On the other hand, The Color Purple takes place in a society in which women viewed themselves as a band of sisters suffering together rather than a group of competitors, helping eachother to cope with their abusive lifestyles accordingly. As a result of this, Celie is a contrast to Marlene as she is inwardly aware of how she should be supporting other women (whereas Marlene seems to believe that it is the nature of the times and the natural progression of society for women to be 'lone wolves'). Despite this, Celie's life is just as devoid of true sisterhood as Marlene's, both in how willing she is to support other females and how often other females support her. What sets Celie apart is that she comes to accept sisterhood as a valuable addition to her life over time, in a way that allows Walker to present this acceptance to us as a stage of enlightenment, while Marlene remains unable to break free from her pessimistic views throughout Top Girls. This could reflect the author's different outlooks, but also allows us to see that Top Girls is clearly the more hopeless of the texts, with society being at the heart of the tragedy rather than a single character's sheltered beliefs.