The Struggle In Alice Walker's The Color Purple

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shug Avery is someone Celie admired from a young age. Shug’s exuberance and charm with people are qualities Celie never dreamed of having herself until Shug walks into her life and Celie does more with her life by actually overcoming the abuse and becomes someone more. “I ast her to give me the picture. An all night long I stare at it. An now when I dream, I dream of Shug Avery.” (Walker 7). Shug comes into Celie’s life as her husband’s mistress who was very ill but not lacking in character. She treats Celie with disrespect at first, but after living with her for some time and being nursed back to health by her Shug gains a respect for her. She teaches Celie how to speak for herself and to defend herself against Mr. Shug is the one who helps Celie escape by taking her on her tour where Celie learns how to expertly sew pants. This is another major step towards independence because Celie is no longer financially dependent on anyone but herself because she creates a successful business by making pants. Upon her return to her home, she inherits her father’s home thereby completely separating her from the men who held control over her. She can now receive her sister’s letters and make her own money. The people who love her surround her and her personality develops unhindered by abuse. Celie’s idol came through to set her free and now idolizes her to an extent.

Alice Walker is a world renowned novelist, poet, short story author and political activist, with works including The Temples of my Familiar and In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. Yet Ms. Walker’s most critically acclaimed novel remains The Color Purple. The Color Purple tells the complex tale African American women, their brutal living conditions, everyday abuse, and their instinct to survive. The Color Purple was an immediate success due to its simple writing style, the intricate storyline, and compelling characters. In 1983 The Color Purple was recognized for these very reasons and graciously awarded The Pulitzer Prize For Fiction. Every year several Pulitzer Awards are handed out to distinguished

The Colour Purple is a novel that was written by the 1983 Pulitzer Prize winner, Alice Walker. The Novel was published in 1982 and was later turned into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985. The book is about a young girl, Celie who was oppressed and seek to find happiness in life. Despite her inner turmoil, she had a strong belief in God, and also hopes that she would find her estranged sister, Nettie who loved her with all her heart. She got pregnant at an early age by the man she thought was her father. Celie was also a young bride who was being abused by her husband.

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” by Alice Walker is a series a letters by and to the main character, Celie. The book begins with fourteen year old Celie writing to God about her father raping her and taking away her children. After Celie's mother dies, Celie focuses on protecting her sister, Nettie, from her father's sexual advances and encourages her to run away. A widower called “Mr. __” wants to marry Nettie, but their father rejects him. Eventually Celie marries Mr. __, who later is called Albert, and her living conditions do not improve at all. Celie becomes infatuated with Shug Avery, a blues singer who is her husband's mistress. Years later, Celie helps nurse Shug back to health. Eventually, they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, Nettie

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

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