Theme and Author's Purpose

            After finishing The Color Purple by Alice Walker, I can confidently say that there were multiple themes within this book. One major theme is that people can be strong and stand up for what they believe in no matter what gender they are. This is mostly illustrated through the change that takes place in Celie over the course of this book. At the beginning, Celie is meek and goes along with what anyone tells her because growing up she was beaten if she didn’t. “I don’t fight. I stay where I’m told. But I’m alive,” (22). That is Celie’s attitude in life, that men will kill a woman who doesn’t obey. Then Shug comes along, and Celie sees a woman doesn’t necessarily have to obey a man. That knowledge, along with support from Shug, gave Celie the confidence to stand up for herself and change her life.

Structure

I found it very interesting that this entire book, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, is written in epistolary format. The book appears to be a compilation of letters that happened to be published, which was probably the author’s goal. The book begins with Celie writing letters to God. Everything has been taken away from her and He is really the only one she can talk to. Later on, though, she discovers the letters from her sister Nettie that Mr. ____ has been hiding from her since the day they were married. The letters from Nettie add a second plot to the book. After reading her letters, Celie begins to write her letters to Nettie rather than God, and she actually sends them to her, though they never reach her in Africa. The final letter begins, “Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God,” (291). This is the first letter in a while that is written to God and not to Nettie, and since her last letter to God, she has found that God is in everything, the stars, the trees, the sky, and the peoples. Though she claims to be writing her letter to a wide variety of things, she is really only writing it to God who is in everything.

The Ending

I just have to say that I was so surprised by the content of the final letter. I thought it was only going to be a wrap up. When it turned out Nettie was still alive, my mouth dropped wide open and I shouted, "No way!" My mom looked at me like I lost a nugget.

Literary Devices

I am on page 282 of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. There are a lot of allusions to the Bible in this book, particularly the story of Adam and Eve. Celie and Mr. _____ (who has changed immensely) sit and sew and have conversations while they are sewing. One of the major conversations they have had is about whether Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth, or if they were only the first white people. According to what Celie understood from Nettie’s letters, Adam was “The first man that was white. Not the first man. They say nobody so crazy they think they can say who was the first man. But everybody notice the first white man cause he white,” (278). This allusion is brought up to further expand on a major theme of racism. The Olinka believe that the story of Adam and Eve is the underlying cause for all the racism in the world. They feel that because they threw Adam and Eve out of the garden for being white, all the white people in the world want revenge taken on the black people, which is why the whites treat them so badly.

Point of View

I am now on page 108 of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Sofia has just gotten out of jail and Miz Millie took her to see her children. The chapter in which Sofia visits her family is quite confusing because it is mostly from Sofia’s perspective rather than Celie’s like the rest of the book. I was extremely confused when I first read this chapter because it is never made clear that Sofia is speaking other than with quotes like “Finally she say, Sofia, with a little laugh, This is the south,” (106). Then Sofia responds with “I…”. I thought maybe the whole book would become from Sofia’s perspective, but it does not.

Characterization

I am on page 92 of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Mr. _____ sure is an interesting character. He marries Celie because he needs help with the kids and can’t get the girl he really wants, Shug. Then he beats Celie because she isn’t Shug. He never works, just watches Celie slave away all day, then “rapes” her at night. I put “rapes” in quotation marks because it is not technically rape if they are married; however, he does it selfishly without thinking about how Celie feels about it, so in that way it most definitely is. I think he has some personal issues that he needs to overcome, but that gives him no right to take it out on innocent Celie. He even sleeps with Shug while Celie is there. At this point in the book, I would classify Mr. _____ as the antagonist, and a definite flat character. He does have a nice side, however. “I can’t believe it, she say. She sit down on the bench next to me real hard, like she drop,” (75). That is her reaction when she finds out Mr. ____ beats Celie. Mr. _____ is always so nice to Shug she can’t even believe he would think of beating Celie. His entire personality apparently changes depending on who he is with.

Tone and Diction

I am on page 50 of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. The tone and diction of this book are extraordinarily unique. For one, it is written in traditional stereotypical African-American lingo. I am not exactly sure how to put that into words without offending anybody. For example, “Next time us see Harpo his face a mess of bruises,” (37). I guess it is only a more uneducated way of speaking that became associated with the black population because they didn’t have very much education back then. However, as the book progresses, Celie’s grammar and spelling improve immensely. It is also very interesting that there are no quotation marks used in this book. Quotes are punctuated exactly like quotes with quotation marks, but the marks are not used. Here is a sample string of dialogue:

I say, Write.

She say, What?

I say, Write.

She say, Nothing but death can keep me from it.

She never write, (19).

See how there are no quotes used? It is actually kind of cool because it makes the book seem more authentic. On the down side, however, it makes things far more confusing at times.