Celie, Hester, Offred- Fisher

When reading any great fictional novel, the question of what motivates the main characters to act in the way they do is often at the forefront of many readers’ minds. When an author creates a truly interesting, detailed character, often their motives are hard to discern, yet still central to understanding the novel as a whole. In the books The Color Purple, The Scarlet Letter, and The Handmaid's Tale, the role of women in society is a main theme. The main characters in these books are Celie, Hester Prynne, and Offred, respectively. These women are motivated by unique factors, and thus have vastly different ways of dealing with their societal disadvantages and  the discrimination they face because of their gender. Celie’s actions are motivated by jealousy, while Madame Hester is motivated by her fierce sense of pride, and Offred by devastating fear.

 First, in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Celie is frequently jealous of the success achieved by the strong female figures in her life. She is jealous of Shug Avery for her relationship with Mr. ____, jealous of her sister Nettie for her freedom and independence, and jealous of Sofia for her ability to stand up to her husband Harpo. This jealousy motivates many of Celie’s actions, such as telling Harpo to beat Sofia, and crying herself to sleep when she knows Shug Avery and Mr.___ are sleeping together each night. Celie admits as much, when she explains her actions to Sofia by saying “I say it cause I’m a fool, I say. I say it cause I’m jealous of you, I say it cause you do what I can’t” (Walker 40). In addition, she concedes her jealousy of Shug Avery by saying “She take my at my word. I take me at my word too. But when I hear them together all I can do is pull the quilt over my head... and cry” (Walker 80). Therefore, these quotes clearly show that Celie’s actions throughout the novel are motivated by jealousy of her female comrades.

On the other hand, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne often displays her fierce personal pride, despite facing extreme adversity from society and intense disrespect from her peers. This pride motivates many of her actions throughout the book, mainly her refusal to hide the letter A which marks her as an adulterer, and thus her choice to wear it without shame. This is exemplified when Madame Hester is first put on display in the Market-Place, and the manner in which she leaves the prison and steps out into the open. In this case, Hawthorne describes the situation by saying “On the threshold of the prison door, she repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, and stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will” (Hawthorne 61). This quote displays the tremendous amount of self-confidence which Madame Hester posses, and proves that it motivates her actions and behavior throughout the book. While Madame Hester's confidence would steadily decrease throughout the book, and she began to hid the letter A, her pride still remained intact. This is seen in her choice to give back to the community and put others, particularly her daughter, before herself. This intense selflessness is also a product of her pride.

In addition, the behavioral differences between Celie and Hester Prynne can be easily explained by juxtaposing their two unique motives. Celie’s jealousy and subsequent jealous actions equated to her having a passive attitude towards her diminished role in society and in the family. However, Celie did occasionally take action, and when she did it was using others, such as when she used Harpo to beat Sofia and Shug Avery to make Mr.____ stop beating her. In contrast, Madame Hester’s pride equates to her taking it upon herself to elevate her status, and she doesn’t rely on others to take action on her behalf. This is exemplified by Arthur Dimmesdale's refusal to publicly admit he is her lover, and Hester is still able to stay strong and prideful and live her life as normal without his help.       

Lastly, an ever present sense of fear is the largest motivating factor for Offred’s behavior in Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Despite being deeply opposed to her current situation internally, after Offred’s escape attempt was thwarted virtually any other form of outward resistance she may have dreamed of was crushed by her fear. For example, despite being friends with Ofglen, a member of the resistance, Offred refused to join herself because of the fear of being caught. As a result of this fear, Offred’s behavior was even more passive than Celie’s, and Offred displayed an even weaker desire for action. Thus, her actions are the exact opposite of Hester’s who seemed to have almost no fear and was not afraid to stand up for herself. This burning desire to remain unnoticed and not cause problems is seen when Offred says “We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it” (Atwood 74). In this quote, it is clear Offred has no intentions of speaking out and standing up for her rights, but rather makes a conscious effort to ignore the injustices of society which surround her because of her fear.

 In conclusion, despite being placed in similarly disadvantaged roles in society, the protagonists of The Color Purple, The Scarlet Letter, and The Handmaid’s Tale were motivated by very different factors, and thus behaved in very different ways. Celie was motivated by jealousy, and thus took limited action through the manipulation of others. Hester Prynne was motivated by fear, and thus was strong, forceful and independent. Offred was motivated by fear, and thus was incredibly passive and took very little action at all. Luckily, regardless of their differences, the brilliant writing of all three authors made each character equally interesting and realistic.