The Demon Behind the Name

       Within The Color Purple by Alice Walker names or lack thereof are a constant issue.  In the novel we see that all the women constantly have names or pet-names where the men, except Harpo are never named by Celie.  The women in the novel are always named, mostly with their actual names (Celie, Nettie, Sofia, Olivia, Shug Avery, and Mary Agnes). Also, two women have pet-names (Shug and Squeak) and this goes even further to represent power levels than just having normal names.  The female having names gives the men power over them. But, on the other hand, the men do not have names within the novel. Well, all of the men but Harpo go unnamed by Celie. This in itself shows that names are meant to signify power because Harpo is the weakest male in the eyes of Celie and he is the only one who is named by her. Also, women are made out to be weak within the society in the novel and all of the women are named or pushed down even further to have pet-names.
           But, not only does it show the power structure in the society in the novel but it shows the power of individual characters. Like with Harpo, individual characters uses names differently and that shows their individual power. For instance, Celie constantly calls the male characters Mr.            but when Shug talks to or about the men she uses their names. We don't even find out Celie's husband's name until Shug calls him Albert. This shows that Shug has power and isn't scared of men like Celie is. I think that the names area a powerful but subtle way of showing the constant power struggle on multiple levels.
           Names have commonly been used to signify power in other places besides this novel and this further proves that the names and lack of names is trying to convey that power. For example, in religions if the "good" religious power knows the name of a demon they have power over that demon. This not only relates to the power structure in the novel but it relates to the good vs. evil powers in the novel. By this I mean that those who are unnamed seem evil while those that are not seem to have kinder qualities, again relating to the religious connection. The names and lack thereof are very important within the novel and they represent the power that each character has.