The Color Purple Literary Analysis

1380 Words3 Pages

Three Messages From The Color Purple
A discussion of Three Messages From Alice Walker’s The Color Purple
Alice Walker has distilled some of the most controversial literature of her time. Her work has been the foundation for many colored writer's ambitions as well as many others. Her work has stroked passion and evoked a copious amount of different emotion among not only Americans but people around the world. Her story The Color Purple is a prime example of the essence of her persona and the messages she tried to portray. Walkers ideas embedded into this story great strike the souls of Americans, even to the point where this story is being banned from high schools around the country. Jacqueline Bobo states in her book, “This analysis will show …show more content…

Charles Whitaker questions the fact, “Is this the Alice Walker, the alleged fire-breathing feminist, or "womanist" (to use her term) whose Pulitzer Prize Winning novel, The Color Purple, has, for many, come to symbolize Black male bashing at its worst? This novel that Walker has created is certainly a masterpiece, but as Whitaker shows with his questioning, this novel strikes immense amounts controversy among it’s readers and leaves most confused and concerned about Walker's intentions. On a more important note, it is important to consider the fact that this book has been banned all over the country by various schools and libraries due to its controversy. See, the problems with humans is that when they confront something they don’t understand or don’t agree with, the first thing they do is simply remove it. Very often does humanity take the effort to understand the things they don’t agree with, but quite often those ideas are crucial in our race's …show more content…

"29 n The Color Purple: Black Women as Cultural Readers." Cultural theory and popular culture: A reader (1997): 310.
APA
Doyle, Brian. "The Courage of His Convictions." U.S. Catholic, Nov. 2017, p. 23+. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A514097532/ITOF?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=ITOF&xid=78df1c7f. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.
Hart, Hilary. "The Joy of Being -- Feminine Wisdom and the Power of Weakness." Spirituality & Health Magazine, May-June 2009. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A206951911/ITOF?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=ITOF&xid=a73ab7df. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.
Moore, Dianne-Jo. "The importance of friendship." Arthritis Today, Nov.-Dec. 1988, p. 40+. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A7055948/ITOF?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=ITOF&xid=1a078a2f. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.
Whitaker, Charles. "Alice Walker: 'Color Purple' author confronts her critics and talks about her provocative new book." Ebony, May 1992, p. 86+. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A12290929/ITOF?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=ITOF&xid=fadfb6f0. Accessed 28 Nov.

Show More
Related

  • My Haitian Culture In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

    243 Words  | 1 Pages

    I had the opportunity to read “The Color Purple” by Alice walker. Walker was able to illustrate neglect, abuse and oppression of a young black woman in the early 20th century. At the end, she shows how a woman must fight back to regain the self esteem and confidence lost way back in the early adolescent years. The Color Purple is a beautiful story about strength, growth, self-esteem, endurance, fight, all nurtured by love.

    Read More

  • Redemption in Alice Walker's Color Purple

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alice Walker grew up in rural Georgia in the mid 1900s as the daughter of two poor sharecroppers.  Throughout her life, she has been forced to face and overcome arduous lessons of life.  Once she managed to transfer the struggles of her life into a book, she instantaneously became a world-renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner.  The Color Purple is a riveting novel about the struggle between redemption and revenge according to Dinitia Smith.  The novel takes place rural Georgia, starting in the early 1900s over a period of 30 years.  Albert, also known as Mr._____, and his son Harpo must prevail over their evil acts towards other people, especially women.  Albert and Harpo wrong many people throughout their lives.  To be redeemed, they must first learn to love others, then reflect upon their mistakes, and finally become courageous enough to take responsibility for their actions.  In The Color Purple, Alice Walker effectively develops Albert and Harpo through redemption using love, reflection, and responsibility.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On The Color Purple

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Color Purple by Alice Walker is an emotional retelling of the life of a young African American girl named Celie growing up in the South. Celie’s psychological traits and morals can be traced to her physical, cultural, and geographical surroundings. Walker skillfully demonstrates how her environment shapes Celie as a person. These unfortunate surroundings help to explain Celie’s opinions of the world, especially those of men.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: The Color Purple

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alice Walker, "The Color Purple." ENGL 3060 Modern and Contemporary Literature, a book of 2003. Web. The Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • Alice Walker’s The Color Purple And Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    Patriarchal silencing can be enforced in three different ways; physical abuse, emotional abuse, and social demands and/or expectations. Although both books have opposite cultural and racial factors that influence the way in which the women in the books are treated, we can still see that these three ways of silencing women are present. In Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”, the form of patriarchal silencing that is most prominent is the viole...

    Read More

  • Alice Walker's Color Purple - Historical and Political Insight

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice Walker’s writings were greatly influenced by the political and societal happenings around her during the 1960s and 1970s. She not only wrote about events that were taking place, she participated in them as well. Her devoted time and energy into society is very evident in her works. The Color Purple, one of Walker’s most prized novels, sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men. The events that happened during and previous to her writing of The Color Purple had a tremendous impact on the standpoint of the novel.

    Read More

  • The Color Purple Film Analysis

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author of “ The Color Purple “ was Alice Walker. The awards that the book won was the Pulitzer Award for fiction, the National Book award [hardcover], The National Board of Review Award of Best Film, and the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress. It was made into a film and a musical. The publisher was Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. The publication date was 1982. The book's genre is a novel. It is in the hundred most Frequently Challenged books of 2000-2009 at number 17 because of the

    Read More

  • Essay About Alice Walker

    1908 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thesis Statement: Alice Walker, a twentieth and twenty- first century novelist is known for her politically and emotionally charged works, which exposes the black culture through various narrative techniques.

    Read More

  • The Colour Purple - Spirituality & Religion

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alice Walker states that ‘The Colour Purple’ remains for her the “theological work examining the journey from the religious back to the spiritual”. How successful is she in revealing her purpose to the reader?

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

    2330 Words  | 5 Pages

    Symbolism was a major literary element that is developed throughout The Color Purple. A model or image of God in the novel was a truly disturbing and yet a touching dedication to the female spirit and its search for equality, acceptance and independence. The meanings of names, clothes, quilting, occupations, power, and colors are only a few examples of the symbols used by the author to develop the characters of the story. No matter how hard and long Celies looks, it seems impossible to find love and happiness for herself. The purple color itself symbolized love while religion was often seen as offering a path of transformation-a way that leads through to happiness. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker used the symbolism of the letters to God,

    Read More

  • The Power of Female Friendship in The Color Purple by Alice Walker

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout The Color Purple, Alice Walker conveys the importance and the power of female friendship in all forms. It shapes and forms the strong bond of female companionship as means of refuge from oppression, male dominance and a world full of violence perpetrated against woman which the female protagonists wish to break free from. Walker constantly reminds the reader of the gruelling pursuit of identity that all are in search for, both in Africa and America; for females to gain equal recognition as individuals who deserve fair and just treatment in a patriarchal society where as Albert states “Men suppose to wear the pants" in soceity. In conclusion, not only leading Celies personal growth as independent woman but also to the extraordinary establishment of a female solidarity network within the novel. It is this network of female friends that wages a potent challenge to dominate over the patriarchal structure in the text.

    Read More

  • Female Empowerment In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

    1840 Words  | 4 Pages

    The progression of civil rights for black women that existed throughout the twentieth century mirrors the development Celie makes from a verbally debilitated girl to an adamant young woman. The expression of racism and sexism that evidenced itself during the postmodern era presented Walker with an opportunity to compose a novel that reveals her strong animosity toward discrimination. Without these outlets, Walker would not have had the ability to create a novel with such in-depth insights into the lifestyle of an immensely oppressed woman. The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor, young black girl, growing up in rural Georgia in the early twentieth century.

    Read More

  • Intersection of Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality define Social Positions in Alice Walkers The Color Purple

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alice Walker’s The Color Purple takes place in Georgia from 1910 to 1940. During this time racism was easily visible and apparent in society. Black people were seen as lesser beings in contrast to their white counterparts. However, not only are all of the colored characters within The Color Purple forced, by means of oppression, into their social positions because they are not white, but also because some of them are women, lesbian, and lower class. As Crenshaw explains, “[b]ecause of their intersectional identity as both women and of color within discourses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, women of color are marginalized within both” (Crenshaw 5). Celie, the main character in the novel, is given enormous adult responsibility from a young age. After the death of her mother, she is pulled out of school in order to...

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis of The Color Purple

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Color Purple is an epistolary novel written by Alice Walker. This novel displays the growth and development of an average African-American woman. This novel demonstrates the everyday hardships that were placed on blacks, and how they battled to overcome them. It is a very controversial novel, and touches on a variety of sensitive topics, from spousal abuse, incest, to even lesbianism.

    Read More

  • The Sociological Criticism of Alice Walker

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most popular works by Walker was, The Color Purple. In this Alice Walker story, the reader meets a girl named Celie. In this novel, Walker takes the reader on a journey through much of Celie’s life. While taking the reader through this tale, Walker draws attention to a number of social aspects during this time period. Through Cilie’s life, Walker brings to light the abuse and mistreatment of African American women from 1910 through the 1940’s. “Women were also regarded as less important than men-both Black and white Black women doubly disadvantage. Black women of the era were often treated as slaves or as property” (Tavormina page 2...

    Read More

More about The Color Purple Literary Analysis

Open Document