Is Alice Walker the Symbolism Behind The Color Purple?.
Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple is a reflection of Walker's own personal struggles in life. Not necessarily the same struggles as the characters in her book but struggles that formed the person that she has become. Alice Walker went through many experiences the really influenced her views about herself as well views of everything that surrounded her. These difficulties molded her views and created the writer that she is today. .
As a child Alice Walker was raised in a small farm house with five older siblings. She said that when she was younger she thought of herself as a pretty girl. She enjoyed giving speeches in her church and have people watch her. She was a very out-going girl that had friends and enjoyed life. Walker then enjoyed physical features of the people around her. She liked to watch facial expressions and reactions that people had. Physical appearances obviously played a big role in her life; she based a lot of her opinions about herself on it. (www.members.tripod.com). .
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One day she and her older brothers were playing "Cowboys and Indians" and she was shot in the eye by a BB gun. Once her brothers saw the blood pour from her right eye they became fearful of their parents wrath. To avoid punishment they begged Alice to say she was struck in the eye with a piece of wire. She lied for her brothers but suffered the consequences. (www.members.tripod.com). .
Her parents didn't take her to the hospital right away because they believed the wound could be taken care of at home. As Alice laid in bed she developed a fever from an infection in the eye. Her father tried using a home remedy and laid lily petals around Alice's head while her mother used a more modern approach and fed her soup and crackers. Soon she was taken to the hospital and she was told that she has permanently lost sight in her right eye.