Themes in The Color Purple
“Tell nobody but God.” (Walker 1). The introductory statement from Celie in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple initiates her progressive journey of finding hope and redemption in the midst of opposition. Preston Mckever-Floyd describes The Color Purple labeling it as a “Veritable fusion of transformations of people, cultures, and worlds.” (Mckever 426). The Color Purple can certainly be classified as a story of transformation. Celie begins the novel as a young girl who lacks confidence, security, and faith, scarred by the horrific happenings of her childhood. While Celie could let the traumatic events of rape and abuse continue to turn her life into a spiral ride down, she instead allows the people who come into her
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With the appearance of her eye fixed, Alice’s confidence rose in her social and academic life. She began watching Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak which inspired her to join the Civil Rights Movement (Lazo 31-33). Walker continued to excel in school, graduated as valedictorian of her class, and went on to attend Splelman College followed by graduating from Sarah Lawrence in 1966 (Lazo 34-35). Before graduation however, Walker became pregnant out of wedlock while traveling in Africa her junior year. Walker considered suicide as a way to escape the wrath she knew her parents would incur. Instead, Alice opted for abortion with the support of a friend. Experiencing extreme guilt, Alice turned to writing as an outlet. She moved to the poorest part of New York City and began her writing career (Lazo …show more content…
The simplicity of Celie’s plea in the midst of her struggle demonstrates her reliance on God as a listening ear even in the beginning stages of her underdeveloped faith. At this point in Celie’s life, she has already undergone the trauma of abuse, rape, pregnancy, and loss of a child at the young age of fourteen. Celie’s response to her baby’s assumed death displays her knowledge of God. When asked what happened to her baby Celie replies, “I say God took it.” (Walker 2). In reality her father, Alphonso, took the baby, but Celie blurred the distinction between God and man. Celie’s impression of God is that he is the murder of her child and can be equated with all other white men. She associated God with “fear and violence” because God is a “he” and the only men she knows in her life have been oppressive and insensitive (Hankinson 321). The reader can assume that the only reason Celie wrote to God despite her immature understanding of Him is because He acted as a captive audience to which Celie could express everything that happened to
First, by demonstrating the importance of the color purple, Celie opened her eyes towards God and then became more self-aware of all the small elements that God set to make her feel joyful, like the color purple. Then, many years pass in the book and Celie truly understand what Shug meant by the color purple in the field. She understands that “[her] ability to find a sense of self-worth, is symbolized by her attainment of color purple.” [Kerr, 177]. Celie’s life did not start on the right foot. She lived and saw a lot of things that killed her deep inside. The color purple in the story was not only an original name for a book that Walker wrote. It means something important in the story. This wonderful color, associate with royalty and prestige, follows the total progress of the young black girl who was, in some words, dead inside, that end up being a lady that now lives of freedom, love and happiness. In other words, the small surprises that, according to Shug, God puts in our life, made Celie stronger and increases her
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.
The relationship between Shug and Celie cuts very deep. Both of them help each other become what they really need to be. Both Celie and Shug were very oppressed people. Celie was oppressed by her lack of caring, and by her lack of self esteem. Shug is caught in other people's image of her. She is not free to become what she really wants to be, which is a loving member of a loving family, which she never really had. This is shown by the quote on page 125-6. "(Mama) never love to do nothing had to do with touching nobody, she say. I try to kiss her, she turn her mouth away. Say, Cut that out, Lillie." Celie freed Shug from the role that everybody wanted her to fit into, and Shug freed Celie from the psychological bonds that were keeping her from making of her life what she wanted it to be, by being a mixture of friend, idol, lover, and teacher.
There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and family, she is able to overcome her obstacles and grow into a stronger, more self-assured individual. While there are numerous themes transpiring throughout the course of the novel, the symbolism is one of the strongest prospects for instigating the plot. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, numerous symbols influence and drive the plot of the novel.
The relationship between Celie and Albert went through many changes throughout this novel. Albert, or Mr._________, was a man who seem to be a person who was very angry, powerful and hateful. His father was a man who believed that love was not the point while trying to find a good wife, obedience was. The woman didn't have to be attractive, rich or one who was in love, all she had to do was cook, clean and tend to the children. Albert was taught that this was the way to an successful life. Albert feel in love with Shug, they did not marry. Mr.____ was controlled by his father even as an adult. His father wouldn't allow his son to marry Shug. His father didn't want him to actually love, because he never loved himself. Albert married a woman his father approved of, and he treated her how his father taught him to. Margret cooked, cleaned and tended to the children. After his father took shug away from him, he hated his father, but was so controlled by him that he could never stand up to his father. She later died and left behind a house to be cleaned, cooking to be done and children who needed to be tended to. He fell in love again with Nettie, but she was not allowed to marry him. Albert was forced to find a quick replacement for Margret. So instead he married Celie. He beat her not only because of the angry towards his father, but also because she was neither Shug nor Nettie. In the marriage of Celie and Albert there was no love or devotion. They were just stuck with the other. Celie married Albert because her step father told her too and Albert married because he wanted a full time maid. They just went one day to the next with Albert giving the orders and Celie carrying out these orders. It was like boss and employ, except Celie was anything but rewarded for carrying out the orders.
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.
The novel, The Color Purple, is an epistolary novel. In the letterforms, Alice Walker gives several ideas, such as, friendship, domination, courage & independence. She impacts readers by looking at the story through the eyes of Celie and Nettie. The book describes the fateful life of a young lady. It tells how a 14 year old girl fights through all the steps and finally she is in command for her own life. Celie is the young lady who has been constantly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused.
In the preface to ‘the Colour Purple’ Walker identifies her religious development as the inspiration for her novel and labels religion and spirituality as the principle themes in the book. There are a number of principle characters who complete this journey however in many instances the religious element of the novel is overshadowed by other prominent themes such as personal development, female relationships and racial issues. These must be taken into consideration when assessing Walker’s success in delivering her theological message to her readers.
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 women 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 society. In conclusion, not only leading Celies personal growth as an independent woman but also to the extraordinary establishment of a female solidarity network within the novel.
In the novel, the former half of Celie’s letters were written to God. At the time, she had no other form of self expression, as any other form led to abuse from her father or husband. She sees God as a person that will listen to what she has to say, although she does not fully understand who God is. She is then led to think of God as anything she wants him to be. She decides on the belief that God is a something (rather than a someone) that brings happiness and joy. She has finally discovered herself in letter 90 as she addresses it “Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear everything. Dear God.” (page 242) This transition from the belief that God is a person to the belief that God is a figure depicts Celie’s journey through
If we analyse the story instead of the narrative perspective can we see that the main reason of Celie's insecurity is caused by the way she is treated by men. She is sexually abus...
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple presents a fractured society in which African-American women are subjected to the discrimination from, predominantly but not exclusively, white and black men. Our protagonist, Celie, is reduced to domestic slavery from the tender age of fourteen, enforced by violence, psychological and sexual abuse. The opening line of the novel, the only one which breaks the epistolary form, ‘You better not never tell nobody but god’ induces a psychological strain on Celie, isolating her from her family resorting to addressing her narrative, pathos letters, to God. This line refers to the shockingly graphic incestuous rape by Celie’s ‘Pa’, a degrading torment that, twinned with the stress of secrecy, confines Celie to isolate herself even from her own body - it is not until the emergence of ‘Shug Avery’, that Celie discovers pleasure in her own skin.
Alice Walker's use of characterization in her novel The Color Purple depicts her main theme of female empowerment and the importance of maintaining an assertive voice. The tyrannical male characters, the victimized female characters, and the development of the protagonist, Celie, express Walker's firm views of female independence in a male dominated society. Her feminist views have been influenced by her experiences with discrimination as an African-American woman as well as her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. These experiences serve as an inspiration for developing the character Celie, a young black woman discovering her own sense of self while battling a male dependent environment. 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.
It was a mercy. Offered by a human.” Morrison’s vision, while it may redeem our view of the abandoning mother, suggests that in a world without God, there is no protection. Acts of kindness and humanity—large and small—run through the story,
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...