Political Critique of Race Relations in Alice Walker's Color Purple

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

The Help puts most of its attention on the white heroine that possess limited rebellion to the racism that surrounds her (History and The Help). It focuses on the inner self wanting to improve through raising awareness and creating friendships rather than conquering the actual issue. In the process of this, the Civil Rights resistance and complexity of racial relations is downplayed to hit the target audience. This target audience is white women that view themselves as superior. Therefore, the author cannot speak too deeply about the realities of the issue. The film becomes unrealistic in its portrayal of the events and struggles of this time period (Travis).

British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson once said, “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” (BrainyQuotes). This particular quote ties into Alice Walker’s The Color Purple by portraying the many feelings that the main character, Celie has about love and how love impacts your life. Celie had to learn the hard way that love was not always easy and often caused heartache. Although these lessons were not always simple they ultimately helped Celie in her future success. Even though Shug and Celie’s relationship had its rough patches, it impacted Celie’s life by showing her how to love, making her confident, and helping her find who she actually is.

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.

Symbolism is one of the major elements in "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The woman's search for something she has never experienced is the symbolization of the mankind's search for love and happiness. The meaning of names, occupations, power, pants, cloth, words, eyes, frogs, starts, shell, stamps are only few examples of the symbols used by the author and are very important in understanding not only the characters of the story, but also global values such as love, power, mutual understanding, and authority over another person's life.

The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker, won the American Book Award in fiction in 1983 (Slomski). Celie was raped and impregnated by the man she considered to be her father twice at the age of fourteen, and then later married off to a poor black farmer. The man who Celie is sold to treats her as if she is a servant, not as his wife. Mr.___ believes that women are supposed to serve men, while they enjoy life. Mr.__’s other beliefs about women are that they should obey their husbands, work, and not be seen or heard (Averbach). Women in this time period were seen as children. They did not deserve to be respected and needed to be controlled by a man. Celie endures over thirty years of physical and mental abuse by her husband. Celie

Alice Walker's The Color Purple is an excellent account of the life of poor black women who must suffer not only social ostracism due to gender and skin color but also women who suffer greatly at the hands of black men.  This is true in terms of infidelity, physical and verbal abuse, and sexual abuse.

Gender inequality was a big issue during the early 1900s, and especially for the African American women because some “Africa American women were used as sex slaves or just slaves in generally” (Karpowitz). These women were treated badly even if it was from their dad or their "husband"/owners, but at the end of the day they knew only one person who these women can trust which is God. In Alice Walker’s novel, she shows and expresses how women will have bad times or bumps on the road, but if they keep going towards their dream they will succeed. Walker also showed how women did not have a voice to stand up for themselves but later in their life they started getting together to fight back for their rights. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker demonstrates gender inequality in the lives of African Americans in the early 1900s.

As individuals, we must understand ourselves and our personal struggles. As part of a society, we must understand how we fit into the world around us. Consequently, we must then bridge the gap between these two ideas. In the film adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the main character, Celie, discovers her individuality overtime, as she eventually finds her niche among others (Spielberg, 1985). Through incorporating both internal conflicts and how a person relates with the external society, The Color Purple acts as a transitional piece, linking the unit of conflicts of self to the unit of conflicts involving groups.

Alice Walker’s masterpiece, The Color Purple, uses ordinary things such as clothes, colors, jobs, and money as strong symbolism. In this book, pants symbolize independence. Pants change the way society views and treats a person. They also convey that a person is strong, confident, free, and equal to others. Alice Walker shows the reader how wearing pants can have a big effect on a person’s life, especially if that person is a woman in the early twentieth century.

The color purple; what a beautiful color. Yet, some people don’t appreciate its beauty. The film based off the novel, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, is just that, beautiful. Yet, many people who read the book or watch the film don’t appreciate its beauty as a piece of literature. Most of the unappreciative readers and viewers of “The Color Purple” only see the things that are wrong with it. The bad language, the sexual scenes, the rape, the abuse. What they don’t see is the very powerful messages that Alice Walker portrays so brilliantly in “The Color Purple.” Three of the messages in the film “The Color Purple” are: the power of strong female relationships, the harsh realities of racism and sexism, and redemption.

Joyce Carol Oates, an American writer, once proclaimed, “Love is an indescribable sensation- perhaps a conviction, a sense of certitude” (QuotesGram). Love, in the most profound sense, is entirely indescribable in every aspect. Each individual has been exposed to a different sense of love that has either affected or altered their emotional or mental state of being. The feelings associated with love come from a sincere interaction, or likewise, lack of this sensation. Celie, from Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, although dealt with many hardships throughout her lifetime, identified and grew effectively from her perception of the infatuation with her partner, Shug Avery. Their bond throughout the novel not only introduced readers into a dysfunctional, heartfelt relationship, but shaped Celie into a substantial, independent character, influenced her decisions for the good of her wealth, and showed her the true meaning and purpose of her place in the world.

If any woman had to answer if she ever had trouble accepting herself, the response would be yes. According to Susan David, “All healthy human beings have an inner stream of thoughts and feelings that include criticism, doubt, and fear” (125-128). Depending on the person Alice Walker has as the recipients of Celie’s and Nettie’s letters, the text alters. The Color Purple is about a girl named Celie, who grows up in the south during the early 1920’s, surrounded by racism, sexism, and abuse from her father and husband. Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple in epistolary style and it traces Celie’s journey of finding her identity and path of finally accepting herself. On her journey she encounters a couple of women including one named Shug

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

In Alice Walker's The Color Purple, she explores the thin grey line that stands between survival and living. Through her protagonist, Celie, she examines the dramatic shifts of empowerment; focusing on the young black girl in the 1850’s.