How Does Alice Walker Present The Struggles In 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.

Throughout the story, several women were extremely mistreated by men. The oppression of women is unmistakable in The Color Purple. It is particularly exposed in association between Celie and her farther. At a very young age Celie was subjected to oppression. Celie was raped repeatedly and pregnant twice by her stepfather and was told to keep quiet about it. "You better not never tell nobody but God, It'd kill your mammy" (stepfather). I believe this is when Celie began to fear men for most of her life. This act towards any woman is very demeaning.

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.

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.

As time goes on Celie is finally able to break away from the coercion of her life and leave her husband.  She starts her own business sewing pants, which is one way she indicates her freedom.  This highlights the fact that she has gained more individuality and is willing to assert herself.  She has now become able to recognize the importance of her existence.  Celie proves this when she writes, “I'm pore, I'm black, I may be ugly and can't cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I'm here."

According to Harold Bloom, “For Celie, the practice of addressing God simply reaffirms her solitude; she is essentially writing to herself” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88). This submissive practice nonetheless carries over onto her daily life, and ensues until her relationship with Shug Avery strengthens. After Celie begins to experience a spiritual, emotional, and sexual awakening as a result of this bond, her letters reflect her newfound emotional capacity. Bloom enforces this ideal, claiming, “Shug is the route through which Nettie's letters are restored” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88). With the figurative resurrection of her sister through Shug’s support, Celie’s power of voice grows. She begins to think for herself and express her thoughts more vividly, claiming, "My life stop when I left home, I think. But then I think again. It stop with Mr._______ maybe, but start up again with Shug" (Walker 85). The audience, who was Celie’s only recluse for thought, views her becoming more verbal and opinionated in reality as well; for instance, during her final standoff with Mr._______, she exclaims, "You a lowdown dog is what's wrong, I say. It's time to leave you and enter into Creation. And your dead body just the welcome mat I need” (Walker 207). Celie, therefore, has discovered the act of standing up for herself as a person. Nettie’s letters possess a distinct voice as well, and the discovery and instigation of communication between the two sisters liberates the voice which

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

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.

As Nettie receives opportunities Celie could never fathom, their relationship comes to a halt. Celie stops receiving letters from her sister and is left to take care of her husband’s obnoxious children from a previous marriage, and is verbally/physically abused on a daily basis by both her husband and his children. Celie’s husband has a torrent affair with Shug Avery, a blues singer with a practical mentality who does not endure any mistreatment from anyone, regardless of their gender. When Shug Avery falls into Celie’s care, Shug Avery teaches Celie a thing or two about self-confidence and the strength she must find within herself to stand up to her husband. Towards the end of the novel, Shug Avery encourages Celie to leave her husband and move with her to Memphis, where she can escape the pain of her past and for once in her life be happy.

Shug helps Celie with self-identification. A bondage that Celie faces is the discovery of Nettie’s letters that Albert has hidden from her. She has regained bondage with her sister whom she thought was no longer alive. She bonded with Shug to find the letters and with the help of Shug she was advised not to kill Albert even though it was tough for Celie to accept this for the love

Life is a rollercoaster filled with ups and downs. Left turns, right turns, and sometimes completely upside down loop de loops. The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a story about a colored woman named Celie who writes letters to God while living through extreme oppression and abuse. Celie eventually overcomes her oppressors by finding her purpose in life through friendship, love, hope, and change in faith. Discovering hope, love, and faith leads to a fulfilling life through difficult times.

The Color Purple is the story of Celie’s life, starting from her adolescent years. At a very young and fragile age, Celie was deprived of her dignity as a woman, through the assault by her stepfather, the treatment she endured from her husband, and the disappearance of the one human she adored, her sister Nettie. As her days passed by with more worry and strife, Celie lost faith in love and resented all signs of a kind and honorable God. Shug Avery arrived in this small town to rekindle with her

As a result of these tragic events, Celie writes to an unknown audience, resembling her unknown identity. In the beginning, the only person she can talk to is God. She writes her first letters to God shortly after her so-called father raped her. Each one of the letters is short, choppy and has a similar rhythm. The patterns found in her letters symbolize her state of mind; she feels depressed and weak. "Celie does not think of her letters as anything else than just that, as written documents saying the things she wishes to tell the recipients she cannot speak to in person”, making God the person she has always wished to communicate with (Boynukara). Her letters in the beginning are also mostly written to God and not signed off, illustrating her lack of identity. Her conception of God is a “Big and old and tall and graybearded and white. He wear white robes and go barefooted” (Walker 195). Celie’s first letter proves that she has a low self-confidence when she writes, "Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I am I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me." (1). According to Janoff Bulman, “cognitive strategy used to make

Alice Walker's The Color Purple Alice Walkers ‘The colour purple’ was largely based in a black community in the deep south of America, in between the end of the nineteenth century and the Second World War. It has been described as a rendition of her own life, thus far, I am none the wiser. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, slavery had long been abolished in America, but old habits die hard, especially in the deep south of America-where barely any politicians would set foot-, the black community was still plagued by the white man’s retained mannerism, although the black community had won a civil rights campaign to be considered equal to the white man, to many people the civil rights act was of no consequence, the

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