The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Summary: Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize winner, The Color Purple, written in 1982 is a tale of a poor, uneducated fourteen-year-old black woman named Celie who is living in rural areas of the south known as the Americas Jim Crow south. Being a young black woman Celie has little to no education or exposure to the outside world that she lives in. Celie is a victim of violence and abuse by her father but due to the lack of authority she has, she’s learned to be passive and unemotional towards her abusive situation. In order to get away from her life and violent father, Celie, writes letters to God in which she tells him about her life as a poor women, daughter, sister, and mother. These letters become kind of an escape for Celie. Throughout the story she meets a number of other black women who empower her to shape her life and become the women they all know her to be. Among these women, Sofia, Celie’s salvation, who’s strength, courage and will, has inspired Celie to become an independent entrepreneur and landowner. Sofia becomes less than a friend and more of a lover to Celie. Their adventures together have allowed Celie to end her marriage and initially find letters from her sister, that her husband has been hiding from her. The color Purple shows how Celie has overcome her roots as a poor black women, and has created her new life, as well as, her own voice that she has been seeking out sense she was a young teenage girl.
Analysis of Major Characters:
Celie - Celie isthe protagonist and narrator of The Color Purple. Celie is a poor, uneducated fourteen-year-old black woman living in the Americas Jim Crow south. She suffers through a relationship with her father who rapes her and kills her babies whenever they are born. Celie also suffers through an abusive relationship with her new husband. Her husband, Mr. Johnson befriends Shug Avery and forces Celie to have sexual relations with her. However, Shug helps Celie not only find her own voice but she also helps Celie establish a new respect for a religion she later adopted. . As an adult, Celie befriends many other black women in her community and towards the end of the novel; Celie has become an independent entrepreneur as well as a landowner due to the amount of confidence she has gained in the meetings of Shug Avery as well as other women that she has met around their community.
Nettie - Nettie is Celie’s younger sister, who is much prettier than Celie. Mr. Johnson, Celie’s former
husband initially wanted to marry Nettie, however, Celie saved her from that relationship. Mr. Johnson realizes what has happened and initially settles for Celie. Nettie gets irritated with life and runs away from home to be with Celie, but because Mr. Johnson tries to get physically involved with her, she is unable to stay. Before she leaves Nettie promises to write to Celie along her journey. Samuel and Corrine, a missionary couple, eventually take in Nettie and they travel to Africa as missionaries. While they are in Africa, Nettie ends up taking care of Samuel and Corrine's children and like she promised writes to Celie for years to come. Nettie marries Samuel after Corrine's death and moves back to America with Celie's children. When Nettie moves back, she encourages Celie to do more with her life and to get rid of her former husband.
Shug - Shug Avery is sultry blues singer who we first see as Mr. Johnson's mistress, Shug becomes Celie's friend and eventually her lover after her husband introduces them. Shug begins to become a mentor to Celie and initially helps her evolve into an independent and assertive woman that she has always wanted to be. From the very beginning Shug doesn't appear to be the mothering and nurturing type, but yet she transforms Celie physically, spiritually, and emotionally throughout their friendship. Shug also helped Celie discover the unknown but apparently lost letters from her sister Nettie that Mr. Johnson had been hiding for years on end. When Shug shows Celie these letters she is given even more hope and inspiration to break out of her shell and become an independent women. Shug has also showed Celie that everything happens for a reason and in the end everything will work out for the better.
Analysis of Major Characters:
Celie - Celie isthe protagonist and narrator of The Color Purple. Celie is a poor, uneducated fourteen-year-old black woman living in the Americas Jim Crow south. She suffers through a relationship with her father who rapes her and kills her babies whenever they are born. Celie also suffers through an abusive relationship with her new husband. Her husband, Mr. Johnson befriends Shug Avery and forces Celie to have sexual relations with her. However, Shug helps Celie not only find her own voice but she also helps Celie establish a new respect for a religion she later adopted. . As an adult, Celie befriends many other black women in her community and towards the end of the novel; Celie has become an independent entrepreneur as well as a landowner due to the amount of confidence she has gained in the meetings of Shug Avery as well as other women that she has met around their community.
Nettie - Nettie is Celie’s younger sister, who is much prettier than Celie. Mr. Johnson, Celie’s former
husband initially wanted to marry Nettie, however, Celie saved her from that relationship. Mr. Johnson realizes what has happened and initially settles for Celie. Nettie gets irritated with life and runs away from home to be with Celie, but because Mr. Johnson tries to get physically involved with her, she is unable to stay. Before she leaves Nettie promises to write to Celie along her journey. Samuel and Corrine, a missionary couple, eventually take in Nettie and they travel to Africa as missionaries. While they are in Africa, Nettie ends up taking care of Samuel and Corrine's children and like she promised writes to Celie for years to come. Nettie marries Samuel after Corrine's death and moves back to America with Celie's children. When Nettie moves back, she encourages Celie to do more with her life and to get rid of her former husband.
Shug - Shug Avery is sultry blues singer who we first see as Mr. Johnson's mistress, Shug becomes Celie's friend and eventually her lover after her husband introduces them. Shug begins to become a mentor to Celie and initially helps her evolve into an independent and assertive woman that she has always wanted to be. From the very beginning Shug doesn't appear to be the mothering and nurturing type, but yet she transforms Celie physically, spiritually, and emotionally throughout their friendship. Shug also helped Celie discover the unknown but apparently lost letters from her sister Nettie that Mr. Johnson had been hiding for years on end. When Shug shows Celie these letters she is given even more hope and inspiration to break out of her shell and become an independent women. Shug has also showed Celie that everything happens for a reason and in the end everything will work out for the better.
Setting: Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winner, The Color Purple, begins a little over thirty- years before World War II. The book Covers over the first half of the 20th century when we see Celie grow from her childhood to adulthood. The story takes place among poor blacks in rural areas of the south known as the Americas Jim Crow south. Being a young black woman Celie as little to no education or exposure to the outside world. Celie begins to learn more about herself and the world she lives in from some of the people who enter into her life from very different surroundings than her own like, Shug Avery. Shug Comes from Memphis, Tennessee where she lives a much more liberated life than Celie. Celie’s world is also enlarged when her sister speaks about her own travels to Africa. Living a poor life in the South, Celie had never stopped to consider her African heritage until Nettie sends letter describing the West African village she’s living in. Although Europeans, destroy the Olinkan village that Nettie lives in eventually through the African setting, both Celie and Nettie begin to feel like their black heritage is something to take pride in rather than a source of shame. Eventually, Celie returns back to her home in Georgia from Memphis, taking with her what she has learned from her adventures in Memphis and Africa.
Types of Conflicts: The first conflict stems off of Mr. Johnson and Celie, this being Man V. Man. This is because Celie wanted to fight back and break free but initially she was unable to and this caused her to go insane. This is also Man V. Man because he physically and emotionally beat her and wore her down. Another is Celie’s conflicts with herself, Man V. Herself . Celie doesn’t have enough courage and this is why she is so down in her life, because she can’t defend herself and cant find the courage to do so either.
Major Themes:
One of the themes in The Color Purple is the Power of Friendship. Throughout the Story line Celie is overwhelmed with obstacles that she is facing, however, when she meets Shug Avery, she begins to see the light in her terrible situations and eventually overcomes them due to her intelligence and strength.
The Author, Alice Walker strongly emphasizes that the ability to express a persons thoughts as well as their feelings is key to developing a voice. One of the most relevant themes in The Color Purple, is just that. In the beginning, Celie is unable to voice resist to those who take advantage of her. Celie feels that the only way to overcome this violence and abuse is to remain silent and invisible.
Throughout the story, Walker makes the theme of racism and sexism very clear. As an example Harpo’s father implies that because Sofia resists his words, he is less of a man. Another example of this is the fact that Celie has no education due to the fact that she is a poor black women. Although all these are overcome in the story, it is still relevant that it is an issue among the character.
Major Symbols:
The actual color purple is a symbol in the book considering it represents all the good things that God gives men and women. Celie in the beginning has a horrible life, so in a sense she doesn’t see the color purple, however, when Shug comes along and teaches Celie to enjoy life, she begins to witness the color purple. when Celie does learn to love the life that god has given her, she decorates her room in purple and red to symbolize God.
In general, sewing in The Color Purple symbolizes the only power women had in the early days. After Sofia and Celie, Sofia makes a suggestion that they should make a quilt. The quilt also has to do with the combining of different groups and ethnicities. With Shug’s help, Celie is able to make a profit off of her quilts and becomes a little more independent because of it.
Another symbol that we see in The Color Purple are pants. Pants symbolize her transformation from a “slave”somewhat to a woman. The pants also symbolize how she was locked up on someone else’s control and couldn’t find the way to be let out until she found a friend in Shug’s.
Citation:
Lavender,
Cathrine. "Alice Walker, The Color Purple." Alice Walker, The Color
Purple. N.p., 29 May 1998. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/purple.html>.
LaGrone,
Kheven. "Alice Walker's The Color Purple." Google Books. Google,
n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://books.google.com/books/about/Alice_Walker_s_The_Color_Purple.html?id=NRfJrubJPyMC>.
"The
Color Purple." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/purple/canalysis.html>.
Shmoop
Editorial Team. "The Color Purple Setting"Shmoop.com.
Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
"The Color Purple." 123HelpMe.com. 28 Mar
2013
< http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=45567>.
"The
Color Purple - Setting - Book Drum." The Color Purple - Setting - Book
Drum. Book Drum, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://www.bookdrum.com/books/the-color-purple/9780753818923/setting.html>.
"Miss
Celie's Blues." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Jan. 2009. Web. 01 Apr. 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJOh9zsJPSo.
"The Color Purple (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple_(film)>.
Types of Conflicts: The first conflict stems off of Mr. Johnson and Celie, this being Man V. Man. This is because Celie wanted to fight back and break free but initially she was unable to and this caused her to go insane. This is also Man V. Man because he physically and emotionally beat her and wore her down. Another is Celie’s conflicts with herself, Man V. Herself . Celie doesn’t have enough courage and this is why she is so down in her life, because she can’t defend herself and cant find the courage to do so either.
Major Themes:
One of the themes in The Color Purple is the Power of Friendship. Throughout the Story line Celie is overwhelmed with obstacles that she is facing, however, when she meets Shug Avery, she begins to see the light in her terrible situations and eventually overcomes them due to her intelligence and strength.
The Author, Alice Walker strongly emphasizes that the ability to express a persons thoughts as well as their feelings is key to developing a voice. One of the most relevant themes in The Color Purple, is just that. In the beginning, Celie is unable to voice resist to those who take advantage of her. Celie feels that the only way to overcome this violence and abuse is to remain silent and invisible.
Throughout the story, Walker makes the theme of racism and sexism very clear. As an example Harpo’s father implies that because Sofia resists his words, he is less of a man. Another example of this is the fact that Celie has no education due to the fact that she is a poor black women. Although all these are overcome in the story, it is still relevant that it is an issue among the character.
Major Symbols:
The actual color purple is a symbol in the book considering it represents all the good things that God gives men and women. Celie in the beginning has a horrible life, so in a sense she doesn’t see the color purple, however, when Shug comes along and teaches Celie to enjoy life, she begins to witness the color purple. when Celie does learn to love the life that god has given her, she decorates her room in purple and red to symbolize God.
In general, sewing in The Color Purple symbolizes the only power women had in the early days. After Sofia and Celie, Sofia makes a suggestion that they should make a quilt. The quilt also has to do with the combining of different groups and ethnicities. With Shug’s help, Celie is able to make a profit off of her quilts and becomes a little more independent because of it.
Another symbol that we see in The Color Purple are pants. Pants symbolize her transformation from a “slave”somewhat to a woman. The pants also symbolize how she was locked up on someone else’s control and couldn’t find the way to be let out until she found a friend in Shug’s.
Citation:
Lavender,
Cathrine. "Alice Walker, The Color Purple." Alice Walker, The Color
Purple. N.p., 29 May 1998. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/purple.html>.
LaGrone,
Kheven. "Alice Walker's The Color Purple." Google Books. Google,
n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://books.google.com/books/about/Alice_Walker_s_The_Color_Purple.html?id=NRfJrubJPyMC>.
"The
Color Purple." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/purple/canalysis.html>.
Shmoop
Editorial Team. "The Color Purple Setting"Shmoop.com.
Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
"The Color Purple." 123HelpMe.com. 28 Mar
2013
< http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=45567>.
"The
Color Purple - Setting - Book Drum." The Color Purple - Setting - Book
Drum. Book Drum, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
< http://www.bookdrum.com/books/the-color-purple/9780753818923/setting.html>.
"Miss
Celie's Blues." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Jan. 2009. Web. 01 Apr. 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJOh9zsJPSo.
"The Color Purple (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple_(film)>.