The Creation of Women's Identities in the Color Purple by Alice Walker

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Recommended: The color purple analysis

If we read The Color Purple with 'gender on the agenda' as required we can identify how the form contributes to the impact of the narrative. The Color Purple is a story that unfolds through the writing and exchange of letters. Opening with the line 'You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy.' A warning issued by the abusive 'father' (later and importantly discovered to be step-father) of the central character Celie who indeed pours out her secret to God and later to her sister Nettie about her life and her pain.

It is this epistolary form of storytelling that allows the characters introduced to the reader by the character of Celie to reveal themselves their roles and their culture in an authentic sounding way. Celie, writes as she speaks, in a colloquial manner not normally considered 'proper English' For example the word 'us' is substituted for 'we' and there are misspelled and phonetically spelled words throughout. In other novels, when a character's speech is written in colloquial language it usually signals their comedic role in the story. However, in the beginning of The Color Purple, Celie's letters to God, poignantly (sometimes painfully so)reveal the confessional narrative of a young girl whose sex and race excludes her from formal education. She can say plainly what is happening to her but she cannot interpret he actions of the people around her. She must unburden herself somehow and courageously breaks the silence with her letters to God.

It is through letter writing that the power of communication is emphasized. Celie's absence of bitterness for the way she has been treated allows the reader to empathize and perhaps feel the outrage she does not. We feel very acutely her positio...

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...mply in terms of reliance upon subjugation to men. Her defiance of the custom of demurring in the presence of men stirs envy in Celie, who lacks Sofia's self-assurance, and who consequently advises an exasperated Harpo, to 'beat her' into submission. This is a point of growth for Celie who comes to realize that she has committed a 'sin against Sofia spirit'. Celie is becoming aware of the nature of her own oppression. She is able to analyze her own behavior and admit her jealousy of Sofia's ability to fight back against abuse and to resist male oppression. Here Walker, deftly illustrates the ease with which the cycle of abuse is perpetuated among the abused and the oppressed. In the story, Sofia, represents the indomitable spirit of the woman of color who is determined to be herself regardless of the pressure to submit to the indignities of prejudice and sexism.

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