Literary Analysis Of The Color Purple

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.

When I picked up The Color Purple, I didn’t think I’d immediately learn that Celie, as a fourteen year old, was raped routinely by who she thought was her father, had had two children who were taken from her overnight, and was made to believe that they were killed in the woods. These horrifying facts were declared in the first two pages and instantly incited my anger towards her father, Alphonso, and sympathy towards Celie. Her sexual assault was described so vividly that I felt as if I were present at the scene, yet unable to do anything to help. Besides suffering physical abuse, Celie is verbally abused, being constantly told, “You ugly. You skinny. You shape funny, You too scared to open your mouth to people…You not that good a cook

Best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple, Alice Walker portrays black women struggling for sexual as well as racial equality and emerging as strong, creative individuals. Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia, the eighth child of Willie Lee and Minnie Grant Walker. When Walker was eight, her right eye was injured by one of her brothers, resulting in permanent damage to her eye and facial disfigurement that isolated her as a child. This is where her feminine point of view first emerged in a household where girls were forced to do the domestic chores unaided by the brothers. Throughout her writing career, Alice Walker has been involved in the black movement and displays strong feelings towards

Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia to sharecroppers. At a very young age, Walker suffered an eye injury that had a major impact on her self-esteem. The injury affected the way she carried herself, causing her to shy away from others. Believing that her appearances didn’t meet the expectations, she turned to writing as an escape. The Color Purple exemplifies an uneducated black woman, Celie, who endures abuse and struggles with the effects it has on her. Throughout the novel, Walker imbeds character development, style, and an empowering message that allow Celie to finally “give voice to the traumatic experiences to which she has been subjected” (LaGrone 11).

Nettie has tried to be a guardian angel for Celie too but it doesn’t really work. The only contact they have together is through letters that Nettie sends. And even then Celie never sends letters back. “ You got to fight and get away from Albert” (Walker 131). Nettie knows the things that Mr. has done to her, and wants her to leave. But Celie can’t leave him, she would have nowhere to go. Once she does get away from him it’s all thanks to Shug Avery. Shug takes Celie to her house in Memphis,

In the book, this is a serious turning point in Celie’s life because this discovery is enough to motivate her to get out of Mr’s control. She gains a lot more self-confidence as shown when she now “know[s] Nettie alive [she] begin to strut a little bit” (The Color Purple p.148) which leads her to uncover more truths. Celie also unravels the lies of her so called father, who told Celie that he killed her children that she had by him, when in actuality the children were adopted and are in Africa with Nettie. She also finds out that he is not her real father, which in turn gives her more openness to love and accept her children.

     Rape, incest, sex, forced labor, and a bit of reefer. These are some of the components of a Novel by Alice Walker. These views are illustrated proficiently in Walker’s third novel, The Color Purple. These aspects had a lasting impression upon ideals and beliefs of the time period. Her writing’s helped to break the racial tension and barrier that was present in some people’s minds. One of the ways that the barrier was eliminated was through her depiction of an imperfect black person. If a white person were to write about an imperfect black person it would be considered racist. “ I think the most chilling thing to me about the response to The Color Purple was that people said ‘ this

Rather than apologizing for his cruel actions against Nettie, he wanted to punish her instead. While Celie emotionally deals with Mr.____’s wrongdoing, Shug attempts to calm Celie down by being with her through her struggles. Surprisingly, Shug acts as the motherly figure and role model Celie never had. Instead of relying on the silence like Celie has done in the past, she now relies on Shug for advice and independence. The numerous letters Celie found from Nettie not only gives her hope, but also reassurance.

‘The Color Purple’ is a novel about women supporting women and the roles that Shug, Nettie, and Sophia play in Celie’s life and the effect it had on Celie throughout the story. The other female characters in Celie’s world change her life. The positive influence of women starts when Celie is young and defenseless and scared when she is taken away by Mr.__ until the end when she is free but also a strong and confident woman that knows who she really is and her feelings and emotions.

Celie is a 14 year-old girl when the book starts, she is sexually abused by her father and bears two children by him. She has a boy named Adam and girl named Olivia. She has a little sister named Nettie and is in schooling unlike Celie. Mr. ___ asks to marry Nettie, but their father refuses and says he could marry Celie since she is older. Mr. __ agrees to marry Celie because his four children need a mother. Celie is great with the children and keeps the home clean along with food prepared. Celie does not trust any of the men in her family and she often relates to the singer and performer of the name Shug Avery, who becomes ill and comes to stay with her ex-lover Mr.__. Celie takes care of Shug by bathing her, feeding her, and cleaning up after her.

In 1982, Alice Walker published the most critically acclaimed novel of her career. The Color Purple is a novel that won awards like the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. The book focuses on the lives of African American women in the 1930’s and their insignificance in the American society. Throughout the book, many elements of symbolism like racism and sexism, nontraditional gender roles, sisterhood, and women’s rights are

There are few people throughout history that are able to initiate conversation and change regarding topics such as gender roles, societal expectations, and homosexuality. Alice Walker, however was able to start a dialogue about race relations in the 20th century. Walker wrote The Color Purple during a time of high racial tensions in very conservative nation. The story could be simply looked upon as characters experiencing the intricacies of life, but Walker chose to create close parallels to the world in which she lived. The Color Purple is a novel that can almost be considered “ahead of its time,” due to the progressive nature of the story. The novel has gone through eras of acceptance and ridicule, but has so far prevailed into a classic

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.

This changes, however, when she finds herself alone with Shug Avery. “He beat me when you not here, I say” (75). Celie showed a point of vulnerability when she confided in Shug Avery, attempting to make her stay. In this point of vulnerability, she fundamentally summed up her relationship with her

Many novels portray the life of an African-American women throughout history. However, the most criticized and blessed novel is Alice Walker’s The Color Purple because of its vivid detail of African-American male stereotypes. Especially in 1985, when it was decided to recreate the novel to be made into a film. Furthermore, the explicit themes of rape, marriage abuse, homosexuality, incest, and the portrayed image of God throughout the novel would not be overlooked by readers.