Dramatic Impact of The Color Purple by Alice Walker The film, ‘The Color Purple’, was released in 1985 and it is based on the novel published in 1983 by Alice Walker. ‘The Color Purple’ won nine Oscar nominations and was directed by Steven Spielberg. The film, ‘The Color Purple’, tells the story of Celie from the age of 13 through to womanhood. The man she thinks is her father rapes her. She has two children who are both taken away from her. She is forced to marry an older man. He abuses her and treats her with complete disrespect. Her husband separates her from her sister and does not allow Celie to get any mail from her sister. She then meets Shug Avery and she discovers love and support of …show more content…
Slaves had been around for almost 175 years and slaves were predominantly black. Racism was mostly towards black people and comments and physical abuse by white people were common. White people believed that it was correct to treat black people as second-class citizens. Celie is constantly abused because she is black and a woman. Celie is beaten and shouted at because Albert believes it is right and the only way to solve problems and to get her work for him. Celie is treated as a slave and does not receive anything in return. The extract that I am focusing on is split into two parts. There are two different parts of the story, which take place in Africa with Celie’s children and in America with Celie shaving Albert. The two scenes are simultaneous and interlink at some point with the same motions happening at the same time. Celie is shaving Albert and Celie’s children are being inducted into the African tribe but as a scaraficial ritual. We see, in the first part, an empty porch and then Albert walks out with shaving cream on, ready to be shaved. At this point he starts to abuse Celie verbally by telling her what to do and the consequences. He says that, ‘If you cut me, I’ll kill you’, which shows that he is in control but then is vulnerable to attack. As Celie goes to sharpen the razor, we see a close-up of
Reading the content in this book made me get a picture of what it was like to be a colored person in this time. My eyes were opened to the meaning of the word “nigga”. Nigga is such a derogatory term, yet now-a-days it is used by people so much. Kids in this generation use it as a term of endearment when they see their friends, or they say it when they are shocked by something. Frankly, I don’t believe they know how serious it really is. The fact that white people could look at a person and see less than a human being when they did nothing wrong distresses me. They (white people) treated them as if they were property and below them. Even though we don’t have racism to this extent
Alice Walker grew up in rural Georgia in the mid 1900s as the daughter of two poor sharecroppers. Throughout her life, she has been forced to face and overcome arduous lessons of life. Once she managed to transfer the struggles of her life into a book, she instantaneously became a world-renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner. The Color Purple is a riveting novel about the struggle between redemption and revenge according to Dinitia Smith. The novel takes place rural Georgia, starting in the early 1900s over a period of 30 years. Albert, also known as Mr._____, and his son Harpo must prevail over their evil acts towards other people, especially women. Albert and Harpo wrong many people
The Color Purple is a biased, unbalanced view into the life of black women during the early to mid-nineteen hundreds. While it is obvious that a woman who in her own right is racist, chauvinist, and ignorant to the way that the world really works wrote the novel, it has been requested that the class write a paper on the story. Whilst this writer does not agree with this novel or anything that Alice Walker thinks or feels, obligingly this paper is been written. The Color Purple and the Joy Luck Club had many similarities, the most notably the presence of weak, ill bred, and quite frankly embarrassing male characters.
What would it be like to live in a world where you don’t have any say in what goes on in your own life? While The Color Purple doesn’t ask think question directly it really causes its viewers to begin to wonder what it would have been like to live in the world that Alice Walker creates with her novel. In this story the main character is Celie. She is a black woman who never has had a choice in her life. From a young age her father abused her and then sent her off to marry a man who he did not know at all. Her father also got her pregnant two times and both times her forced her to give away her children. Mister was just as abusive as her father had been to her and she was still never given a choice. This begins to change as she meets people
I think the purpose for creating this movie was to show how different African American women joined together and fight against the men that abuse them and their children. Alice Walker experienced extreme poverty and racism as the daughter of sharecroppers. Also to show how African Americans are neglected and discriminated for who they are.
The 1900’s – a time when blacks were segregated from whites and women were seen as inferior to men. Alice Walker's character Celie, from The Color Purple, was ugly and terrified as a young girl. Though many trials and tribulations, she would become strong and independent. In addition, Celie built up a resistance to the hurt and suffering that she painfully endured from her stepfather and husband. She eventually allowed herself to not take simple things for granted therefore recognize the beauty of everyday life. In her final years, Celie is portrayed in a blissful state and displays her independence as a mature woman. Alice Walker’s use of the first-person point of view, tone, and
And so life goes on for her, until she meets a couple of women that change her life around.
There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and
When Celie is trying to leave her husband continues to berate her and she tells him, his life will crumble until he, “does right by her”. Once she is free from the confinement of her prison home, she gains confidence and self-worth. Not long after, Celie’s father dies and we find out that he was not her biological father and therefore, thankfully, her children are not her brother and sister. She is able to claim her inheritance which includes her family home and a shop where she makes one size fits all pants. Soon her ex-husband helps Celie reunite with her long lost sister and children, thus, obviously feeling compelled to, “do right by
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker in 1982 and later made into a movie in 1985 directed by Steven Speilburg tells the story of a young women of color named Celie who endured countless hardships in the time period of racial discrimination and sexism.
This novel was so powerful and beyond words. Alice Walker is an amazing writer, and everything about this book was quite phenomenal. It was incredibly sad, and hard to read at some points, but it was absolutely worth the read. I love the fact that the whole novel was a set of letters about a girl’s life. It's an unusual approach but it worked so well. Shug was so empowering to me, and I loved what she stood for, no matter how many people talked bad. She defied common teachings about God and what to believe in. She helped Celie love herself and her life. This book has changed my outlook on dealing with problems, pain, and suffering. It definitely made me appreciate my life and every little flaw. I learned to be happy
Missionary work is defined as the spread of Christianity ( westernized culture) to other countries. Christianity had a powerful impact on African culture and religious beliefs. Long after the early missionaries left African culture and tradition are still considered barbaric and uncivilized.
In the film Color Purple plays an important role defend the lifestyle on African American before Civil Right Movement. The movie Color Purple African American women’s were faced with abuse cruel. The movie was made in Macon county, Georgia in there were two main complicated characters ceil in her sister Nettie. The color purple is a fictional movie that is told by a poor black women name ceil. She was living in Georgia in early 20 century actually before civil right movement her story is based on pain in the letters she wrote to god in later to her sister her story in the letter she explained her pain humiliation in her struggle in everything she was going through in her life, celie sister nattier who story is also told through her letters
Shug Avery is someone Celie admired from a young age. Shug’s exuberance and charm with people are qualities Celie never dreamed of having herself until Shug walks into her life and Celie does more with her life by actually overcoming the abuse and becomes someone more. “I ast her to give me the picture. An all night long I stare at it. An now when I dream, I dream of Shug Avery.” (Walker 7). Shug comes into Celie’s life as her husband’s mistress who was very ill but not lacking in character. She treats Celie with disrespect at first, but after living with her for some time and being nursed back to health by her Shug gains a respect for her. She teaches Celie how to speak for herself and to defend herself against Mr. Shug is the one who helps Celie escape by taking her on her tour where Celie learns how to expertly sew pants. This is another major step towards independence because Celie is no longer financially dependent on anyone but herself because she creates a successful business by making pants. Upon her return to her home, she inherits her father’s home thereby completely separating her from the men who held control over her. She can now receive her sister’s letters and make her own money. The people who love her surround her and her personality develops unhindered by abuse. Celie’s idol came through to set her free and now idolizes her to an extent.
In The Color Purple, Alice Walker illustrates the lives of a female African American before the Civil Rights Movement. A novel that describes female empowerment, The Color Purple demonstrates the domestic violence women faced in the South. Walker tells the story through Celie, a young African American girl who faces constant hardships until she stands up for herself with the help of her closest friends – other women undergoing the same difficulties. Even though men controlled females in the South, the author emphasizes the strength of female empowerment because females struggled to survive during this time.