Young Celie
Young Celie, despite the abuse that’d already been inflicted upon her, actually seemed somewhat sassy and independent. She even talked back to Albert. Had he never struck her—still “using” her sexually and ordering her around, but never hitting her—I wonder if that streak of sassiness/independence, as faint as it was, would’ve continued.
Mind you, I’m not suggesting that Albert’s hitting her was the only egregious thing about his treatment of her. I’m just wondering how the absence of it would’ve affected Celie’s personality.