Colour Purple Analysis

8/17/2019 Colour Purple Analysis

1/35

INTRODUCTION

Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, African-American novelist and poet most

famous for authoring The Color Purple. Walker's career as a writer took flight with the

pulication of her third novel, The Color Purple, in !"#$. %et in the earl& !"s, the novel

e(plores the female African-American e(perience through the life and struggles of its

narrator, Celie. Celie suffers terrile ause at the hands of her father, and later, from her

husand. The compelling work won Walker oth the Pulitzer Prize for )iction and the

*ational +ook Award for )iction in !"#.

Three &ears later, Walker's stor& made it to the ig screen %teven %pielerg directed

The Color Purple, which starred Whoopi olderg as Celie, as well as /prah Winfre& and

0ann& lover. 1ike the novel, the movie was a critical success, receiving !! Academ& Award

nominations. Walker e(plored her own feelings aout the film in her !""2 work, The Same

River Twice: Honoring the Difficult . 3n $4, The Color Purple ecame a +roadwa& musical.

Walker incorporated characters and their relations from The Color Purple into two of

her other novels The Temple of My Familiar 5!"#"6 and Possessing the Secret of Joy

5!""$6, which earned great critical praise and caused some controvers& for its e(ploration of

the practice of female genital mutilation.


2/35

PLOT SUMMARY

The Color Purple is composed of a series of letters in the first section, the letters are written

& the protagonist, Celie, to od7 the second section are letters from her sister, *ettie in

Africa, and the third section is a correspondence etween Celie and *ettie.

After Celie is raped & her stepfather, she egins writing to od ecause )onso

convinces her that telling her mother aout what has happened would kill her. )onso

continues to ause her from the time she is fourteen &ears old until she is twent&. %he gets

pregnant twice, and her father steals each of her children, who are named /livia and Adam,

and sells them to %amuel, the missionar& minister. After the first child is stolen, Celie's

mother dies, suspecting that the children were her husand's. When Celie realizes her father

is ecoming interested in her &ounger sister, *ettie, she tries to keep her father from

committing incest against her.

Alert, a man from town usuall& known as 8r.999, is interested in getting married.

Celie's father essentiall& sells her off to Alert, a cruel and vicious man. *ettie remains in

school, tr&ing to stud& to e a teacher. %he also tries to teach Celie what she learns in

school, ut since Celie is distracted & work and ause and she cannot learn easil&. 8arried

to Alert and living at his small farm, Celie is responsile for his four motherless children,

who have een severel& neglected. Celie's life is hard, and she is regularl& eaten & her

husand. /ne da& in town, Celie sees her daughter, /livia, with Corrine, the minister's wife.

*ettie runs awa& from home when her stepfather egins to threaten her with incest.

%he :oins Celie at the farm, where Alert pursues her relentlessl&. )inall& after a

confrontation with Celie's husand, *ettie is anished from the farm. Celie suggests that

*ettie seek work from the minister's wife. The sisters sadl& separate, with *ettie promising to

often write Celie letters. ;nfortunatel&, Alert silentl& vows that he will never let her letters

through to Celie.


3/35

When %hug Aver&, a lues singer, comes to town, Alert stops working and makes

Celie and his son


4/35

& Alert. %hug tells Celie she is still a virgin since she has never reall& e(perienced se(ual

pleasure. When %hug leaves the farm, Celie is sad.

sassing> the ma&or's wife and hitting the ma&or. Celie is also told that %ofia is severel&

eaten & the authorities. Celie goes to the :ail and dresses her wounds. When life in :ail

ecomes unearale for %ofia, the famil& sends %=ueak to speak to the warden, her white

uncle. %=ueak cleverl& tells him that she hates %ofia and knows that a etter punishment for

her would e to have her work for the ma&or's wife as a maid. %ofia is released and lives a

hellish e(istence at 8iz 8illie's, taking care of her two children as well as cleaning house.

/ne da&, 8iz 8illie lets %ofia visit her children, ut onl& for fifteen minutes, for she needs

%ofia to drive her car.

%hug Aver& marries a man named rad&. When she comes ack for a visit, %hug

tells Celie of her earl& love of Alert, who was unale to def& his father to e with her. Alert

was pushed into marr&ing a woman named Annie ?ulia, even though he and %hug continued

to have a love affair. To retaliate, Annie ?ulia took a lover, and he eventuall& killed her. %hug

confesses her regret at treating Annie ?ulia so adl&. %he also confesses that there has

never een an&thing ut se( etween Alert and her. Celie also tells of her past. %he

e(plains to %hug how she has survived her father's incestuous torments, her mother's

distance from her and eventual death, her separation from *ettie, and her mistreatment &

Alert. %hug tells Celie that she reall& remains a virgin, in spite of her marriage, since she

has still never known true se(ual pleasure. %hug then kisses Celie, and the two of them

make love.

Celie is shocked when she finall& receives a letter from *ettie from Africa. %he

realizes that Alert has een stealing the letters written & her sister and hiding them awa&


5/35

from her. %he is so angr& at Alert that she has murderous thoughts aout him. %he

determines, however, that she will manage to continue receiving *ettie's letters at an& cost.

3n one letter, *ettie e(plains how she went to the minister's house to find work, :ust as Celie

had suggested. 0uring her first visit, she realized that the minister's adopted daughter,

/livia, looked :ust like Celie. *ettie wanted to e close to the child.

*ettie egan to work for Corrine, the minister's wife, and moved into their house.

@ventuall&, she traveled to Africa with the famil& when the& went to e missionaries. . *ettie

writes Celie how surprised she was to find that Christ was dark skinned and that Africa was a

colonized countr&. %he also writes that she lives among the /linka trie, who worships the

roofleaf as a god. %he e(plains that their village is set up on a patriarchal model and that

none of the /linka girls are permitted an education. /livia, however, is eing taught. %he, in

turn, teaches her lessons to her /linka friend named Tashi. When Tashi's parents find out

that she is eing taught, the& forid her from learning.

After *ettie has een in Africa for five &ears, a road is uilt through the /linka village,

and the trie is forced to go to work for an @nglish ruer compan&. 1ife egins to change for

ever&one. Tashi's father dies, and Tashi's mother lets her go to school, as do other /linka

mothers. Corrine ecomes sick and reveals her suspicions that *ettie is /livia and Adam's

mother. *ettie e(plains that the children elong to her sister, Celie. Corrine dies in peace

knowing that her husand and *ettie had not etra&ed her.

%amuel tells *ettie the histor& of /livia and Adam, e(plaining that )onso had rought

the children to him and offered to sell them. Pit&ing the two &oung children, he took them in

and raised them as his own. %amuel also tells *ettie that )onso is her stepfather, not her

real father. *ettie shares all this information with her sister through the letters that she writes.

When Celie hears that )onso, her supposed father, was not her real father, Celie douts

od's e(istence and ceases to write him letters. 3nstead, all her correspondence is

addressed to *ettie.


6/35

%hug announces that she is leaving for another road trip and is taking Celie with her.

When Alert protests, Celie tells him how he has caused her &ears of pain. %ofia, who is out

of prison on parole, speaks up for Celie. Alert ecomes enraged and tries to hit his wife, ut

Celie stas his hand. Celie leaves the farm forever, living with %hug and starting a

successful usiness that makes pants. Celie's departure forces Alert to change

dramaticall&.


7/35

3n eorgia, %ofia egins to work in Celie's store while . 3t takes various

forms, not least of which is se(ual aggression. 3n the ver& first letter, Celie tells of the ause

she suffers at the hands of the man she elieves for a long time is her father. 8ar& Agnes is


8/35

raped & the white uncle whom she approaches for help to get %ofia out of prison and 8r

5Alert6 also tries to force *ettie to sumit to him efore she leaves the house after fighting

him off.

Celie's se(ual encounters with her husand, 8r- are sordid and unloving >?ust do his

usiness, get off, go to sleep> As %hug remarks, Celie >make it sound like he going to the

toilet on &ou.>Ph&sical violence also seems to e a common occurrence, even in

relationships which are =uite loving, like that etween


9/35

ma&or, and her suse=uent sentence to drudger& as the ma&or's servant lasts for man&

&ears. The ond etween her and 8ar& Agnes is stronger than their mutual claim on lierated> of the women in the novel, although she also

suffers veral attack from the church elders ecause of her lifest&le. woman's :o>- sewing - ut the

product is trousers, for women to wear.

8asculine and feminine temperament are also addressed in the novel. %hug is

descried & Alert as eing >more manl& than most men>, ut as Celie rightl& points out to

him, those =ualities of independence, honest& and integrit& are e=uall& valid as womanl&

=ualities. What the novel asserts is that P@/P1@ are weak and strong, and gender should

not dictate perceptions of =ualities which are essentiall& human.

Racial issues

A sense of racial tension runs throughout the novel alongside the feminist issues

dealt with. Celie is the daughter of a successful *egro store owner, l&nched & white men for

no other reason than his financial success. All the characters in Celie's famil& and the

e(tended famil& she comes into contact with through %hug and her husand's children are


10/35

the poor e(ploited lacks of the American %outh. The& are almost e(clusivel& ill educated,

adl& housed, unale to travel or to etter themselves. The e(ceptions to the rule, *ettie's

enefactors, %amuel and Corinne, are unale to progress in their homeland, having to travel

to Africa to e >successful> as missionaries. Parado(icall&, of course, the& are not taken

seriousl& & the /linka people who the& set out to evangelise and save, eing regarded &

them in the same wa& as the& see white men - interfering and useless. When the& return to

@urope the& are treated with suspicion and unease & the white church elders.

All the characters are poor. When 8ar& Agnes dresses up to visit her uncle to tr& to

get %ofia released from prison, she looks >like she a white woman, onl& her clothes patch.>

There is oviousl& a huge ine=ualit& in terms of education. *ettie and Celie go to school ut

onl& while the& are not needed for domestic toil. As soon a Celie is married, her education

stops. *ettie's is carried on as a result other sister's sacrifice. 8ost of the characters live in

su standard housing, segregated from the white population. The& have their own cemeter&7

church7 school and have to wait in line in stores until whites are served. 3t is common for

white residents to treat *egroes as though the& were animals. 0eepl& offensive things are

said and done to them. When *ettie is going to Africa, a white &stander remarks >*iggers

going to Africa... now 3 have seen ever&thing.>

The few characters in the stor& who manage to change their fortunes onl& serve to

emphasise the plight of the rest. %hug Aver& is a successful lues singer with a life of

comparative lu(ur&, ale to travel and earn mone&. %ome of this affluence comes also to

8ar& Anne, and eventuall& to Celie when she egins her dressmaking usiness. *ettie is

luck& to e fostered & %amuel and Corinne and with their help achieves a career and

education, ut the ma:orit& of the people have to struggle to survive from da& to da&, trapped

& povert& and ignorance.


11/35

@ven the poorest of the whites consider themselves superior to an& lack, no matter

how successful. 53t is worth noting that the real lues singer, +essie %mith, upon whom %hug

Aver& is loosel& ased, died as a result of eing neglected after an accident ecause she

could not e treated in a white hospital6 The stor& of %ofia is the main episode in the novel

which illustrates the hazards of eing lack in eorgia in the thirties 5and later6 %ofia is

spirited and strong, assertive and independent and &et she is reduced to total helplessness

when she dares to answer ack to the ma&or's wife - a spineless creature who is herself as

weak as %ofia is strong. %ofia refuses to e patronised. %he makes the mistake of >looking

like someod&> - driving in a car, an unusual thing in those da&s for an&one, let alone a lack

woman and repl&ing to the ma&or's wife's offer of menial work with a > The eating

she receives is out of all proportion to the offence she committed ut the white ruling class

shows no merc& to an >uppit& nigger>. The fact that all of her friends accept what has

happened to her shows the e(tent of the madness of the societ& of the time. The& are ale

to save her from the prison sentence & a trick, ut it does not condone the fact that there

was no :ustification at all for the severit& of what was done to her in the first place, or the ten

&ears domestic service she endures eing ordered aout and patronised ever& single da&.

The incident of the Christmas visit home shows how ignorant the whites reall& are, since

8iss 8illie has no idea that she is eing unfair when she insists on eing driven home.

%laver& in fact was aolished after the Civil war ut it lived on in all ut name for almost a

centur&.

3n the character of @leanor ?ane, Alice Walker manages to show that it is possile for

lack and white to mend relationships and egin to understand and accept one another. +&

the end of the novel @leanor ?ane and %ofia are ale to relate like e=ual women rather than

lack servant and mistress, ut onl& after %ofia has een rutall& honest with the &ounger

woman aout the realit& of the wa& she feels aout her and her child. @leanor ?ane egins to

realise that %ofia is a woman, not a faceless lack person like all the rest of her race and


12/35

even turns on her own parents, demanding to know how a woman like %ofia could work for

>trash>. The main point to note aout the racial pre:udice shown & whites to lacks is that it

is ver& often unconscious and all the more insidious ecause of that.

Religion

The church is an important part of the social life of the communit& in which Celie

lives. At the eginning of the novel she is a staunch memer of the church, and continues to

e so, working as hard there as she does for 8r and his children. As long as 3 can spell -o-d 3 got someod& along.> %he looks to od

as a support and a help although in practice she gets ver& little help from her fellow church

goers.like some white man work at

the ank.>. All the angels are white, too and she comes to realise that this od is useless to

her. *ettie's letters egin to show her that ?esus was more like her than a white man >with

hair like lam's wool>, not >white> at all. %he has een conditioned in her elief & the

illustrations in the white interpretations of the ile.


13/35

Celie accepts this interpretation as part of her general emancipation and it lierates

her as much as her se(ual fulfilment with %hug and her economic success oth do. +& the

end of the novel she has found a much more open and rela(ed attitude to religious elief

and a purpose in her life which was not provided & the narrowness other original church

upringing.

*ettie's religious e(perience is different to Celie's, eing more conventional in the

missionar& setting in Africa, ut she, too arrives at a more rela(ed and tolerant outlook as the

novel ends is significant, as is her decoration of her hut with native

artefacts rather than the stereot&pical images of the missionar& ?esus and saints. %he ends

up with a more spiritual and personal relationship with od as a result of her time in Africa,

and like her sister comes to realise that the narrowness of conventional elief and practice

closes rather than opens the wa& to a personal contact with the Almight&.

+oth the sisters complete a personal :ourne& towards a deeper knowledge of od as

the novel ends. Celie's last letter egins. 0ear od, dear stars, dear trees, dear sk& dear

peoples . 0ear @ver&thing. 0ear od. %imple, naive in the e(treme, ut sincere and ver&

optimistic.

The African Experience

All *ettie's e(periences as a missionar& in West Africa take up a large part of the

novel. 3nitiall& she is e(cited at the prospect of returning to her roots in order to convert her

ethnic rothers and sisters. A series of disappointments and disillusionments follow, as she

realises that the& are uninterested in slaver&, the lack e(perience in America, or reall& in the


14/35

religion which the missionaries have rought them. Parado(icall&, Corinne, %amuel and

*ettie are alien outsiders among their own original people. There is no racial unit& etween

the three of them and the /linkas despite the colour of their skins and their common

heritage.

/linka societ& is at first fascinating and alluring ut as the time progresses *ettie

egins to realise that it has deepl& disturing customs. Women are treated aominal&, not

allowed education or independence and are under the >protection> of men. this protection is

no etter than dominance and suservience. *ettie, like man& of the women in eorgia is

not accepted & the men of the /linka ecause the& mistrust her independence and spirit.

/nl& Tashi comes round to her wa& of thinking and she is ostracised and leaves the trie to

marr& Adam travelling ack to America with *ettie and Celie's children.

The practice of female circumcision and facial scarring is also revolting to *ettie, who

regards it as degrading ut understands it to e a custom which enales the /linka to cling

on to its trial identit& in a changing world. 3t is a araric custom and *ettie feels helpless to

influence the trie or to help the victims.The saddest part of the African e(perience is the

wa& in which the people of the trie are e(ploited & the white traders who drive their roads

into the interior oliterating ancient settlements and destro&ing lifest&les which have lasted

for centuries. The /linka are hospitale and give the uilders food while the& destro& the

village and the roof leaf supplies. Alice Walker gives us a sad portrait of a d&ing lifest&le and

an osolete people.

There is a strong sense of outrage that people are driven out of their rightful homes

for foreign 5white6 economic gain, forced to pa& for the privilege of living in corrugated huts

and ecoming pre& to disease ecause their &am crops are destro&ed ;ltimatel& %amuel

and *ettie are forced to leave and return to America. The link etween the people in eorgia


15/35

and the Africans is that oth are victims of white oppression, ut tragicall&, despite their

common heritage, the& can e of no help to one another.

CHARACTERS

Celie

Celie's ailit& to see life as it is and accept it eventuall& helps her to visualize life as it

can e and then reach for it. Celie had to learn resilience from the time she was a child or

she would not have survived. When she was a &oung girl, her stepfather raped her

continuousl& and this lead to the irth of two children.


16/35

should have cared for her. spoiled>, as Alfonso sa&s to Alert, and will not e an&

troule. %he is aused and eaten, treated as a slave & 8r and his children and deprived of

her children, elieving them to e dead for a long time.


17/35

she actuall& emodies a great deal of true Christian charit& and her reward, through the

female in her life is to achieve se(ual, economic and spiritual lieration. %he takes charge of

her life and in doing so manages to achieve in middle age a dominant role with propert&, a

home and mone& to offer her sister and her children when the& come home from Africa.

Shug Avery


18/35

teaches her how to gratif& herself. %he also calls )onso >a son of a itch> when she reads

his gravestone, praising him as a great parent and person7 she does humorousl& remind

Celie, however, that at least he is dead. When Alert does not take Celie's curse seriousl&,

%hug warns him to listen or e sorr&. When she tells Celie that she is leaving with ermaine,

she promises that it will onl& e one last fling for si( months7 then she promises to live with

Celie forever.

%hug loves without an& oundaries of age or gender. Celie claims that %hug is loved

& so man& people ecause she finds it eas& to give love. %he falls in love with Alert when

she is &oung, ut refuses to marr& him ecause he is too weak. 3nstead, %hug has a

constant string of affairs and flings7 ut she alwa&s comes ack to Alert to get her

grounding and to en:o& some se(. @ven though Celie is married to Alert, %hug sleeps with

him in the ne(t room. When she returns to eorgia with her new husand, rad&, she

egins an affair with Celie that will last, off and on, throughout the novel. Then, when living

with Celie, she egins an affair with ermaine, a nineteen-&ear-old man in her and. %he

has one last fling with him efore permanentl& settling down with Celie. Although %hug's

lifest&le and philosophies are often wild and unconventional, she is a perfectl& natural and

free spirit. %he never =uestions if it is right or wrong to love a person, e it male or female,

&oung or old. %hug simpl& loves people who need loving.

Sofia

%ofia is another strong female character. 0uring the novel, she suffers greatl& for her

independent spirit and impudence. As husand and wife, she and


19/35

%ofia is then aused & the white power structure. When the ma&or's wife suggests

that she come to work for her as a maid, %ofia tells her >hell, no.> )or her impudent manner,

the ma&or slaps her. 3n turn, %ofia socks the ma&or, knocking him down. %he is then eaten,

arrested, and put in prison, where she is constantl& aused & the white staff. 0uring her

&ears of confinement, oth in prison and in the home of the ma&or, %ofia survives on hatred,

even thinking of murder. 3n spite of her anger, she is a good nann& to 8iz 8illie's children,

and @leanor ?ane develops a devotion to her. 3n the end, %ofia is ale to love her in return,

especiall& when @leanor ?ane agrees to help care for


20/35

A victim himself of the c&cle of oppression, when Alert married and assumed the

role of patriarch, he acted out all the lessons he had een taught.


21/35

forever grateful. @ven though she escapes oppression and is allowed to e(plore the world,

*ettie never forgets who facilitated her escape.

3n Africa, *ettie faithfull& writes to Celie, telling her aout /livia and Adam and aout

her e(periences in the native land. @ven though she never hears from Celie 5since Celie's

letters are returned undelivered6, she is not discouraged and thinks someda& she ma& hear

from her sister if she continues to write to her. *ettie is important to the novel, for the news

she gives Celie aout /livia and Adam help keep the children alive in Celie's heart.


22/35

feeling of optimism at the end of the ook, %ofia is also ale to persuade @leanor ?ane, the

ma&or's daughter to think carefull& aout how to relate to lack people and there is a

suggestion that tolerance and friendship could e achieved eventuall& etween them.

Mary Agnes (Suea!"

8ar& Agnes is a minor character - the woman


23/35

*ettie is the clever girl of the famil&, ale to continue her education 5at Celie's

e(pense6 and as a result ale to travel as a missionar& assistant to Africa with Corinne and

%amuel. %he maintains contact with Celie, ut the :ealous& of Alert means that for man&

&ears her letters are withheld.


24/35

The men % Alfonso& Al'er#& Gra$y& an$ o#hers

>Wherever there's a man, there's trouleE>

3t is hardl& surprising that most of the male characters in this novel are presented in

an uns&mpathetic light. The& are all, even %amuel, inferior in some wa& to the women the&

associate with. The& ehave deploral&7 acting in an aggressive, often rutal wa&7 The&

show little understanding of women, treating them as slaves, menial workers or se( o:ects.

The& seem also to have no solidarit& , unlike the females, who and together to support and

console one another. The men in this novel seem to e incapale of onding with one

another and show little evidence of communicating on an&thing other than a ver& asic,

crude level.

Perhaps the least attractive of the men is the stepfather, Alfonso 5Celie's spelling - he

can e Alphonso if &ou give him his real name6. 8r> & Celie. %he is not even

friendl& enough with him to use his given name and he makes little effort to get to know her

at all until their mutual attraction to %hug Aver& forces them together enough to acknowledge


25/35

their tolerance for one another. 3n the earl& da&s of the marriage, 8r is callous and

e(ploitative7 carr&ing on his affair with %hug under the same roof and making no attempt to

treat Celie as an&thing other than a household chattel. The onl& mitigating feature aout

Alert is his devotion to %hug Aver&. he has a lifelong passion for her and remains devoted

to her even when their ph&sical relationship stops. Apart from that he is thoroughl& vindictive,

keeping all *ettie's letters from Celie as a delierate act of meanness ecause *ettie

refuses to sleep with him. %hug is the onl& woman who has an& effect on him. %he is ale to

stop him from eating Celie7 she gets *ettie's letters ack and eventuall& she is ale to

effect a slight reconciliation, after Celie leaves him to go awa& with %hug. 3t is their mutual

love for %hug which enales Celie and 8r to reach a modus vivendi - that and a proper

sumissive attitude on his part.

rad&, %hug's 5temporar&6 husand, is repellent and patronising. 3t is difficult to see

wh& a vital character like %hug Aver& decides to take up with such a weak character, ut he

convenientl& acts as a wa& of accommodating 8ar& Agnes when she goes off to e a singer.

ermaine, also is a strange companion for a woman as strong as %hug, eing much

&ounger than she is 5nineteen6 and ver& effeminate. The affair is short lived, though, and

perhaps serves to illustrate the >masculinit&> of %hug and the point that role reversal is

possile.

There is no dout, though that men in general are treated with scant respect & Alice

Walker in this novel. %he has chosen a collection of rutal, ignorant people to e the

partners of her female characters. Artisticall& and philosophicall& this is understandale, as it

enales her to reinforce the point that women in their own right are =uite capale of standing

apart from men, ecoming independent and self confident as sisters, in a caring and

supportive network such as the one which upholds Celie and her friends.

T


26/35

3n chapter F, %hug sa&s that she elieves that it angers od if a person walks & the color

of purple in a field without stopping to notice and admire it. 3n this statement, %hug

summarizes her religious philosoph&7 to her, od is not some distant deit& living on high, ut

a genderless, raceless eing that wants people to appreciate and en:o& life. 3t is also

significant that she chose the color of purple, for it is the color of ro&alt&7 and &et a reall&

deep purple seems almost to e lack.

STRCTRE

The structure of The Color Purple is the series of letters Celie writes to od and to

her sister *ettie. %ome of the letters in the ook are written & *ettie to Celie. This literar&

form is called the epistolar& novel, a form developed in eighteenth-centur& @ngland &

novelists like %amuel Gichardson. A ma:or advantage of this structure is that the reader

ecomes intimate with the character of the letter writer. With the epistolar& form, Walker was

ale to focus on the inner life of her main character and create a sense of intimac& that ma&

e partl& responsile for the success of the ook. This techni=ue creates a confidential

reading e(perience. The reader has a chance to read over the characters shoulder and look

inside her. *ettie, to a great e(tent, escaped the cruelt& that Celie e(perienced ecause she

was ale to leave home earl&. The tone of her letters to Celie contrasts sharpl& with Celies

letters to od. 3n *etties letters, there is much less intimac&. The& do not contain the

suffering that Celie has e(pressed in her letters to od. +& introducing *etties letters,

Walker is ale to shift her stor& from Celies life of despair to a life that egins to have hope.

3t is through the help of %hug Aver& that Celie finds her hope-the letters from *ettie that

Alert had hidden from her.

+asicall& there are four time frames of the novel. 3n the first period of her life, Celie

e(periences the miser& of povert& and cruelt& at the hands of her stepfather. 3n the second

closel&-related period, Celie e(periences continued cruelt& from her husand Alert. 3n the

third period, she awakens to the possiilit& of self-realization through her relationship with


27/35

%hug and her renewed contact with her sister *ettie. )inall&, Celie has realized herself and

has estalished a life where she has control7 she has found the happiness and contentment

that come from self-realization. Another period, not directl& a part of Celies life, is *etties

time spent in Africa. The letters from *ettie serve as a contrast to Celies life. The& also

enlarge Celies perspective and help to universalize her life.

ST)*E +F ,RITING

The novel The Color Purple & Alice Walker is written in the first person narrative

st&le. This epistolar& e(plores self-discover& and through the characters e&es as she faces

hardships, struggles and achieve goals through inspiration. This novel written in the first

person gives the reader the feeling of having accessed another persons mind and the ailit&

to see the intimate side with no detail hidden. This novel comes across as different from the

traditional 3-stor& as it narrates the stor& in etween situations where the writer of the letters

doesnt necessaril& know the outcome of an& action. Celie who is the narrator and writer of

these letters also creates a self-reflecting and confessionar& aspect & using the first person

narrative st&le. Walkers chosen narrator shows that all people, including uneducated, poor,

victimized lack women have an important stor& to tell.

The first half of the ook showcases letters & Celie addressed to od talking aout

things in her life and that of people around her. This is written from her point of view. The

second half of the ook comprises of the letters e(changed etween *ettie and Celie. This

half shows the difference in language, grammar and writing st&les of oth the women and

their educational ackgrounds and circumstances the& had to face. Celie lack of education

shows in her poor spellings and grammar. *ettie on the other hand is an educated woman

with a strong voice. %he writes aout more comple( things like womens rights, civil rights,

politics, religion etc. in a grammaticall& correct manner. Het the stories oth have to tell are

powerful and interesting. Celie writes to od ecause she isnt allowed to e(press herself to

an&od&.


28/35

Walkers use of od helps her e e(pressive and open as no one else is actuall&

reading these letters. Celie initiall& starts writing to od to seek for and re=uest answers to

wh& she is the recipient of all the violence she faces. %he then aandons this st&le of

narrative and opts for simple narrative that isnt directed towards her or her inner

contemplations ut rather the stor& aout people around her and all that the& face. Walker

makes sure that the reader is involved & using the interactive tacts she uses in The Color

Purple. 0ue to the dialect Walker amalgamates into her novel, the reader is re=uired to

figure out the meaning of certain phrases and must also work out meanings in etween lines

to get the full idea and intent of writing this wa&. The use of dialect also makes the ook full

of character and colorful.

As this is ook is written in a first person form we can clearl& see the change and

growth in the narrators character and maturit&. The difference in approach and importance

given to situations especiall& that of rape differs from the first few to the later letters and the

maturit& can e clearl& oserved. Walker chooses to write through lack vernacular @nglish

and the poor spelling and grammar throughout the letter enales the reader to pa& more

attention to what Celie is sa&ing and slows down the pace of the ook. This dialect form also

helps in estalishing a ond etween the reader and the narrator due to Celies naIve use of

language. The shocking language in used in the opening letter affects the readers and

makes them want to give answers to her pleas for help. Celie has shorter and lunter

sentences in the initial few letters and deals with more comple( images later on in this novel.

*etties letters add a different and a roader perspective to this ook.


29/35

in the achievement of the narrators selfJ identit&. This form of writing finall& supports the

novelist in eing ale to reinvent forms or genres of writing such as autoiograph& and

coming-of-age novels.

-+INT +F .IE,

The novel is written from Celies point of view, the protagonist. %he tells the stor& in

first person, again the form of letters. This st&le of narrative should e fairl& eas& for readers

to follow ecause she is telling the stor& of her life directl&. Though she is writing to od, the

students ma& put themselves in There is a recurring them of ugliness and

eaut& throughout the novel. Celie is considered ugl& and is tormented & her husand, 8r.

999999999999 who treats her with loathing and disrespect. 3n contrast to Celie is %hug


30/35

Aver& who is eautiful and the love of 8r. 99999999999's life. Celie is used & ever&one in

the ook for cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the house while %hug is admired for her

talent and outgoing personalit&. 8r. 999999999999 and others don't see the eaut& in Celie

who is kind and caring. Celie is like that field of purple flowers Alice Walker discusses, and

like people who pass & the field without noticing its eaut&, she is ignored and often aused

& people who don't see her worth. %he is a woman, lack, and poor, &et in her is a

eautiful spirit if one takes the time to notice

-ERS+NA* .IE,-+INT

To e frank, this is a difficult as 3 reall& struggled to finish this ook. A few &ears ago 3

have read some ooks & Alice Walker. 3 think The Color Purple also contains a lot of topics

that are still important toda& ut it is a ook 3 should have read as a teenager. ;ncle Toms

Cain was one of the first ooks m& mother read to me when 3 was a child, it made a ig

impression. 3f there wasnt such a lot of violence and some e(plicit se( in The Color Purple it

would e great for children as well. 3m too familiar with the topics & now to care much for

the educational intention ehind the stor& and the narrative voice J a childlike voice narrating

the stor& in form of letters addressed to od and later letters addressed to a distant sister J

anno&ed me a lot. After a hundred pages 3 could hardl& ear to go on reading. %till, as 3 said,

the topics are important and some elements were interesting.

3 was surprised and shocked when i read for the first time Kthe colour purpleL. 3 was

totall& mesmerized & %hug Aver& and was somewhat inspired & all the characters who

transform themselves into a etter self. As for eing a classic, i dont think so it fits into that

categor&. +ut one can definitel& learn and understand racism, love etween women and

slaver&. /n retrospect, i think instead of this reading this ook, i would like to watch the

movie directed & %teven %pielerg.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Classics-Uncle-Toms-Cabin/dp/0007902263/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338405414&sr=1-2http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Classics-Uncle-Toms-Cabin/dp/0007902263/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338405414&sr=1-2http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Classics-Uncle-Toms-Cabin/dp/0007902263/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338405414&sr=1-2http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Classics-Uncle-Toms-Cabin/dp/0007902263/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338405414&sr=1-2


31/35

3 think 3 would have liked it if she had condensed the stor& and focussed on %hug and

Celie. 3 liked %hugh as a character, she is a ver& free and fulfilled perosn and helps Celie. 3t

was the side stor& of the sister and the narrative voice in the second half that 3 had a huge

promlem with. The eginning how she meets %hug and how their friendship develops is

nice. And the stor& of %ofia is a heartreaking. Clearl& it has a lot of interesting elements ut

she overdid it. And, as 3 wrote, 3 found the part on Africa not acceptale. 8an& people dont

know that without the help of some Africans slaver& wouldnt have een possile the wa& it

was done ut not ever&one participated. eneralizations are ever a good wa& ut 3 found it

particularl& disappointing in this conte(t.

3 was amivalent at first ut after having finished and read the whole part on Africa

and the generalizations 3 :ust couldnt reall& like it an&more. At the same time 3 thought it was

mean as the other topics felt so important. When a ook touches on topics like this its hard

to sa& J no this didnt work for me.3 think one could also :ust focus on the role religion pla&s

in the ook 5unfortunatel& there are a lot of contradictions6. 3 have a hard time imagining how

Celie, %hug and *ettie would speak aout religion.

The most important topics are se(ism and racism. Cultural heritage and religion.

%laver& and freedom. %elf-esteem and lack of confidence. @ach character emodies one or

more topics ut with the e(ception of one of the central characters %hug Aver&, the +lues

singer and lover of Celie and Celies husand, all the characters undergo a :ourne& from a

fractured self to a complete self. /nl& %hug is full& herself from the eginning of the novel

until the end and as such functions like a catal&st. %he is also the onl& one who has the Ktrue

religionL or rather spiritualit&. A religion free of false patriarchal images, a religion which

celerates life and od in ever&thing and ever&one. This aspect of the novel is interesting

and was glad to finall& find out what the title of the novel means.

1isten, od love ever&thing &ou love J and a mess of stuff &ou dont. +ut more than

an&thing else, od love admiration.Hou sa&in od vainB *ot vain, :ust wanting to share a


32/35

good thing. 3 think it pisses od off if &ou walk & the colour purple in a field somewhere and

dont notice it.Well, let us talk and talk aout od, ut 3m still adrift. 3 am t&ing to chase that

old white man out of m& head. 3 een so us& thinking aout him 3 never trul& notice nothing

od make. *ot a lade of corn 5how it do thatB6 not the colour purple 5where it come from6

*ot the little wild flowers. *othing.

Towards the middle of the novel, Celie discovers that her long-lost sister *ettie has

een writing to her ever since she left.


33/35

elaorate kingdoms to the hunter gatherer societies there was ever&thing efore the white

people even arrived. While, &es, certain African people were activel& selling other Africans J

mostl& the coastal people sold those from inside the countr&, the lesser developed people J

and without the assistance of Africans slaver& wouldnt have een possile, not ever&one

has partaken in this. This is simplif&ing and distorting histor&. The end of the ig cities was

rought upon them & the whites. As developed as Africa was, in art and culture, the& had no

pistols or guns or an& such weapons and were rought down relativel& easil& & a small

numer of white traders and e(plorers.

All in all, as 3 mentioned efore, the narrative voice anno&ed me. 3t was ver&

repetitive. 3 also thought there was much too much in this ook. Celies and %hugs stor&

would have een sufficient. There was no need to add a sister who travels to Africa as a

missionar&. 3ts as if she had wanted to touch upon each and ever& su:ect related to

or important in the life and histor& of Afro-American women. 3t ma& e mean to sa& so ut 3

dont think this would received a Pulitzer if it had een pulished now and not &ears ago.

1et me end this view on a provocative note and add a =uestion for the read along

participants or an&one who has read the ook.After having read The Color Purple, do &ou

reall& consider this to e a classic or is it not rather :ust a ver& famous ookB


34/35

REFERENCES

!. httpMMetd.lsu.eduMdocsMavailaleMetd-2$!-!N4N2MunrestrictedM%andefur9dis.pdf $. httpMMwww.marked&teachers.comMgcseMenglishMe(amine-walker-s-narrative-

techni=ues-in-the-color-purple-including-consideration-of-the-use-of-letters-language-

and-imager&-as-well-as-responding-to-critical-opinions-of-these-techni=ues.html . httpMMmunin.uit.noMitstreamMhandleM!FM44Mthesis.pdfBse=uenceO!N. httpMMwww.antiessa&s.comMfree-essa&sMThe-Color-Purple-)rom-A-)irst-###$$.html4. httpMMwww.ookrags.comMnotesMtcpM=uo.html 5 uote 6

2. >*ational +ook Awards - !"#>. *ational +ook )oundation. Getrieved $!$-!-$2.

5With essa&s & Anna Clark and Tara&i ?ones from the Awards 2-&ear anniversar&

log.6

F. The !"" Most Fre#uently Challenge$ %oo&s of '"""('"") * +merican ,i-rary

+ssociation* Retrieve$ January '"!.*

#. +lice /al&er ( -iography * Retrieve$ +pril !'0 '"!'*

". 8agill +ook Geviews The Color Purple

!. Gotten Tomatoes page for The Color Purple

!!. Goger @ert's review of The Color Purple

!$. John Fleming* Passion for 1Purple2 has ,ocal Roots * Saint Peters-urg Times* 0ec.

!$, $4

!. The Color Purple to Close on +roadwa& )e. $N

!N. %on& Gadio Academ& Awards $" 0ramas

!4. 1etter from Alice Walker to Pulishers at Hediot +ooks

http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0602103-145436/unrestricted/Sandefur_dis.pdfhttp://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/examine-walker-s-narrative-techniques-in-the-color-purple-including-consideration-of-the-use-of-letters-language-and-imagery-as-well-as-responding-to-critical-opinions-of-these-techniques.htmlhttp://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/examine-walker-s-narrative-techniques-in-the-color-purple-including-consideration-of-the-use-of-letters-language-and-imagery-as-well-as-responding-to-critical-opinions-of-these-techniques.htmlhttp://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/examine-walker-s-narrative-techniques-in-the-color-purple-including-consideration-of-the-use-of-letters-language-and-imagery-as-well-as-responding-to-critical-opinions-of-these-techniques.htmlhttp://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/3535/thesis.pdf?sequence=1http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/The-Color-Purple-From-A-First-388822.htmlhttp://www.bookrags.com/notes/tcp/quo.htmlhttp://www.nationalbook.org/nba1983.htmlhttp://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Library_Associationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Library_Associationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Library_Associationhttp://www.biography.com/people/alice-walker-9521939http://www.biography.com/people/alice-walker-9521939http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hclib.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9008013228&site=ehost-livehttp://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hclib.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9008013228&site=ehost-livehttp://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hclib.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9008013228&site=ehost-livehttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/color_purplehttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/color_purplehttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/color_purplehttp://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19851220/REVIEWS/512200302/1023http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19851220/REVIEWS/512200302/1023http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19851220/REVIEWS/512200302/1023http://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/01/news_pf/Floridian/Passion_for__Purple__.shtmlhttp://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/01/news_pf/Floridian/Passion_for__Purple__.shtmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Timeshttp://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=559533http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=559533http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=559533http://www.radioawards.org/winners/?awid=157&awname=The+Drama+Award&year=2009http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1917https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Walkerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yediot_Books&action=edit&redlink=1http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0602103-145436/unrestricted/Sandefur_dis.pdfhttp://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/examine-walker-s-narrative-techniques-in-the-color-purple-including-consideration-of-the-use-of-letters-language-and-imagery-as-well-as-responding-to-critical-opinions-of-these-techniques.htmlhttp://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/examine-walker-s-narrative-techniques-in-the-color-purple-including-consideration-of-the-use-of-letters-language-and-imagery-as-well-as-responding-to-critical-opinions-of-these-techniques.htmlhttp://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/examine-walker-s-narrative-techniques-in-the-color-purple-including-consideration-of-the-use-of-letters-language-and-imagery-as-well-as-responding-to-critical-opinions-of-these-techniques.htmlhttp://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/3535/thesis.pdf?sequence=1http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/The-Color-Purple-From-A-First-388822.htmlhttp://www.bookrags.com/notes/tcp/quo.htmlhttp://www.nationalbook.org/nba1983.htmlhttp://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Library_Associationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Library_Associationhttp://www.biography.com/people/alice-walker-9521939http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hclib.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9008013228&site=ehost-livehttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/color_purplehttp://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19851220/REVIEWS/512200302/1023http://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/01/news_pf/Floridian/Passion_for__Purple__.shtmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Timeshttp://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=559533http://www.radioawards.org/winners/?awid=157&awname=The+Drama+Award&year=2009http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1917https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Walkerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yediot_Books&action=edit&redlink=1


35/35

!2. >Alice Walker re:ects 3sraeli translation of ook>, ?une $, $!$. Hahoo *ews
http://news.yahoo.com/alice-walker-rejects-israeli-translation-book-100016509.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/alice-walker-rejects-israeli-translation-book-100016509.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/alice-walker-rejects-israeli-translation-book-100016509.html

Colour Purple Analysis

Documents

Transcript of Colour Purple Analysis