainly never expect Celie to awaken generosity in Shug. However, the key to Shug's character is the element of surprise: Shug always catches us off-guard. Initially, Shug Avery seems litile more than a flashy blues singer who is not only selfish, but also arrogant.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |