Celie's Transformation in Alice Walker's Color Purple

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Celie's Transformation in The Color Purple

Celie is not a typical protagonist. In Alice Walker's The Color Purple, the main character Celie is an ugly, poor girl who is severely lacking in self-confidence. However, Celie transforms throughout the course of the novel and manages to realize herself as a colorful, beautiful, and proud human being. Celie becomes a powerful individual.

The Color Purple follows Celie's transformation from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. What is remarkable is the fact that this transformation does not merely compose the plot of the novel, it also dominates the layout of the pages. The book's chapters are not written in a typical fashion as each chapter is a letter written from Celie to God, Celie to her sister Nettie, or Nellie to Celie. Alice Walker utilized this method of storytelling to give the reader a very personal glimpse into Celie's mind and soul. The writer gets a feel for Celie through her writing style- she uses specific phrasing to express herself and, over time, her mechanical writing skills improve greatly. We see Celie's thought process as she makes decisions and then writes about them. This powerful narration is the main driving force behind the words.

If we analyse the story instead of the narrative perspective can we see that the main reason of Celie's insecurity is caused by the way she is treated by men. She is sexually abus...

... middle of paper ...

...kling transforms into a beautiful swan.

Works Cited and Consulted:

Klosowski, John E. "The Color Purple and Its True Color." Houston Cronicle. December 14, 1995 : 42-44.

Smith, Pamela A. "Green Lap, Brown Embrace, Blue Body: The Ecospirituality of Alice Walker." April Cross Currents 2000 (1999): 18 p.

Online. Internet. 30 Nov. 2001. Available: http://www.aril.org.smith2.htm.

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Washington. Pocket Books/Washington Square Press (1985).

Winchell, Donna Haisty. Alice Walker. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992.

Notes:

1 Walker, Alice, The Color Purple (1982), p. 11

2 ibid, p. 38

3 ibid, p. 76

4 Walker (1982), p. 82

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