Shug and Her Father
Shug Avery is one of the strongest female characters in the novel. Even though she is extremely strong, she still encounters a huge struggle in her life, this struggle is the fight to reconcile with her father. Her father is an extremely religious man as he is the pastor of the city church. Over the years, her father has almost entirely disowned his daughter. He does not approve of many of her life choices including her promiscuity, her choice to sing secular songs, and how she travels singing blues. Throughout the novel there a small scenes where Shug tries to talk to her father, or Shug simply sees him in town, but her father looks right through her and doesn't seem to acknowledge her. Everyone loves Shug as she is an extremely strong woman, but the one person she can't seem to shake is her father. Shug struggles with this through the whole novel. One of the reasons why Shug stayed in town so long was so that she could prove herself to her father.
Near the end of the novel when Shug is singing on the street, she starts to hear her father's church singing. Shug gets so caught up in that song and music that she starts singing it herself. Next thing readers know, shug is dancing and running her way to the church. Once Shug walks in and the mystery voice is uncovered, her father seems to be in shock. At the end of the song, Shug states,“See, daddy, Sinners can have soul too”. Her father couldn't believe that such soul could come from his daughter. The scene ends with a great embrace between Shug and her father, showing that they have reconciled. Through the process of trying to prove herself, Shug has matured a lot. Also, this struggle helped her father become more accepting and forgiving of her daughter. |