The Color Purple by Alice Walker Essay

The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker, is an epistolary historical novel that contains a number of prominent characters and themes. The novel takes place between 1910 and 1940 in the rural southern United States. The story is told from the first person point of view; Celie’s letters narrate her life throughout an unknown duration of time. Her husband’s lover, Shug, educates Celie about God, self-importance, and love. When she and Shug discover a collection of letters from her sister Nettie, the novel persists to depict their separate lives until they are conclusively reunited.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a very controversial novel, which many people found to be very offensive. It is basically the struggle for one woman’s independence. The main character in The Color Purple is Celie a coloured woman with little or no education at all. She is one who has been used and abused by all the men in her life, and because of these men, she has very little courage or ambition in her life. She has so little courage, that all she wants to do is just survive. Through the various women she meets throughout here life like: Shug, her sister, and Harpo’s wife, she learns how to enjoy herself, gain courage and happiness. She finally learns enough and with the final straw she could no longer bare, she leaves her husband

Literature is the author’s vehicle, commandeered for the purpose of transferring societal commentary to a definitive audience. In Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the writing is a medium for Walker’s political agenda. Through literary elements such as stereotypes, diction, juxtaposition, and symbolism Walker explores the issue of gender roles. The action of the novel opens with strict standards of men and women, progresses to a building contrast of characters outside of these standards, and closes with the breaking of standards. The literary elements are used to successfully emphasize oppressive gender roles with the purpose of empowering women and men to confront the unjust issue.

Commonly known as the author behind the epistolary novel, The Color Purple, Alice Walker is a native Georgian who considerably influenced the culture of the state. Her legacy begun February 9th, 1944 in Putnam County, Georgia when she was born to proud African American parents as the youngest of eight children. Her father, Willie Lee Walker, was a sharecropper blessed with a mind adept in mathematics, but cursed with substandard farming skills, and therefore was not a good source of income for his sizable family. Alice’s mother, Minnie Lou Tallulah Grant, was a hardworking woman who made up for her husband’s low income by working as a maid. Walker’s mother was also a woman who valued and recognized the importance of education. Jim

1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker; The color purple is commonly used to symbolize royalty and a deep connection spiritually. Celie, the main character in the novel, writes many of her very personal letters and thoughts that she has never shared with to anyone else to God. She deeply connects spiritually with God. She knows that, unlike everyone else present around her in society, God will neither discriminate or judge her. In addition, when Celie finds herself in a time of need, she calls on the help of God as the only “man” she knows.

She then meets Shug Avery and she discovers love and support of

When Mr.__’s son Harpo asked why he beat Celie he responded “Cause she my wife. Plus, she stubborn”(30). This is the only reason Mr.__ was able to give his son, as if the fact that she is his wife alone is enough. All through the novel, are illustrations of male oppression over the women

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

Rape, incest, sex, forced labor, and a little reefer on the side. These are all of the components of a novel by Alice Walker. All of these views are illustrated proficiently in Alice Walker’s third novel, “The Color Purple.” Each one of these aspects had a lasting impression upon the ideals and notions of the time. Walker's writing's helped to break the racial barrier that existed in some people's minds.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is about a girl named Celie who gets sold off to another man by her father because she is “ugly. She deals with rape from her father who had already impregnated her twice and sold one child and killed the other, abuse, and slavery. Her sister on the other hand, got to go to school and become an educated woman because she was “beautiful”. All throughout the story, Celie thinks that she was isolated and forgotten because her sister moved away to Africa to preach, but little does she know, her sister had been writing letters to her the whole time but Mr. ___ (that’s the name of her new “owner”) had been keeping them from her. Celie went on to fight for her rights, express her inner beauty and found her children. She escaped from Mr. ___ and became a loving mom and great business women. The deeper meaning of this book is to never give up no matter how hard the situation is. Celie kept going and fought for her rights even though she would get abused and neglected.

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.

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.

Celie practically struggled for happiness her whole existence. Her father sold her to a man who had no intent of loving or caring for her. Celies’ husband whom she refers to as Mr. physically and verbally abused her. Mr. felt that the only way to keep a woman in check was to beat her and he did just that throughout the movie. Like any woman would though the abuse Celie lost herself and respect for herself. Living with Mr. was a life full of darkness and hatred. Life with her husband was no better life than life with her stepfather. It took years for Celie to become brave enough to fight back for what she accept as true and gain understanding of how to convey amusement and have little outlook on life. After years of abuse, Celie no longer was afraid of Mr. She no longer cared for her husband or the

This idea develops in Celie’s mind when she witnesses both Shug Avery and Sophia talk back to their lovers and still managing to come out of a disagreement unharmed and unpunished. The first time Celie notices this is when Sofia and Harpo get into a big fight after Celie and Albert tell Harpo to beat her if she is not minding her as any regular wife should. However, the significance of this fight is that it does not end in the woman being harmed, but rather the man losing the battle and being harmed himself. “Next time us see Harpo his face a mess of bruises. His lip cut. One of his eyes shut like a fist. He walk stiff and say his teef ache.” (Walker 37) During Harpo and Celie’s conversation, Harpo simply pushes his cuts and bruises off as a mere incident with their ignorant mule, even though Celie assumes it must have been Sofia after she and Mr._____ told him to beat her. Despite Harpo’s best efforts Sofia refuses to do anything he says and only does what she would prefer or whatever her main concerns are. In doing so, Harpo and Sofia get in multiple fights, which typically result in Harpo getting hurt and scratched up after trying to beat her, which is not revealed until their second fight that Celie happens to witness. “Harpo and Sofia. They fighting like two mens....He try to slap her. What he do that for? She reach down and grab a piece of stove wood and whack him across the eyes.” (Walker 38). This intrigues Celie since her entire life has been the exact opposite, and she even reveals to Sofia that she is jealous of her lifestyle and how she is able to call the shots rather than Harpo. “I say it cause I’m jealous of you. I say it cause you do what I can’t...Fight. I say.” (Walker 40) Celie begins thinking about being a free woman more after seeing

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.