The Color Purple

By Alice Walker

Celie case study

Jordan Tabor
3A PreMed
Celie is a 14 year old African - American girl living with her sexually abusive father and sister Nettie in
Georgia. In the novel, The Color Purple written by ALice Walker, Celie is the protagonist and tells her story by
writing letters to God. Celie has grown up being beaten and raped by her father and was ready to move out to
live with a new husband. This is difficult for Celie because she is constantly being brought down and told “she
ugly” (Walker 8) and that “She ain’t smart either”. Despite constantly being brought down, she doesn’t let it
affect the way she treats people and is always doing her best to help and please others. Celie later gets a man,
Mr. ___, to settle for her as his wife even though he is in love with another woman, Shug Avery. Celie quickly
becomes infatuated with this woman and even lets her affect her own relationship with Mr.___. Celie even
goes as far as to think about Shug Avery during intercourse with her husband and wonder if “maybe she like it”
(Walker 12). Celie discusses a lot of her feelings with Shug and eventually tells her a lot of things about her
private life.
 Medical Concerns-

Was raped and abused starting at a young age by her father

(childhood trauma). Her father would tell her that she “better
shut up and git used to it,” (Walker 1)

Celie’s Past Medical History and Family History -

Her mother died when Celie was young struggled with

Medical
depression before she passed. Her father is also mentally ill.

Family Stress on Cellie -

History
Celie was raped and abused by family, grew up without a mother
, and had an abusive father figure. This created a great deal of
family stress and drama for Celie to live with.

Drug Use -
Celie used cannabis and alcohol recreationally.
Sexual History - Celie was raped by her father which led to him
impregnating her.

“When I start to hurt and then my stomach start moving and

Celie’s
then that little baby come out my pussy chewing on it..”
(Walker 2)

Marital Status and History - Celie went from living with her

Psychosocial
father to marrying Mr.___ to live with him. Mr.___ didn’t want to
marry Celie because “she ugly” (Walker 8) but later on settled
for her because “she ain’t no stranger to hard work. And she
clean” (Walker 8).

History
Education - Celie was always being told that she is dumb and
wasn’t allowed to finish her education. This meant she was not
well educated and it is noticeable in her writing to god. It is
shown she she doesn’t use proper grammar and punctuation
and says things like “git” instead of got.

“The first time I got big Pa took me out of school. He never care
that I love it.” (Walker 9)
Diagnosis - PTSD ( Post - Traumatic Stress Disorder )
PTSD is a disorder that is developed from experiencing or witnessing a
traumatic event. This disorder takes over many people’s lives because
people struggling with PTSD will usually do anything to avoid any
triggering stimuli. These triggering stimuli can be people, places,
sounds, etc. This disorder can cause flashbacks of the event,
nightmares, severe stress, and anxiety. PTSD usually leads to other
disorder like GAD ( Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and major
depression. This can then lead to suicidal thoughts and actions that
should be treated with therapies, medication, etc.
Diagnosis - PTSD ( Post - Traumatic Stress Disorder )
In Celie’s case, she experienced
childhood trauma from being
raped and abused by her father.
This can lead to her having trust
issues towards men and may be
triggered by sexual intercorse.
PTSD may lead to depressive
episodes and behaviors which
can be shown when Celie makes
comments like “ All I know how
to do is stay alive, “ (Walker 17).
The most effective ways to treat PTSD
are through exposure therapy,
Cognitive - Behavioral Therapy, and
medications. For Celie, therapy would
be the best option for treatment to
help her with her childhood trauma
that led to PTSD. Exposure therapy
would be very helpful to help lessen
the triggered response to to certain
stimuli. Cognitive - Behavioral therapy
could help alter negative thoughts and
behaviors into new positive ones with
coping mechanisms.
Work Cited -
Full Text of "the-Color-Purple-Alice-Walker", archive.org/stream/the-color-purple-alice-walker/the-color-purple-alice-walker_djvu.txt.

https://archive.org/stream/the-color-purple-alice-walker/the-color-purple-alice-walker_djvu.txt

“The Color Purple.” Celie, www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-color-purple/character-analysis/celie.

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-color-purple/character-analysis/celie

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 6 July 2018,
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

Priory Group. “Supporting Adults Who Have Experienced Trauma or Abuse in Childhood.” Priory Group,
www.priorygroup.com/blog/supporting-adults-who-have-experienced-trauma-or-abuse-in-childhood.

https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/supporting-adults-who-have-experienced-trauma-or-abuse-in-childhood

“What Is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?” What Is PTSD?, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd.

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd