Essay on The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Another important woman in Celie’s life was Harpo’s wife Sofia. Sofia wasn’t as important to Celie as Shug Avery or her sister Nettie, but it was Sofia’s actions that I believe helped inspire Celie. For when Harpo tried to beat Sofia, thanks to Celie’s advice to Harpo to beat his wife, Sofia would always fight back. Not only emotionally but physically as well, for one day when Celie was going to Harpo’s house she saw Harpo and Sofia fighting like twos mens (P. 44). And I think Celie was really shocked when Sofia confronted her on why Celie told Harpo to beat Sofia. I say it cause I’m a fool, I say it cause I’m jealous of you. I say it cause you do what I can’t. What that? She say. Fight I say. … She say all my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers … cousins … uncles. A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men. But I never thought I’d have

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.

Told through a series of letters to God, Celie shares her story. Impregnated twice by her father, Celie’s children are taken away

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 most important aspect of The Color Purple is the growth and maturity of each individual. There is a huge transition of many of the characters from the beginning to the end of the novel.  This evolution of the characters is a recurring theme that runs throughout the novel and can be tracked by Celie’s letters.  The women struggle  for freedom in a society where they are inferior to men.  Towards the end of the novel one can sense the slow evolution towards the increasing empowerment of women.

Her pa hits and rapes her repeatedly. She writes, “He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church. I may have got somethin in my eye but I didn’t wink”(Walker 5). Celie then writes,“I don’t even look at mens. That’s the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I’m not scared of them” (5). This goes to show how her father beats her over the littlest things, no matter what they are. This trend in her life, has made her petrified of all men. She looks at women, finding refuge in them, simply because they are kind to her. Not only does Celie’s pa beat her, her new husband, Mr. _____ does too. “He beat me like he beat the children. Cept he don’t beat them. He say, Celie git the belt. The children be outside the room peeking through the cracks. It all I can do not to cry. I make myself wood” (23). He doesn’t beat the children, who definitely need a whooping, but he’ll beat Celie simply because “she’s his wife. Plus she stubborn. All women good for”(23). This shows that there is no real reason for all the abuse. It’s all because the men view her as their property, not as another human being. All this abuse causes Celie to believe that she’ll never be truly loved, or be able to love. She believes this until Shug Avery comes

Albert`s son, Harpo tries to control his wife Sofia as his father did Celie. Towards the culmination of the novel the traditional roles of male and female roles are everted. While Sofia is out doing hard work during the day, Harpo decides to stay home and care for the house as a woman. Celie also was handed the excuse to change roles with Albert. Celie develops into an independent businesswoman and Albert becomes one of her employees`. Shug Avery and Celie shared a sexual relationship in which broke the common traditional roles between dominate men and the role of passive women. Walker used the raping of Sofia by a white warden who had disregards towards the demeanor of black women through the eyes of a southern white

The Color Purple revolves around the life of Celie, a young black woman growing up in the poverty-ridden South.  In order to find herself and gain independence, Celie must deal with all manner of abuse, including misogyny, racism and poverty.  When she is a young girl of just 14, Celie is sexually assaulted by a man she believes is her father.  She has two children by her rapist, both of who

The Author uses different color to express different emotions of the main character, Celie, in The Color Purple. For example blue, red, black, and the most important one the color purple. Celie’s search for something she has never experienced is the symbolization of the mankind’s search for love and happiness. The color purple itself symbolizes love in the story.

At the plantation, NED, an angry White Man, whips NINA, a Black former slave. Black Raven and Captain Early arrive with the dead men. Nina is devastated. One of dead men is her husband.

Celie and the women surrounding her struggle for bondage. Celie finds a bond with many females. Walker introduces the hint of Celie's sexual attraction to women in church. Afraid of men because of the cruel treatment by her father, Celie turns more and more towards the company of women, who represent love, warmth, and feelings of solidarity to her. Celie affirms her sexual identity in her relationship with Shug Avery. For now, it is manifested merely as what men cannot offer.

There she eventually meets Sofia who is the wife of Harpo, misters son. Sofia is a strong black women who does not take anything from anyone. While Sofia is not always there because of her battle with keeping her independence, she and Shug Avery, old girlfriend of mister, get Celie

As Harpo gets older, he wants to marry Sofia. Albert forbids Harpo to marry Sofia just like his father forbid him to marry Shug. Albert tries to have the same control over Harpo that his father has over him. Later in the book, Albert puts the idea that Harpo isn’t man enough to control his wife into his head—almost manipulating him to beat Sofia. Once Harpo does beat Sofia, their relationship sours and she eventually ends up leaving.

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

She has to deal with the loss of her kids, but one day she gets to see one of them. She always called her little girl Olivia, but when she met the woman who had her child, she said, “We calls her Pauline.” (pg.16). That made Celie sad, but then the woman says, “But I calls her Olivia.” She just said that she looked like an Olivia and this made Celie happy.