The Past Helps Shape a Better Future According to the Ark of Hope for Children, 1,850 children die a year by some form of child abuse. Assault must be noticed, especially because it affects so many people worldwide. The Color Purple by Alice Walker focuses extensively on this idea and the ramifications of rape. In the novel, the main protagonist Celie is compelled to live with a man named Mr. _____, whose last name is unidentified in the book, who constantly makes her work in the fields and clean the house along with taking care of his three rude children. As she reaches her adulthood, Celie undergoes certain changes in life that ultimately guide her in the direction of finding God again and rediscovering his powerful influence on everyone’s lives. Critics banned The Color Purple due to its themes of incest, birth of children outside of marriage, rape, sexual pleasure, and lesbian activity. Despite the sexual and violent content in The Color Purple, the novel should be studied in high school curriculum due to the literary elements that contribute to a reader’s understanding of real-world issues.
The Color Purple develops themes of religious transformation and equality throughout the story that are necessary for teenagers to understand due to their meaningful lessons on human nature. Throughout the story, Celie reveals her depiction of God as simply an ordinary white man who takes advantage of black citizens. Shug redirects Celie’s thinking by telling her that God is only
The Color Purple is a period drama, and takes place in rural Georgia. The main character in this film is Celie, and film starts off from Celie’s 14-year-old perspective. From a very young age Celie experienced multiple forms of abuse. First from her father, who had raped and verbally abused her. At the beginning of the film, Celie gives birth to her second child, conceived by her and her father (Alphonso). He took her child same as he did the first, and whisper to her “better not never tell nobody but God”. A little later in the film, a suitor by the name MR appears. He comes to Alphonso, looking to get Celie’s younger sister Nettie’s hand in Marriage. Alphonso turns him down, and instead offers
The Color Purple has a very sad, serious, and honest tone. The intention of the passages can include much imagery by the thought that go through someone’s head while they read. There are a few moments of humor but the main point doesn’t include funny moments. This novel is about passing through very serious moments, full of sadness, and tragedy. a woman who suffered many difficult casualties one on top of the other but managed to keep strong and face her problems. Celie the protagonist, writes letters to God expressing the horrible life she had and how sad things occurred to her constantly, and she managed to do this in a very calm manner. Later on the book she began writing letters to Nettie also being very honest. Celie is very thoughtful
Celie uses god as a symbol of hope to her life and happiness. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker is a story about the life of an african american woman before world war 2. Alice portrays real life problems women during that time faced. The main character Celie experiences domestic violence, racism, jealousy, homosexual curiosity, motherhood, and poverty. The story is made up of letters Celie writes to God, her sister, Nettie, and letters Nettie writes to Celie. The letters all vary in length. The main conflict in the story is that Celie has never questioned her rights or what she wants, she has always done as she has been told and never gone against
Celie initially imagines “God” as an older white man, as she has been raised to believe through interactions with men and white people who oppress and control her like a higher power might do, “Okay, I say. He big and old and tall and gray-bearded and white. He wear white robes and go barefooted” (pg. 193). God is at first a controlling force, practically akin to Celie's father whom she is afraid of, “She ast me bout the first one Whose it is? I say God’s.” (pg. 2) However, as Celie’s view of herself changes, this view of god changes as well. Shug influences this view by saying, “Here’s the thing, say Shug. The thing I believe. God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it.” (pg. 196). Religion and spirituality as a theme in The Color Purple emphasizes the will of each individual to believe and interpret the world as they want, as Celie eventually does. In doing so Celie gains control of her own life and feeling, something she was unable to do for many
Through the support of new characters, Celie can gain some new perspectives on life, and figure out how she wants to deal with her adversity. In Celie’s mind, the only logical way to deal with adversity is to overcome it through defying the ideas of society and changing her idea of God to fit her viewpoints and lifestyle. When one takes a second to realize their circumstances, they begin to listen to the thoughts of others, and not just their own perspective. They take what they have learned and apply it to their life. They throw the ideas and expectations of others out the window so that they can rewrite their story. In The Color Purple, it is evident that the main theme was the idea of overcoming one’s adversity through which they can decide their own
The Color Purple by Alice Walker tells the story about a young african american woman, named Celie, who goes through rape, abuse and loss all together. Throughout the book it is seen how she goes through rape, abuse and separation from first her family then her sister. It is seen as though God has something to do within her life for she writes letters to God in almost all of the book. Walker shows us how control is the power to take hold of someone or something and run it how you want. As Celie learns, God is everyone who comes into this world and in order to feel deeply connected to themselves one must find him within.
The Color Purple revolves around the life of Celie, a young black woman growing up in the poverty-ridden South. In order to find herself and gain independence, Celie must deal with all manner of abuse, including misogyny, racism and poverty. When she is a young girl of just 14, Celie is sexually assaulted by a man she believes is her father. She has two children by her rapist, both of who
The Color Purple is a very moving and spiritual book. It takes a women who has nothing to speak of going for her and who is a victim to the world, and it takes her to a place where she is a strong individual who can voice her own opinions about things without people telling her what to do. She gets incredible power that grows inside her throughout the book. It is only fully released near the end of the book when her sister, Nettie, is about to come home. As for her, Celie, she just survives during her life, and takes what is handed to her. Until one fateful day when a woman named Shrug comes into the picture and comes to stay with them while she is recovering from a disease. From that day on, Celie could see that some women stand up for
• May believe that accomplishment of one goal or activity fulfills obligations to minority communities; may engage in token hiring practices.
The most important aspect of The Color Purple is the growth and maturity of each individual. There is a huge transition of many of the characters from the beginning to the end of the novel. This evolution of the characters is a recurring theme that runs throughout the novel and can be tracked by Celie’s letters. The women struggle for freedom in a society where they are inferior to men. Towards the end of the novel one can sense the slow evolution towards the increasing empowerment of women.
Celie is the main character in The Color Purple. Celie can be described as being poor, uneducated, and an African American women with a horrible past. In the book, Celie represents women suffrage in the 1930’s. She represents a number of women silenced because of abuse and rape and how they have a chance to overcome poor treatment and fulfill their dreams. Celie’s story is told through her letters that she writes to God. In those letters, she feels that she can communicate without verbally talking. Her voice deserves to be heard and should not just be in words just for her to hope that someone hears her story one day.
The Color Purple is the story of Celie’s life, starting from her adolescent years. At a very young and fragile age, Celie was deprived of her dignity as a woman, through the assault by her stepfather, the treatment she endured from her husband, and the disappearance of the one human she adored, her sister Nettie. As her days passed by with more worry and strife, Celie lost faith in love and resented all signs of a kind and honorable God. Shug Avery arrived in this small town to rekindle with her
In The Color Purple, there were several themes such as Violence, Sexuality, Power, God or Spiritually. Power is a key role in this novel. Walker focuses throughout the novel that the ability to express someone’s thoughts and feelings is critical to developing a sense of self. Initially, Celie is truly unable to resist those who abuse her. Remembering Alphonso’s warning that she “better not never tell nobody but God” about him abusing her. , Celie knows that the only way to keep it is to remain silent and invisible. Celie is emphasize an object, an entirely accepting party who has no power to give herself through
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a true testament to the oppression of women. The main character in the novel is affected by her physical surroundings, in the way of people, which ultimately construct who she is as a person. Celie, the main character, has a father who sexually mistreats her that leads to many of her psychological traits. Later, Celie’s husband abuses her and treats her as if she were less than a human being. Finally, Shug is the end of all things bad for Celie as at first she is a curse but in the end she is a gift. Physical surroundings afflicting this main character are ubiquitous throughout The Color Purple.
It is through the physical pain that the reader understands the emotional strain and turmoil of the protagonist’s plight. The juxtaposition of survival and living are never more evident here. Her children are kidnapped; killed or sold. She has a body still recovering from the birth of a child, and she is forced to take her mother’s place, as a victim of domestic violence and sexual assault. Walker cleverly crafts this sense of desperation with Celie’s soul baring letters to god, the reader realizes she is has no one else to turn to; her writing only re-enforces her father's control over her. Her persevering spirit is what makes her survival so unique in the sense that she does not become embittered through any of it. “I look at woman, tho, cause I am not scared of them.” Telling god that she has not been traumatized at all by her mother’s passing, in fact, she goes further on “Mabey cause my mamma cuss me you think I kept mad at her. But I ain’t I feel sorry for her. (Walker, 5)” This for the reader is the most heart-breaking stance that she takes, as the reader is aware of the fact that her mother hated Celie’s guts with writing agony because her husband choose to rape her when she could not have sex with him. The reader singularly carries this sense of desperation for the protagonist as she continues to power through the intensity that surrounds her.