The Colour Purple

The Colour Purple

Audience and Purpose

'The Colour Purple' is a novel written by Alice Walker, originally published in 1983 by The Womens Press in Great Britain, it has since been made into an Oscar-winning film, starring actors such as Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg. 

The novel can be read by multiple age groups, but it is targeted mainly at young adults and adults as it isn't really suitable for younger audiences due to violence and sexual abuse. The novel is mainly aimed at audiences who are interested in issues surrounding racism, sexism and classism, and who enjoy historically accurate non-fiction. 

Context and Setting

The novel is set in the Deep South of America, and spans across an extended period of time, there aren't exact dates but it encapsulates roughly 30-40 years. The time it is set in was a period of intense racism and sexism, in which your worth was wholly determined by your race, gender and economic status. Due to this Celie, the main character, is exposed to horrific treatment by most people, especially close relatives, as she is poor, African-American woman. 

Overview

Celie is born into a world of racism, segregation, abuse and trauma; she is unequal and inferior to many of the people around her. She is treated as an object; she is disposable and her worth is based on the value she is given by others. Exposed to abuse, mentally, sexually and physically from a young age, she is raped and beaten repeatedly by her closest relatives, one of which she knows as her father. Celie falls pregnant once at the age of 14, and again shortly after. Her two children are taken away from her and she is separated from her sister Nettie for many years. She is sold into a marriage that is just as abusive and horrific as her previous life at home, and is trapped there for many years. After meeting Shug Avery, a whirlwind, confident performer and singer, as well as other empowering women, Celie discovers her 

Main Characters

Celie: An African-American Women. She is the main character, and begins the novel as a young, submissive girl who is abused regularly. Throughout the book she encounters three strong women who support her and encourage her to be confident. The novel follows her life in which eventually, due to this help, and her development as an adult she takes hold of her own life and begins determining her own destiny. 

Nettie: An African-American woman and Celie's sister. Nettie is displayed as an educated and passionate young woman, who has a strong love for God and human rights. She is separated from Celie and becomes a missionary and goes to Africa with a missionary couple and their two children (who are, unbeknownst to them, Celie's children who were taken from her). The novel follows her journey, through the form of letters, from being separated from Celie to being re-united with her again, and it explores her life as an educated young African-American woman fighting and advocating for human rights. 

Shug Avery: An African-American woman, she is Celie's husband's (Albert) ex-lover and Celie and her develop a close relationship. Shug is a singer and performer, whose confident and self-determination empowers Celie to take hold of her own fate and decide her destiny. 

P.O.V. /Perspective

The novel is written mainly in first person, in Celie's point of view, in the form of letter to 'God'. Although there are letters in her sisters, Nettie's, perspective, these letters are still read by Celie so the overall point of view of a book remains constant. In the second half of the book, however, Celie begins writing to her sister instead of God, after she has a realisation that God hasn't ever helped her and her sister is more important to her. Then, again, at the end of novel she writes again to God, but also to the stars, the trees and many other things, she says she is writing to 'everything'. 

This point of view is an interesting part of the book because it provides insight into the most important figures throughout different stages in Celie's life. As well as this it is written in the format of a letter, this provides the reader with Celie's inner-most thoughts and her raw, true emotions, that allow to reader to have a deep insight into her life, which could not have been fully attained through a second or third person novel, in a more traditional format. 

Ideas, Representations and Themes

Throughout the novel, in different stages of her life Celie encounters two prominent types of people, oppressors and people who inspirit her, examples of the oppressors include 'Pa' and 'Mister', whereas the opposite type would include Shug, Nettie and Sofia, who inspire her. This idea that people either add to your life or subtract from it is a subtle, underlying theme to the the novel and it very much adds to the books depth. This oppressor-uplifter dynamic also scrutinises the violence and abuse that is hidden within families and communities, and provides a path to follow for others facing these issues. It also explores ideas of what it means to be a woman, and the oppression of women, especially women of colour.

Throughout the beginning of the novel Celie is displayed as submissive towards her 'superiors', she doesn't want to fight against her mistreatment, she just wants to survive it. However, during the latter half of the book her confidence and spirit is lifted by Shug Avery, a singer and performer, who doesn't conform to societies ideals for her. Shug decides her own fate and, along with other strong women in the text (such as Nettie and Sofia), she helps Celie discover her own confidence and power, which ultimately free's her from the constraints of her suffocating life and past, both physically and emotionally. This multi-layered journey is an important and consistent part of the book, it introduces the idea that when women support other women, it produces a strength that can break down barriers that have been built around them, and let them be truly themselves.

The last main theme in the novel is one concerning sexuality. In the time that the book is written in the only accepted sexuality was heterosexuality, in Celie's letters to God it is revealed that she didn't even know that there was any other sexuality than heterosexual. Once Celie meets Shug though her whole perspective changes, she is physically and emotionally attracted to Shug and this confuses her because they are both women. Throughout the novel Celie battles with, and eventually learns to accept her sexual orientation, even if it wasn't a social norm in their society. This is a vastly divergent yet important representation of a woman, particularly a woman of colour, as it is a portrayal that is often under-represented, forgotten or frowned upon. 


Language Features

Hyperbole: "When Nettie's foot come down on the porch I almost die." 
                  "Hold it, I say. Stop. Shug, you killing me."

Descriptive Language: "Her eyes fill with tears and her face crumple"

These two language features are use in the novel to help add emphasis to ideas and descriptions. They also make it more interesting to read because the way that the book is written can be a little simplistic at times. 

My Opinion

I think that people should read this book because it deals with significant issues such as domestic abuse, racism, sexism and sexuality in a bold and confronting way. The format in which it is written allows you to empathise deeply with someone struggling with these issues and trying to form their own, individual character, on a level which a book in a more common or standard format could not.