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.