The novel begins with Celie's reminiscence upon her stepfather's order that she does not say anything about the abuse he is imposing on her." You better not never tell nobody but God- (Walker 1). Celie is only fourteen years old, and she's already been pregnant two times as the result of rape by her stepfather, Alphonso. " He never had a kine word to say to me. Just say you gonna do what your mammy wouldn't. First he put his thing up against my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grab my titties. Then he push his thing inside my pussy" (1). Celie's repeated rapes by Pa and his threat that she must not tell anyone leave Celie isolated, and what makes the abuse worse is the belief that the rapist is her father.
Pa repeatedly calls Celie dumb and ugly and forces her to drop out of school. Smith comments in her critical essay, "The Ecospirituality of Alice Walker", that Pa uses insults and rape as a way to further control Celie, causing low self-esteem, resulting in a her lack of effort to stand up for herself. Celie writes that Pa stole her first baby while she was sleeping and killed it in the woods; Celie believes that he sold her second child to a married couple. Celie is without her children to take care of, and she sadly states that she is left with breasts full of milk but no children to feed.
As the days go by, Pa begins to treat Celie more and more spitefully. "He act like he can't stand me no more. Say I"m evil He even beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church" (6). Celie hopes and prays that Pa will find someone to marry soon, so she doesn't have to suffer anymore. Pa does marry but Celie is married off soon after, as well, to a man she doesn't love. Mr.____ would rather have Celie's younger sister, Nettie for a wife, but Pa refused to give her up so Mr.____ settles for Celie. " As .
Celie is Mr.______'s third choice of a wife- Nettie and Shug being first and second- Celie is given third class treatment by Mr.
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 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 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 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...