the directand indirectimpact of rhetoric on the color purple

Emory Lott12/05/96English 1001page 1The Direct and Indirect Impact of
Rhetoric In the world that we live in, rhetoric always affects
and is a part of everything that happens. Rhetoric, in its broadest sense,
is communication, and how people relate to each other. The movie The
Color Purple is about relationships. Therefore rhetoric plays a very
important role in this movie. Throughout The Color Purple the impact of
rhetoric can be seen in two groups of people, the communicator, or
rhetor, and the audience. Celie, the main character of the movie, shows
the impact of rhetoric in almost every aspect of her life. The effects of
rhetoric in Celie's life are apparent through her relationships with Mr.
Johnson, Shug Avery, and Sofia. The relationship that Celie has
with Mr. Johnson is unbalanced from the first time they meet. Celie's
complacent and gentle nature leave her at the mercy of Albert Johnson's
more dominant attitude. The rhetoric that she expresses to him, of
innocence and always complying to his orders, forces her to live a large
portion of her life sheltered and overshadowed by Albert, who
continuously beats her into submission. Celie also passes on what she
learned from "Mister" to his son Harpo, the rhetoric of "the importance of
a man giving his wife a good beating." Albert Johnson does not even
realize how important Celie is to him until she is gone. At that point he
returns some of the love that is shown to him by helping Nettie and her
family to return to the United States in order to see Celie. This action
shows the impact of Mr. Johnson's rhetoric on Celie by returning to her
the first person that she ever loved. Both the rhetoric that Mr. Johnson
exposes page 2Celie to and the rhetoric that Celie reveals to Albert
Johnson have a very important role in Celie's life in the movie The Color
Purple. Celie also shares a strong relationship with Shug
Avery. Celie first meets Shug when she is drunk and has a very bad
temper. Celie just tries to comfort the sick stranger in her house. In this
unselfish act of kindness, Celie's rhetoric ends up giving her the best
friend that she has for a long time. Shug then returns the rhetoric of

kindness and love that Celie first shows her by writing a song to cheer her
up. Celie's newfound friend also teaches her how to smile, and perhaps
how to enjoy life and respect herself. Shug Avery also helps Celie
discover that Nettie is writing her and where to find the letters. Celie's
rhetoric in her relationship with Shug let her gain a new friend, contact
with her beloved sister, and rediscover a joy and purpose to her life.
Rhetoric also has a strong impact in the relationship
between Celie and Sofia. After Sofia's jail sentence she is very
depressed, and Celie helps her do the grocery shopping. Showing her
rhetoric of friendship and kindness once again, Celie shows Sofia a friend
when she needs one the most. At the family dinner one night, Celie
expresses her true feelings in an outburst of rhetoric. This reawakens the
spirit inside Sofia and allows her to admit to Celie how she helped her
and that people do understand and love her. Without first affecting Sofia
with her rhetoric, Celie would not have experienced the assurance of
Sofia's rhetoric in her life. Rhetoric is present in the relationships
between Celie and Mr. Johnson, Shug Avery, and Sofia. This rhetoric
affects Celie in many ways and from different directions. Celie is affected
by how she relates to others through rhetoric and how others page
3relate to her through rhetoric. In some cases Celie's rhetoric has an
impact on someone else and then later works its way back to her. Mr.
Johnson is exposed to Celie's kindness and friendship a long time before
he shows her some of the same respect. Shug Avery is also affected by
the rhetoric of Celie before she is in turn impacted by Shug's friendship.
Celie gives Sofia the assurance that she needs and then receives the
same from Sofia when she is in need of support. In all of these
relationships Celie is affected directly by the rhetoric of the other people
and indirectly by the influence of her own rhetoric.