In this project, you will take The Color Purple by Alice Walker and explore one or two issues or perhaps a few narrators/characters to discuss from the novel. Please attachment below. 2 pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Institution Affiliation

Date

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Alice Walker was born on February 9^th 1944 in Georgia. Her father was a grandson of slaves and they did not have such a good relation. He mother encouraged her to study often excusing her from domestic chores to concentrate with her homework (Walker, 2011). She grew up to be an amazing writer and established a literary canon of African American women writers. In all her works, walker advocates for the rights of women and ask them to stand up and be counted. For instance, The Color Purple portrays the constant cycle of racism and sexism evident in the society as well as the oppression that the African American women dealt with. It features Celie and her tribulations in life that includes her exceptionally low position in the American Social culture (Harris, 1984). Her work gives voice to the previously silent and unseen generations of African American women. She praises the resilience and strength of all women as her work is dedicated to women of all colors and cultures. The themes of forgiveness and reconciliation are prominent in Walker’s writing. In almost all her works, she is seen encouraging women to forgive and reconcile with themselves for the betterment of their tomorrow. For instance, in The Temple of My Familiar (1989), her characters work toward forgiving one another.

The color of love is an intricate piece of work by Alice Walker. It paints society in a patriarchal way and in many occasions show women and children who are regularly abused by men who are their close kin. It involves the writing of several letters to God asking him to protect the women from sexual brutality. In the forth letter, God has clearly answered Celie’s prayer by bringing a 16 year old step mother who takes over the responsibility of being Fonso’s wife and Nettie is therefore safe from Fonso’s sexual brutality. The life of the women in this book is shrouded with pain and bitterness except for the bond that they share with each other and the love that God has shown these women (Walker, 2009).

                 The letters are a clear indication of the pain and sexual harassment in this book. Cellie is so overprotective of her young sister that she even seems to appreciate the brutality in her life. She encourages her sister to work hard and study so that she doesn’t end up like their mother who died from carrying so many pregnancies and working so hard. The book is a clear indication of a patriarchal society as well as a depiction of racial discrimination. All the men who subject the women and children in this book to hard work and sexual brutality are white men and we can clearly see Celie wishing that they were black men since they would have treated them with love and respect. The lives of the women and children in this book are a representation of pain and suffering. All they do is depend on God for protection and hope that one day the incidences in their lives would be put behind them. The Color Purple is a feminist novel showing the struggles of an uneducated black woman. She is however determined to liberate herself from her struggle and she actually survives.

THESIS STATEMENT: The color purple is a feminist book representing the trial, tribulations and the survival of the uneducated black woman

 

 

Reference

Walker, A. (2009). The color purple: A novel. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Walker, A. (2011). The color purple. Open Road Media.

 

Harris, T. (1984, December). On The Color Purple, Stereotypes, and Silence. In Black American Literature Forum (pp. 155-161). School of Education, Indiana State University.