The Color Purple Character Analysis Essay

Characterization: Celie is the protagonist as well as the narrator. She writes letters to God which is how the story is told. The story is told in first person, “ I am fourteen years old” which is referring to Celie herself as she tells the story (Pg.8). The antagonist is her father, Alphonso. He rapes Celie and forces her to do things she does not want too such as, “you better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy” threatening Celie to not say he rapes her or else he will kill his mom (Pg 8). This is the main reason why Celie writes to God. Nettie is Celie’s sister who attributes to the story a lot. Nettie is the only person Celie has. Mr.__ is the man who Celie later on marries and keeps in secret all the letters from Nettie to Celie. Shug is Mr.__ mistress, but she soon falls in love with Celie and Celie does too.

The author uses direct characterization to deliver information about the characters in order for the reader to build an image of them. This is so because Celie who is the protagonist as well as the narrator is the one telling the readers of how they are and look like. The

author uses no dialogue to distinguish which character is talking. All the characters speak improper since they lack education. Celie states, “Finally she ast” revealing her poorly education since she says “ast” rather than “ask” ( Pg. 9). The author does not give details of how each character looks like. The author’s main focus is on what each character does instead. However, the author does let the reader know how the rest of the characters feel towards Celie. They often say, “ She ugly. She ain’t smart. But she can work like a man” this was a remark her father said to Mr.__ when he was trying to give her away (Pg 14). Most of the character stay the same and do not change throughout the novel. As Celie’s life continues she grows up and becomes smarter than she first was. Nettie is another character who is dynamic throughout the novel. At the end of the novel she is not the little girl who she first started out to be at the beginning.
Point of View: The novel is told in first person through a series of letters to God written by Celie. She uses the pronoun “I” referring to herself as she tells her own story. At the beginning of the novel she states, “ I am fourteen years old. I am I have been a good girl” setting the novel in first person (Pg. 8). The point of view has a major effect of how the novel is told. If the novel would have been told in a different point of view, the story would have differ from how Celie tells it. If the novel was rather told in third person the novel would of excluded a lot of the feelings Celie reveals about each character and situation. Since the novel is about Celie’s life, if someone else had been telling the story there would of been different perspectives making the story seem worse or not bad at all. For example if her father was the one telling the story, the story then would appear not as bad as Celie tells about him raping her. Therefore, the point of view really matters in this novel. Since the novel is based on Celie, it is best for her to narrate the novel. That way the reader gets to experience the novel through her eyes.
Setting: The setting of the Novel is set in Georgia. The novel does not state a specific date in which the novel is taken place. However, based on the way the characters speak, the reader can acknowledge the novel is set somewhere in the first half of the twentieth century. The characters use improper language which reveals why the novel could possibly be taken place within the twentieth century, “ Can’t you see I’m already half dead, and all this chilren” children is misspelled as many other words throughout the novel (Pg.8). This was back then when black people lacked education.
The setting does not change. However the novel’s setting does contribute to the novel’s meaning. If the novel would of have taken place in a more modern time some of the things that occurred in the story would of not occurred. For example, her father giving away Celie to a married guy. Back then that was allowed and it happen. If the story would of have taken place in nowadays, that would of not have happen. Unless Celie wished too. Also, Celie would have continued with school since she states, “He never cared I love it” referring that she liked going to school (Pg.15). Because the setting is set back when woman had no rights, the novel’s setting contributes to its meaning.
Plot: With the use of conflict the author is able to keep the story moving. The first conflict encountered in the story is Celie’s father raping her. Because of this it leads Celie to live a different life than she expected. Her mother is already sick, but as she tries to find out who got Celie pregnant her life comes to an end. As a result her father is responsible for her and decides to give Celie away changing her life. If her father would of not raped Celie in the first place none of this would of have happen. As the novel continues Celie encounters another conflict within her husband, Mr.__. She realizes her life with him is miserable and has no idea where her sister is at. As Shug comes in the story, Celie starts to find out many things and changes the way her life is going.
Style: The style of the novel is different based on how other novels are written.

The novel is compose in short chapters written as letters to God, that explain Celie’s experiences throughout the novel. The story starts with “Dear God” indicating the format of a letter and continues as each new chapter starts (Pg 8.). Walker also presents Celie’s thoughts in the vernacular, with poor grammar and spelling. Celie states, “He never had a kine word to say to me” demonstrating her lack of spelling and grammar by using kine instead of kind (Pg. 8). This emphasize the point that celie is not educated. Celie’s letters tend to first touch open topics briefly and sparsely rather than being developed in long paragraphs. However, after Celie and Nettie reconnect, her letters get longer and more detailed. She is happier in her life, and tend to to express her joy by writing

more.
Literary Devices: Symbolism is used a lot throughout the novel. The color purple itself is a symbol of all the good things in the world that God creates for man and woman within the novel. At the beginning of the novel Celie has no sense of the color purple. Her life is so horrible her only awareness is to survive. However, when Shug comes to her life is when she starts to sense the color purple. Shug says to Celie, “ God does little things for people, like creating the color purple, just to make them happy and give them pleasure in their life” getting Celie to recognize her own beauty (Pg 87). At the end of the novel, Celie shows Shug her new room which is painted in the color purple. This shows her complete journey and how she recognizes her own beauty and perceives herself in being beautiful.
Pants is another symbol used throughout the novel. Pants demonstrates her transformation into a full unrepressed woman. Celie had never wore pants because she and the society she lived in considered pants to be men’s clothing. Celie decides to wear pants whenever she starts a successful business in making pants for both men and women. Therefore, pants are a symbol of liberation from sexism as well as economic liberation.
Celie uses a simile when she states, “ Shug is like a queen” signifying that she sees God as her king and Shug as her queen (Pg 28). Another simile is used when Shug states, “ Purple is like twilight. The time between the end of the day and the start of the night” comparing the color purple to that of twilight (Pg. 88).
Theme: The message for this book is that one should not let others bring oneself down. To not let society decide the way one should be and feel towards oneself. Celie’s life consisted of people telling her the way she should live and made her believe that she was indeed ugly. Until later in the novel she discovers that all that, that society insisted on her to believe is not true. Towards the end of the novel she finally sees that she is beautiful. Therefore, implying that one should not believe what others think of one because one is beautiful no matter one’s race, color, gender, height, etc. Like Shug states, “ God does little things for people, like creating the color purple, just to make them happy and give them pleasure in their life” although, it might take time for one to find that happiness, but soon enough that happiness will enter one’s life making everything better (Pg 87).