Discovering: The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, African-American novelist, poet, and feminist who most famous for authoring The Color Purple. Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia. She worked as a social worker, teacher, and lecturer, and took part in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

The award-winning novel, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, is a story about a woman going through cruel things such as: incest, rape, and physical abuse. This greatly written novel comes from a very active feminist author who used many of her own experiences, as well as things that were happening during that era, in her writing. “The Color Purple” takes place in the early 1900's, and symbolizes the economic, emotional, and social deprivation that African American women faced in Southern states of America. The main character of the story is Celie, a fourteen-year old that starts writing letters to God for thirty years, and then to her sister, Nette, who ran away to Africa to save herself from the troubles Celie went through. Celie starts off as a pushover and very dependent girl that would eventually grow and develop into an independent flourishing woman that opens a business making pants for all genders. This novel shows the hardship of a girl becoming a woman over the course of her life and eventually standing up for herself and being confident. Many of the experiences and characters of “The Color Purple” are based on history of that time and a bit of the author’s personal experiences. Her use of epistolary allows the reader to learn everything in the point of view of Celie. Alice Walker's influences for writing this novel range from her childhood experiences to the white society in her hometown of Eatonville, Georgia. Even during these times, it still shows that women

From the 1980 's to the present, African-American queer authors have progressively discarded their shame in order embark on sexual liberation. In considering Alice Walker 's "The Color Purple", Cheryl Duyne 's "The Watermelon Woman", and Ross Gay 's "Unabashed Catalogue of Gratitude", it is clear that these authors show a progressively unashamed embrace of same-sex desires while considering their position in the African American community.

When The Color Purple is viewed through the gender/feminist lens, the traditional ways society understands men and women is dramatically altered. Alice Walker defies gender norms with her emphasis on the fact that gender and sexuality are not always as simple as society typically thought. By creating characters that challenge gender stereotypes and break out of the norms of society, she creates a book that dissolves gender barriers. With her use of strong, unique characters, Alice is able to change the way people viewed women and men. Characters like Shug Avery and Harpo defy the gender roles expected of them, and influence those around them to change their roles in society as well. While there are characters that reflect gender norms,

Literature is the author’s vehicle, commandeered for the purpose of transferring societal commentary to a definitive audience. In Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the writing is a medium for Walker’s political agenda. Through literary elements such as stereotypes, diction, juxtaposition, and symbolism Walker explores the issue of gender roles. The action of the novel opens with strict standards of men and women, progresses to a building contrast of characters outside of these standards, and closes with the breaking of standards. The literary elements are used to successfully emphasize oppressive gender roles with the purpose of empowering women and men to confront the unjust issue.

The world may seem like a sophisticated place, but there are still many areas to improve on, like giving women the right to equality. However, in 1960, the first ever female president, Sirivamo is elected in Sri Lanka. After living a life of domestic abuse in a culture where women are looked down upon, she takes the risk to prove that women are capable of reaching a higher and dominant role in society. Even though many years have passed since then, the culture of male dominancy still exist today. In countries like Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, women can not drive or step out of the house without a man by their side. In the novel The Color Purple, Celie is living in a male dominant society that is very oppressive to women. As a result, she is both emotionally and physically broken, but in the end she gains enough confidence to realize her own inner beauty and strength. In the novel The Color Purple Alice Walker proves that women are fully capable of overcoming oppression in order to achieve gender equality. Therefore, women around the world need to stand up for themselves and persevere to eventually overcome male dominancy. Throughout the story, Celie learns to assert female empowerment by adapting to the real world which has the good and the bad, learning from some who grow up in gender respected families and finally, and taking life changing advice from the people she trusts.

Alice Walker's rough life growing up, gives us a clear image of how her background impacted the delicate themes she writes about in her novels. For example, at a young age, Walker was insecure about her appearance, which led her to a new mental state of mind. In an interview of Alice by O'Brien, she describes, "I daydreamed of falling swords, putting guns to my heart or head, and of slashing my wrists." (O'Brien). Alice Walker's insecurities led her to be depressed, which then introduced her passion for writing. Alice Walker's history of depression may pinpoint the reason she started writing but moreover, what she started writing. Alice Walker writes about sensitive topics including racism, sexism religious views, and homosexuality. Many

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is an excellent account of life as a poor woman in the 1900’s. Not only most women characters in The Color Purple suffered from racism due to gender and skin color, but woman who suffered at the hands of men. All the burdens handed, abuse, and emotions provoked, it’s unbearable. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker resembles the hardships of Women in the 1900’s though the character relationships with men. The character relationships help us to understand how Alice Walker portrayed physical abuse, emotional abuse, and mental abuse of women.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is an epistolary novel criticized for its immoral and sensitive issues, such as incest, rape, and physical abuse. The story takes place in the early 1900's in the South, and symbolizes the unmerciful social, emotional, and economic hardships that African American women faced. The protagonist of the story is Celie, a woman who has been abused since her youth and documents her struggles through letters written to God and eventually to her sister Nettie, who is a missionary in Africa. Her sister’s experiences in Africa are a direct correlation to Celie’s life in America and emphasizes key themes in the novel, such as sexism, racism and power struggle, and the importance of women working together to overcome

Have many people have ever been in a situation where they are being hurt? In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, there is a girl named Celie. Celie gets sexually assaulted by a white male truck driver and his name is never revealed. The man impregnates Celie and eventually takes away her kids and sells them. Alice Walker uses events that take place that transforms the way Celie is in the beginning and end of the book in a positive way.

The Color Purple, is a novel written by the American author Alice Walker. The novel won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is also regarded to be her most successful piece of work. It has developed into an award winning film and was recently made into a Broadway play. The story continues to impress readers throughout the decades due to its brutal honesty. The novel successfully and truthfully demonstrates what life was like for black women during the early twentieth century. The book discusses the major struggles that women endured throughout history in the South. After the Civil War, racism towards black American’s hit it’s all time peak. Both black men and women had to live with the constant hatred and brutal abuse from members of the white society. Not only were women viewed as less important by black men, they were also oppressed by white men. This sadly caused black women to become highly unprivileged. In the novel, discrimination towards women is very prevalent. Women discrimination is a motif throughout the novel and it is also the most significant theme. The women in the novel form bonds that are important to the development of the plot and the theme. The women in the novel grow as a whole and give each other strength, power, and hope. Since Walker had to live with the torture and abuse, she does not hide from the harsh reality of how women are treated in the African American culture. Walker has written this novel to show how women have been able to gain rights

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor black woman living in the south between World War 1 and World War 2. This was at a time when, although slavery had ended,many women were still virtually in bondage, and had to put up with many conditions that was reminiscent of the days of slavery. The problem was that they had to endure being treated like an inferior being by their own families sometimes, as well as from the white people that lived there. It was a life that was filled with misery for many black women, and they felt helpless to do anything about their situations.

The Color Purple is a 1985 film directed by Steven Spielberg and focuses on the life of Celie, an African American girl brought up around vigorous abuse. At a young age she is married off to her Mister and from then serves him, doing anything to meet his needs and pleasure him. She lives this life of slavery and assault, to one day be reunited with her sister, Nettie, in Africa. A novel in which focuses on similar themes to that of The Color Purple is a 1985 dystopian novel written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The book is written in first person and is a story about the way women are subjected to only be kept for reproductive purposes. The book is about a woman’s life, and the hardships and inequality she has to face on the daily

“The Color Purple” written by Alice Walker is a story highlighting the values and ideals of the culture and society in the beginning of the 20th century. During this time period certain women were alienated from society due to their clothes, beliefs, and their actions. Although every woman in this book was alienated from society the extent of alienation differed depending on how their words and actions were perceived by society.

When reading Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and “Everyday Use,” it is evident that she writes about her life through her use of allegory. Alice Walker uses the events of her childhood, her observation of the patriarchy in African American culture, and her rebellion against the society she lived in to recount her life through her stories. Alice Walker grew up in a loving household in the years towards the end of the Great Depression. Although her family was poor, they were rich in kindness and perspective and taught Walker a lot about her heritage and life.