Rhetorical Analysis Essay On The Color Purple

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LIT C 3 ESSAY THE COLOR PURPLE In a time where the only struggles recognized were those of the white and upper class, The Color Purple follows the life and more prominently, the struggles of Celie, a black woman in the South during the early to mid 18th century. Celie's life is filled with explicit bigotry and racism, but the book focuses on Celie's growth as a person, and how she learns to navigate the world she is stuck in. In this book, Alice Walker teaches the reader that confidence and happiness is found by accepting oneself unconditionally. One way Walker does this is that she juxtaposes Celie's internal thoughts and external reactions to exemplify both Celie's acceptance of herself, and her alignment with her inner self. Written from …show more content…

The calm and hopeful atmosphere in the passage is shattered as soon as Celie stops loving herself because Shug doesn't love her- supporting the given theme by showing that reliance on other people loving you is not the way to happiness. Walker, in the passage, strategically states all observations objectively- short, concise, and to the point. That helps set up observations as the truth, as defined. It allows the reader to believe the fortune cookie and to accept the consequences that come with not listening to that future. Walker uses devices other than symbolism. Throughout the book, Walker repeats the juxtaposition of others opinions of Celie with her own, showing how Celie's acceptance of all elements of herself increases her confidence. The following quotes come from two characters: Celie and Mr.______(Mr._____ is Celie's “husband”, who is unnamed in the text). Directly following a large argument, the first quote is Mr.____, attempting to insult Celie, saying: “I'm poor, I'm ugly, I'm a woman, I'm a woman I think that's just how you are.” (206). In the context of the argument, he is attempting to describe Celie- to both put her down with his own opinion and to make her admit to these qualities. A biting insult obviously meant to undermine

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