A story of inner strength, the relationships of women to one another, the power of a collective unity. Of judgements and separations made by the colour of your skin. To an exploration of religion, and the definition of marriage and sexuality. Alice Walker’s book covers it all, though the main focus of The Color Purple, is the persecution and undermining of women, and the strength of their stories in fighting back. ‘You black, you poor, you ugly, you a woman. Goddam, he say, you nothing at all’ – but they are something, and more than that, the women of this story find their own tales, make their own paths and search for love in one another.
The narrative is told from the story’s protagonist Celie, who on page one is fourteen years old and is raising her siblings, her mother is dying and her father is raping her. Her life is harsh and it looks like it will be full of endless days of misery to come, she even looks forward to the time she may die and rest in heaven.
Celie tells her daily life experiences through letters, (which is the book’s format), at first she writes to God because he is all she can talk to, needing someone to tell her fears, her pain, her lack of feelings too – having developed a sense of nothingness, to then the awakening desires of fancying Shug Avery – who’s everything Celie feels she isn’t; ‘she bout ten thousand times more prettier then me,’ she’s strong, clever, powerful and more than anything independent.
Set in Georgia in the early to mid 20th century, there are scenes of clear racism in the book; how jealous businessmen hanged those who had done nothing wrong but succeed, how a mayor’s wife treats one of our heroines, and how another is raped. This is not an easy read, but neither is it supposed to be.
There’s also a repetition of damage shown through the generations, for example you beat your wife because that’s what men do, that’s what your father did. You obey your husband, you accept a loveless marriage because that’s what your mum did. The author, Alice Walker, looks at the circle of this repetition, while exploring both its breaking, and remoulding. The men in The Color Purple being eventually forced to learn, to see that change could be good, and to recognise past mistakes, just as they live with the consequences of them. The abuse changing and lessening in times as the generations move forward. The women meanwhile in The Color Purpleare at first oppressed, and punished if they don’t match the ideal of what’s expected and maybe still even then. But as the story’s protagonist – the put-upon beat-up Celie – at last stands up for herself, it’s like a procession begins, the women who once fought back and lost, realise their strength once again, just as others find it for the first time.
In addition to this there’s a search of religion, the definition of God by those who produce the bible en masse, to an exploration of God outside of the church. This is juxtaposed against the work of previous missionaries in Africa, who refuse to accept cultural traditions, and the ideas that God may look different to what they picture. To the African American missionaries who go there, how they accept some of the differences, and in a very beautiful description in the book; how they don’t like the Christian iconography when against the bright warm patterns of the tribal cloths gifted to them.
The life of the tribes is discussed in more detail and well-researched, as is the effect of the outside world on them; how they are subsequently mistreated by those who know nothing about them or care to – a sort of symmetry to the earlier oppression experienced by Celie. It also highlights issues of the outside world’s encroachment into these tribal communities, one that has been going on for decades and despite protection laws in place, it’s still experienced in parts of the world today.
Marriage is also closely examined by Alice Walker, with women early on in the book being handled like cattle as the men discuss their values as a potential wife, there’s even the mention of a cow in the exchange. It’s important to note that this is the first place we learn of Celie’s name – in the act of her being sold off. These far from equal relationships are further highlighted through the often physical and emotional abuse, and how the women may change, but their spirits endure.
The Color Purple is a book to be read and loved by anyone, its subject matter hard but not without hope, the women in the book inspirational for generations to come, especially (and my favourite) Sofia – who gives back two black eyes for everyone she gets. But it’s the story of the supressed Celie who gathers the most weight, her journey far greater than any of the other characters, her transformation not sudden or quick changing, but supported and encouraged by other women around her. It’s no wonder that The Color Purple is a Pulitzer Prize winning book and one that’s been made into a multi-award-winning film. It’s a story worth revisiting every few years, though you might need a high supply of tissues.
Other Notable Works by Alice Walker:
- Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker 2022
- Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart 2018
- We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting for: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness 2006
- Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth: New Poems 2003
- Anything We Love Can Be Saved 1997
- Possessing the Secret of Joy 1992
- Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems 1965-1990 1991
- The Temple of My Familiar 1989
- In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose 1983
- Revolutionary Petunias 1973
- You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories 1971
- The Third Life of Grange Copeland 1970
Book Edition Information:
Publisher: W&N (Weidenfield & Nicolson) (Part of Orion House)
ISBN: 9781780228716
Cover Design: Edward Bettison
Presented Edition: 2014 Paperback
Background image courtesy of AJ Wallace on Unsplash
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)
A story of inner strength, the relationships of women to one another, the power of a collective unity. Of judgements and separations made by the colour of your skin. To an exploration of religion, and the definition of marriage and sexuality. Alice Walker’s book covers it all, though the main focus of The Color Purple, is the persecution and undermining of women, and the strength of their stories in fighting back. ‘You black, you poor, you ugly, you a woman. Goddam, he say, you nothing at all’ – but they are something, and more than that, the women of this story find their own tales, make their own paths and search for love in one another.
The narrative is told from the story’s protagonist Celie, who on page one is fourteen years old and is raising her siblings, her mother is dying and her father is raping her. Her life is harsh and it looks like it will be full of endless days of misery to come, she even looks forward to the time she may die and rest in heaven.
Celie tells her daily life experiences through letters, (which is the book’s format), at first she writes to God because he is all she can talk to, needing someone to tell her fears, her pain, her lack of feelings too – having developed a sense of nothingness, to then the awakening desires of fancying Shug Avery – who’s everything Celie feels she isn’t; ‘she bout ten thousand times more prettier then me,’ she’s strong, clever, powerful and more than anything independent.
Set in Georgia in the early to mid 20th century, there are scenes of clear racism in the book; how jealous businessmen hanged those who had done nothing wrong but succeed, how a mayor’s wife treats one of our heroines, and how another is raped. This is not an easy read, but neither is it supposed to be.
There’s also a repetition of damage shown through the generations, for example you beat your wife because that’s what men do, that’s what your father did. You obey your husband, you accept a loveless marriage because that’s what your mum did. The author, Alice Walker, looks at the circle of this repetition, while exploring both its breaking, and remoulding. The men in The Color Purple being eventually forced to learn, to see that change could be good, and to recognise past mistakes, just as they live with the consequences of them. The abuse changing and lessening in times as the generations move forward. The women meanwhile in The Color Purpleare at first oppressed, and punished if they don’t match the ideal of what’s expected and maybe still even then. But as the story’s protagonist – the put-upon beat-up Celie – at last stands up for herself, it’s like a procession begins, the women who once fought back and lost, realise their strength once again, just as others find it for the first time.
In addition to this there’s a search of religion, the definition of God by those who produce the bible en masse, to an exploration of God outside of the church. This is juxtaposed against the work of previous missionaries in Africa, who refuse to accept cultural traditions, and the ideas that God may look different to what they picture. To the African American missionaries who go there, how they accept some of the differences, and in a very beautiful description in the book; how they don’t like the Christian iconography when against the bright warm patterns of the tribal cloths gifted to them.
The life of the tribes is discussed in more detail and well-researched, as is the effect of the outside world on them; how they are subsequently mistreated by those who know nothing about them or care to – a sort of symmetry to the earlier oppression experienced by Celie. It also highlights issues of the outside world’s encroachment into these tribal communities, one that has been going on for decades and despite protection laws in place, it’s still experienced in parts of the world today.
Marriage is also closely examined by Alice Walker, with women early on in the book being handled like cattle as the men discuss their values as a potential wife, there’s even the mention of a cow in the exchange. It’s important to note that this is the first place we learn of Celie’s name – in the act of her being sold off. These far from equal relationships are further highlighted through the often physical and emotional abuse, and how the women may change, but their spirits endure.
The Color Purple is a book to be read and loved by anyone, its subject matter hard but not without hope, the women in the book inspirational for generations to come, especially (and my favourite) Sofia – who gives back two black eyes for everyone she gets. But it’s the story of the supressed Celie who gathers the most weight, her journey far greater than any of the other characters, her transformation not sudden or quick changing, but supported and encouraged by other women around her. It’s no wonder that The Color Purple is a Pulitzer Prize winning book and one that’s been made into a multi-award-winning film. It’s a story worth revisiting every few years, though you might need a high supply of tissues.
Other Notable Works by Alice Walker:
Book Edition Information:
Publisher: W&N (Weidenfield & Nicolson) (Part of Orion House)
ISBN: 9781780228716
Cover Design: Edward Bettison
Presented Edition: 2014 Paperback
Background image courtesy of AJ Wallace on Unsplash
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