The Color Purple Essay, Research Paper

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, is a very intense book to read. By intense, I mean it

is a book touching very difficult and hard aspects of life of a poor, black oppressed woman in the

early twentieth century. Walker does social criticism in her novel, mostly criticizing the way

black women were treated in the early twentieth century. Walker uses the life experiences of

Celie to illustrate her social criticism.

The Color Purple is not written in the style of most novels. The author does not tell us

everything about the characters, the setting, and why the characters behave the way they do. The

novel is written in a series of letters, not dated. There are large gaps between some letters, but

this is not revealed by the author; we have to figure it out ourselves. The letters are written in

what Walker calls black folk language, which also reduces the easiness of the reading.

When the novel opens, Celie is a young black girl living in Georgia in the early years of

the twentieth century. She in an uneducated girl, and writes her letters in common language.

Celie is entering her adolescence believing she was raped by her father and that he killed both of

their children. She writes to God, because she has no one else to write to. She feels that what

happened to her is so terrible that she can only talk about it to someone she feels loves

her. She knows her sister Nettie loves her, but she is too young to understand. Celie believe only

to God may she talk honestly and openly about her suffering. Celie is not, however, at this point,

complaining to God, she is simply confiding in him.

Celie was born into a poor family; her mother was sick most of the time, mentally and

physically; there were too many children in the family; and Celie was abused by the man she

believed was her father. Celie feels used and abused, but does not understand why. So many bad

things have happened to Celie that she lacks self esteem and confidence. Celie does not even

feel she is worth enough to sign her name at the end of the letters.

Slowly, Celie evolves into a mature woman with great confidence, but not before her

sister Nettie is taken away from her, and she marries a cruel man who really wanted to marry

Nettie. For a long time, Celie is almost a slave to her husband, until her husband’s mistress

comes to live with them to recuperate from a sickness, and Celie becomes her nurse. Shug is a

strong woman, and encourages Celie to grow stronger. At the same time, Sofia, Celie’s daughter

in law, shows Celie to stand up for herself and fight prejudice and injustice, and fight.

By the end of the novel, Celie’s new strength pays off, because she is able to live happily

with the people she loves. She reunites with Nettie and her two children, who have been raised

by Nettie. Celie learned to fight, to stand up for herself, and she was rewarded. Celie was able to

survive physically and spiritually, and is able to mature into a full, modern twentieth century

woman.

In The Color Purple, Alice Walker is able to illustrate the abuse, neglect, and oppression

a black woman had to go through in the early twentieth century, but she also illustrate how a

woman must fight back to regain the self esteem and confidence lost way back in the early

adolescent years. The Color Purple is a story about growth, endurance, and fight, all nurtured by

love.