The Color Purple, by Alice Walker is a historical novel showing how an uneducated, fourteen-year-old black girl living in rural Georgia between 1910 through 1940 can overcome years of abuse and betrayal, and become an independent, confident woman. Celie faces racism and sexism, female relationships and the disruption of traditional gender roles. Celie has strength and endurance, is able to love unconditionally, and is in constant search for truth. Celie never gives up faith. .
Racism and Sexism are a major issue today as it was before. The Color Purple is set in Rural Georgia during 1910 through 1940. Racism is a main issue in the novel. One example is when Sofia is out with the children, and just then the mayor and his wife come by. The mayor's wife asks Sofia to work for her, and be her maid. Sofia says, "Hell no." The mayor's wife can't believe what Sofia has said to her and her husband pushes his wife aside and slaps Sofia. During this time period of time, it is considered right for Sofia, a black woman to be a maid. She should be honored to be the maid of the mayor. The consequences for a black person disobeying a white authority figure would be severe. The mayor and his wife put Sofia to work in the prison laundry all day long. It is clearly racism that lands Sofia in jail. Soon after, she is sent to live with the mayor and be his maid for twelve years. Sofia is great to the family. Sofia teaches Miz Millie how to drive and when Miz Millie finally knows how, she wants to bring Sofia to visit her family. What a kind gesture. Sofia gets into the front seat, as always, but Miz Millie starts to laugh. Miz Millie says to Sofia, "Have you ever seen a white person and a colored sitting side by side in car, when one of "em wasn't showing the other one how to drive it or clean it" (Walker 109). A different example of racism is when Eleanor Jane brings her baby boy for Sofia to bless. Sofia tells her she cannot bless him, for he will probably grow up to be her oppressor, like most white men.
The Color Purple Theme Reflection In The Color Purple Walker expresses many ideas and themes. A major theme that I saw was the gender roles were often confused from the traditional roles that are often portrayed. In present time many men and women have also strayed from the traditional ste...
The Color Purple is clearly an example of this genre in that it is written using a series of letters written by the principal character, Celie, and also her sister Nettie. ... In The Color Purple, Walker effectively uses the epistolary genre to communicate the thoughts and feelings of the novel's central character, Celie. ... The Color Purple closely follows the growth of Celie on her journey of self-discovery. ... Walker appeared to learn from this problem and went on to write a sequel to The Color Purple which addresses Nettie and her outcome. Nettie still plays a significant role in Th...
THE COLOR PURPLE Alice Walker wrote this novel from her own personal experience, growing up in the rural South as an uneducated and abused child. ... In the novel she also uses color. The color purple is the color of royalty, which exemplifies the endless possibilities available to Celie and other black women if they stand up for their own rights. The Color Purple is a historical novel; it never refers to any factual events. ...
"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker is a novel that is written in letterforms. ... What does the color "purple" symbolize Why did Alice Walker title her novel the "The Color Purple"? The color "purple" is an important symbol because it concern the life of young Celie and the pains and sorrows she lives through. ... In 1982 Alice finished her novel "The Color Purple." "The Color Purple" is not like most novels. ...
The Color Purple There is much controversy about weather or not the book, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, is an appropriate reading material for the high school classrooms. ... Additionally, it was not uncomfortable discussing any of the content of The Color Purple aloud in class. ... In conclusion, I consider Alice Walker's The Color Purple, to be a suitable novel for a high school classroom to read. ...
The Color Purple Essay One of the most widely known and false stereotypes is that women belong in the kitchen, and men are suppose to make the money. In The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, there are some main characters that prove this stereotype wrong. ... "I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it. " I believe a woman being inferior to a man is our society's color purple. ...
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a book about a young girl named Celie whose character undergoes a huge transformation in attitude from a passive and quite girl to a strong and courageously confident woman (Color 1). ... Throughout her life Walker went on to write many more books and win lots of awards, especially for her most famous book, The Color Purple. The Color Purple is said by many professionals to be Alice Walker's best piece of work. ... Peter Prescott comments in a Newsweek review that; "The Color Purple is an American novel of permanent importance, that rare sort of...
The Color Purple Alice Walker was highly influenced by the works of Zora Neale Hurston. Both authors show many similar ideas in their books. One similarity between the two authors was what they based the book on. Zora and Alice wrote their books on black women, and the struggles they we...
The Colour Purple Chapter 1 The first few pages begin Walker's narrative of the life of Celie, a fourteen-year-old black girl who lives with her dying mother and her sister, Nettie. Her stepfather, Alfonso, is portrayed as the villain of the narrative, first demanding sex from Celie's sick mo...
Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple to capture and illuminate the hardship and bitterness African American women had to face in the early 1900s. ... The Color Purple, was published in 1982. ... In The Color Purple, as in her other writings, Walker focuses on the theme of double repression of black women in the American experience. ... The primary theme of The Color Purple, though, reflects Walker's desire to project a positive outcome in life, even under the harshest conditions. ... Although her response sometimes varies, she most frequently answers, "Remember, the movie is not the boo...