Where Should The Color Purple Be In The Canon

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

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.

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.

“I think 'The Color Purple' is so bursting with love, the need for connection, the showing of the need for connection around the globe.” This quote is by Alice Walker, the author who wrote the epistolary novel The Color Purple. The novel revolves around Celie and her tough life. Celie tells her story through diary entries to God, and eventually stops believing in him. Celie goes through a lot of changes during her life and these changes affect her in a few ways. Self discovery and strength is the main theme of the book, and this is portrayed through Celie. Celie goes from being a hopeless, miserable victim of abuse to becoming a lover and eventually a happy, strong willed woman.

The Color Purple elicits multitudinous generalizations upon bitter circumstances. The novel possesses a surfeit of themes. One of the major themes in The Color Purple is the sexual relationships between the male and female characters, sexism. Walker stages her story of the transformation of Celie from a female that is passive to one who eventually becomes an independent black woman in the culture of the rural society from the 1920s to the early 1940s. Celie is dominated by her father who turns out to be her stepfather at the beginning of the story. In the latter part of the anecdote her husband Albert takes over as her foreperson. Shug Avery`s relationship with Celie was the cause of Celie`s personality change. Celie wrote letters to God because her stepfather Alphonso, told her to tell no one but God of sexual molestations he inflicted upon her. Through the letters, Walker wanted readers to generate a taste of Celie`s actuality, which at first is discrete, but eventually becomes stable and independent.

Alice Walker wrote ‘The Color Purple’ in order to capture and highlight the hardship and bitterness African-American women experienced in the early 1900s. She demonstrates the emotional, physical and spiritual revolution of an abused black girl into an independent, strong woman. The novel largely focuses on the role of male domination and its resulting frustrations and black women’s struggle for independence. The protagonist, Celie’s, gain of an independent identity, away from her family, friends, work, and love life, forms the plot of the novel.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a story written in 1982 that is about the life struggles of a young African American woman named Celie. The novel takes the reader through several main topics including the poor treatment of African American women, domestic abuse, family relationships, and also religion. The story takes place mostly in rural Georgia in the early 1900’s and demonstrates the difficult life of sharecropper families. Specifically how life was endured from the perspective of an African American woman. The Color Purple is written in the form of letters that Celie narrates explaining the events that took place at certain points in her life. Celie endures physical and emotional abuse by some of the people around her including

Walker’s theme of writing is straight forward, she express through emotions and sexual conduct. Alice Walker adds, “The worse thing than being a woman is being a black woman” (282). The novel: The Color of Purple tells about the leading character Celie that writes down her deepest thoughts of unhappiness and sorrow in her diary. Celie was sexual assaulted by the man she called father, and she later conceives a child, that child was taken away from her at the age of fourteen. For example, Celie was not attending school, she felt rejected and unattractive. Celie stayed at home

Celie uses god as a symbol of hope to her life and happiness. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker is a story about the life of an african american woman before world war 2. Alice portrays real life problems women during that time faced. The main character Celie experiences domestic violence, racism, jealousy, homosexual curiosity, motherhood, and poverty. The story is made up of letters Celie writes to God, her sister, Nettie, and letters Nettie writes to Celie. The letters all vary in length. The main conflict in the story is that Celie has never questioned her rights or what she wants, she has always done as she has been told and never gone against

In Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Celie leads a life filled with abuse at the hands of the most important men in her life. As result of the women who surround and help her, Celie becomes stronger and overcomes the abuse she experienced. The three most influential women in Celie’s life are her sister Nettie, her daughter-in-law Sofia, and the singer Shug Avery. These are the women who lead Celie out of her shell and help her turn from a shy, withdrawn woman to someone who was free to speak her mind and lead her own independent life.

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

Within The Color Purple by Alice Walker, women are treated as inferior to men therefore they must obey them. Through the strength and wisdoms Celie gains from other women, she learns to overcome her oppression and realize her self worth as a woman. The women she has met throughout her life, and the woman she protected since young, are the people that helped her become a strong independent woman. Sofia and Shug were there for Celie when she needed someone to look up to and depend on. Nettie was able to push Celie to become a more educated, independent person. The main source of conflict in this book is Celie’s struggle with becoming an independent woman who needs not to rely on a man. Throughout the book we see her grow as a person and

In The Color Purple, there were several themes such as Violence, Sexuality, Power, God or Spiritually. Power is a key role in this novel. Walker focuses throughout the novel that the ability to express someone’s thoughts and feelings is critical to developing a sense of self. Initially, Celie is truly unable to resist those who abuse her. Remembering Alphonso’s warning that she “better not never tell nobody but God” about him abusing her. , Celie knows that the only way to keep it is to remain silent and invisible. Celie is emphasize an object, an entirely accepting party who has no power to give herself through

The 1900’s – a time when blacks were segregated from whites and women were seen as inferior to men. Alice Walker's character Celie, from The Color Purple, was ugly and terrified as a young girl. Though many trials and tribulations, she would become strong and independent. In addition, Celie built up a resistance to the hurt and suffering that she painfully endured from her stepfather and husband. She eventually allowed herself to not take simple things for granted therefore recognize the beauty of everyday life. In her final years, Celie is portrayed in a blissful state and displays her independence as a mature woman. Alice Walker’s use of the first-person point of view, tone, and

In our everyday lives whether we notice it or not, disrespect towards gender and racism surrounds us and it begins to affect individuals not only physically but emotionally and socially as well. In Alice Walkers novel, The Color Purple, the topic of racism is strongly emphasized and shown throughout novel. Due to Celie’s race and gender roles played, she resists the urge to speak up for herself resulting in silence. In addition, it is through the love and support of other characters like Shug, in which tempts and inspires Celie to stand up for herself. Lastly, through all the troubles Celie faces, she eventually finds the strength in herself to leave Albert and start her life afresh. In The Color Purple, the author develops the idea that discrimination based on gender or race limits one’s opportunities and results in lack of independence and silence, ultimately suggesting that only through the influence of positive models for change can one develop the strength to change their life for the better.