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Themes In Shakespeare's 'The Color Purple'

Decent Essays

It is generally true that books are often banned because they display inappropriate themes. "The Color Purple" shows themes of gender inequality, sexually explicitness, and violence throughout the book. There are multiple perspectives on the book; to keep or to ban. Personally, I stand for banning this book because of its sensitive themes. "The Color Purple" is about a young girl named Celie and her sister Nettie, who have a very close relationship. Celie is abused and raped by her father at age 14. Celie marries a man named Mr. ______, he is very abusive to her. Mr. ______'s ex, Shug Avery, gets ill and comes to stay at his house while Celie cares for her. Celie and her become very close and Celie begins to fall for Shug Avery. When Shug is around, Mr. ______ is nicer to Celie. Celie and Shug find out that Nettie has been trying to write to Celie for many years but, Mr. _______ is hiding them from her. Celie reads Nettie's letters about her life in Africa, and writes back. Towards the end of the book, Celie leaves Mr. ______ and moves in with Shug Avery and her husband.
Alice Walker's rough life growing up, gives us a clear image of how her background impacted the delicate themes she writes about in her novels. For example, at a young age, Walker was insecure about her appearance, which led her to be depressed. In an interview of Alice by O'Brien, she describes that she "daydreamed of falling swords, putting guns to my heart or head, and of slashing my wrists."

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