The Color Purple By Alice Walker - 1474 Words

In the early 1900’s society s attitudes toward women were not always positive ones. Women often faced sexism, discrimination, racism, and abuse which is demonstrated throughout the book, The Color Purple by Alice Walker. When these prevailing attitudes came face to face with the diverse personalities of the women in this book they not only affected each other but their society as a whole. These attitudes included, but were not limited to, disrespect, jealousy, selfishness,infidelity, and abuse. These women were forced to survive their own struggles in their own way, and whether they chose to do it alone or together they did survive. Although they may have been weakened at times these women had unbreakable spirits that by the end were†¦show more content†¦This helps illustrate the blatant personality differences between Celie and Sofia (Harpo’s wife). Sofia was conscious of her worth and never for one second doubted it. She was a powerful woman both mentally a nd physically. When Harpo attempted to break her spirits and beat her into submission he soon realized that, that was an impossible task. Although Harpo did love Sofia he let the societal standards of that time period ruin their marriage. â€Å" I loves Harpo, she say. God knows I do. But I’ll kill him dead before I let him beat me.† Harpo and Sofia had love in their marriage, a rarity at the time, but their love was not enough to save it. Instead of being beaten or having to constantly fight in her own home Sofia left. This situation highlights the differences between Celie and Sofia and how they reacted to their abuse. This difference leads us to our next topic. Jealousy was also a persistent theme throughout this book and is the motive for many characters actions. This theme is mostly found among the women but not exclusively. Previously, the differences between Sofia and Celie were brought up. This distinction in character personalities did not go unnoticed. â€Å" ‘You told Harpo to beat me,’ she said. ‘No I didn’t’, I said. ‘Don’t lie’, she said. ‘I didn’t mean it,’ I said. ‘Then what you say it for?’ she ast. She standing there looking me straight in the eye. She look tired and her jaws full of air. ‘I say it cause I’m a fool, I say. I say it cause I’mShow MoreRelatedThe Color Purple By Alice Walker1355 Words   |  6 PagesDecember, 2015 Just A Single Purple Wildflower In A Field Of Weeds Alice walker once said, â€Å"No person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended. Or who belittles in any fashion the gifts you labor so to bring into the world.† The color purple has timelessly been used to convey pictures of power and ambition, it is also associated with the feeling of independence. The Color Purple is the story of the constantRead MoreThe Color Purple By Alice Walker710 Words   |  3 PagesThe Series of unfortunate events in The Color Purple The Color Purple by Alice Walker starts off with a rather graphic view of a young black woman denominated as Celie. Celie has to learn how to survive her abusive past. She also has to figure out a way she can release her past in search of the true meaning of love. Alice walker wrote this book as an epistolary novel to further emphasize Celie`s life events. From the beginning of the novel Alice Walker swiftly establishes an intimate contact withRead MoreThe Color Purple by Alice Walker1192 Words   |  5 Pagesas a novel containing graphic violence, sexuality, chauvinism, and racism, The Color Purple was banned in numerous schools across the United States. Crude language, brutality, and explicit detail chronicle the life of Celie, a young black woman exposed to southern society’s harshness. 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Walker has gained the reputation of being a prominent spokesperson and a symbolic figure for black feminism. Proper analyzation   of Walker s work comes from the   knowledge on her early life, educationalRead MoreThe Color Purple By Alice Walker3360 Words   |  14 Pagesâ€Å"Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender† (Yahwon). Alice Walker views herself as a womanist. Although a womanist and feminist are similar, the two terms are not exactly the same. According to Professor Tamara Baeouboeuf-Lafonant: [Womanism] focuses on the experiences and knowledge bases of black women [which] recognizes and interrogates the social realities of slavery, segregation, sexism, and economic exploitation this group has experienced during its history in the United States. FurthermoreRead MoreThe Color Purple by Alice Walker1100 Words   |  5 PagesThe Color Purple by Alice Walker is a story written in 1982 that is about the life struggles of a young African American woman named Celie. The novel takes the reader through several main topics including the poor treatment of African American women, domestic abuse, family relationships, and also religion. The story takes place mostly in rural Georgia in the early 1900’s and demonstrates the difficult life of sharecropper families. Specifically how life was endured from the perspective of an AfricanRead MoreThe Color Purple by Alice Walker926 Words   |  4 PagesThe award-winning novel, â€Å"The Color Purple† by Alice Walker, is a story about a woman going through cruel things such as: incest, rape, and physical abuse. This greatly written novel comes from a very active feminist author who used many of her own experiences, as well as things that were happening during that era, in her writing. â€Å"The Color Purple† takes place in the early 1900s, and symbolizes the economic, emotional, and social deprivation that African American women faced in Southern statesRead MoreThe Color Purple By Alice Walker1495 Words   |  6 PagesThe Color Purple, is a novel written by the American author Alice Walker. The novel won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is also regarded to be her most successful piece of work. It has developed into an award winning film and was recently made into a Broadway play. The story continues to impress readers throughout the decades due to its brutal honesty. The novel successfully and truthfully demonstrates what life was like for black women during the early twentieth century. The book discusses