Racism, And Redemption In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Alice Walker once said :“I'm poor, I'm black, I may be ugly and can't cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I'm here.” The film adaptation of Color Purple has a renown name for being one of the most thought provoking films of the twentieth century. Steven Spielberg, produce of The Color Purple, creates passionate and emotional scenes throughout his feature film.

I feel every person should care about sexism and racism, because these two issues affect everyone. “The Color Purple” is a great film that focuses on the problems African American women faced during the early 1900s. "The Color Purple" provides a disturbing and realistic account into the life of Celie, a poor southern black woman with a sad and abusive past and Sophia, another poor southern black woman with a sad and abusive past.

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

Celie, in The Color Purple, goes through certain events in her life in which she finds hope. Although she has a terrible life, Celie manages to escape from all of the evil. When she was younger she was emotionally scarred by her father after her mother had passed due to being very ill (James Web). Her father would brutally rape and slap her to mourn the loss of his wife. Celie’s father then sells her to a man named Mister,

Due to the desire to hold a captive audience, literature-based movies are often shortened in order to hold a captive audience, but due to this time restraint, many important pieces of information can be omitted. In the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker and the cinematic portrayal of The Color Purple directed by Steven Spielberg, there were some important elements that were absent and although each one gets the same major points across there is a lack of power the book puts forth. The Color Purple novel differs from the film with many important concepts including Celie’s and Albert’s relationship, Celie’s sexuality, and finally Shug and her relationship with her family.

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,

People around the world go through unimaginable horrors every day. These people must find a way to cope, or better yet, overcome. Countries, governments, and everyday citizens send aid to those in need, but the will of one to overcome their adversity is what helps them to transform their life. In The Color Purple, Celie, a fourteen-year-old, is living in a family where she is beaten and raped by her father regularly. She is not educated like her sister, Nettie. Her father, Alphonso, ends up marrying her to a man who is called Mr. ____, and through this experience, Celie meets many characters who help her to view people and society in a different way. People undergo many traumatic experiences, and the decisions that one makes, may prove to change the series of unfortunate events. The striving to improve lives and the understanding of them is achieved through overcoming adversity. Which, in turn, helps one to transform into whom they want to be. One source says, “Celie's transformation from a young passive girl, who is the object

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.

However, the pair forms a nurturing relationship in which they take care of one another.  These days Shug is all about love, and touch and feeling.  As Shug says of her love of cuddling, "I love to hug, period, she say.  Don't need nothing else right now" (Walker 152).  Celie learns from Shug how to care about people once more, including caring for herself.  Celie begins this journey to independence and love of self and others through her relationship with Shug.  At one point she and Shug have physical relations, but it is Walker's purpose to show this as a means of providing each other comfort, nurturing, and humanity - not as a display of homosexuality.  The entire episode is treated in the novel as a nurturing act, akin to a mother compassionate mother nursing her needy child, "Then I feels something real soft and wet on my breast, feel like one of my little lost babies mouth.  Way after a while, I act like a little lost baby too" (Walker 118).  We can see in

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

Firstly, The Color Purple (1982) is written by the African- American novelist Alice Walker. For creating such an innovative novel, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple won both the Pulitzer Price and the National Book Award. Walker initiated her novel by a confession that The Color Purple is her spiritual journey and the female protagonist represents her during this journey. The novel is made up of 90 letters written by Celie to God and some of these letters are written by Nettie to her sister Celie. These letters are similar to a diary that Celie finds as a way to express her feelings , emotions and thoughts in a place she is not permitted to be free. Generally, the novel portrays a life and a journey of a young fourteen -year- old black girl who is persecuted throughout her life from her stepfather who repeatedly raped her and forced her to marry a cruel man who, in turn, oppressed her.

The Color Purple is an honest emotional story about love, trust, respect, separation, friendships, and the bond between sisters. It was published back in 1982 by Alice Walker. Walker is a huge activist, and even participated in the 1960’s Civil Rights Movements in Mississippi. Throughout her novel she uses excellent rhetoric to convey her strong emotions. The Color Purple uses ethos to show you how horrible abuse is, logos to help give the characters confidence, and pathos to convey the pain.

This movie is an upbeat, affirmative fable in which optimism, patience, and family loyalty emerge as cardinal virtues, and in which even the wife beating villain has charm. This movie shows the story of a shy young heroine, whose life is filled with disappointment and hardship, even the most brutal events are set forth. Around the world, women are facing the similar issues but never had their stories be told. The Color Purple has a lot of heartbreaking scenes, a very emotional scene, in particular, was when teenage Celie was forcibly separated from her beloved sister Nettie. This film depicts the reality of women, and their day to day lives, in this era, they were told what to do, they had to follow their husbands rule without any sign of defying. Women were not treated as an equal to man but as a lesser person in society, especially African American women. Girls were expected to get married a young age, bore children and take care of the home; they weren’t given rights to vote, or further their education beyond a certain

In our everyday lives whether we notice it or not, disrespect towards gender and racism surrounds us and it begins to affect individuals not only physically but emotionally and socially as well. In Alice Walkers novel, The Color Purple, the topic of racism is strongly emphasized and shown throughout novel. Due to Celie’s race and gender roles played, she resists the urge to speak up for herself resulting in silence. In addition, it is through the love and support of other characters like Shug, in which tempts and inspires Celie to stand up for herself. Lastly, through all the troubles Celie faces, she eventually finds the strength in herself to leave Albert and start her life afresh. In The Color Purple, the author develops the idea that discrimination based on gender or race limits one’s opportunities and results in lack of independence and silence, ultimately suggesting that only through the influence of positive models for change can one develop the strength to change their life for the better.