Free Essays - The Depiction of Black Men in Alice Walker's Color Purple

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor black woman living in the south between World War 1 and World War 2. This was at a time when, although slavery had ended,many women were still virtually in bondage, and had to put up with many conditions that was reminiscent of the days of slavery. The problem was that they had to endure being treated like an inferior being by their own families sometimes, as well as from the white people that lived there. It was a life that was filled with misery for many black women, and they felt helpless to do anything about their situations.

Whilst exploring the exploitation of female characters in The Color Purple, Alice Walker portrays the female characters in the novel as weak-minded, easily enthralled and controlled by their male superiors. Walker represents the exploitation as a struggle for identity through her consistent use of the theme of power from male characters and the subjugation of females runs parallel along the segregation of the black community from the white community. Significantly, the context of segregation highlights Celie’s lack of education and emphasises her struggle for hope and her own identity. The setting of the novel also shows historical importance through its context of ‘the Deep American South’ by the culture of the population within the ‘Bible Belt’⁽¹⁾.

Briefly introducing the background of this book, the time period of this book is in the early 20 century after abolition of slavery. But even slavery was abolished, the issue of slavery had remained in this era. This paper describes the evidence of slavery in The Color Purple after abolishing legacy of slavery.

Alice Walkers book The Color Purple is about a young girl who has to grow up faster than most fourteen year old girls. The controversies that arise that we’ve learned about are gender roles, infidelity, and violence/abuse. Reading this book one can tell that these issues not only existed during the 20th century but also times of today. Going on to analyze these issues from what the writer portrayed in this novel.

If we read The Color Purple with 'gender on the agenda' as required we can identify how the form contributes to the impact of the narrative. The Color Purple is a story that unfolds through the writing and exchange of letters. Opening with the line 'You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy.' A warning issued by the abusive 'father' (later and importantly discovered to be step-father) of the central character Celie who indeed pours out her secret to God and later to her sister Nettie about her life and her pain.

The novel explores the idea that domestic violence is a trait that is passed on from generation to generation but can be unlearned. Domestic Violence was one of the most important and most critical topics that were explained in The Color Purple. The book begins as Celie describes her initial family. Her father beats her mother and proceeds to rape Celie after her mother becomes too ill to satisfy her father’s sexual needs. She lives in constant fear of “him” and makes it her underlining goal to protect her sister Nettie from him at all costs. In the story her father states to Celie “You better never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy” (Walker 1) making it clear that she is forced to comply with all his needs. Celie’s father impregnates her and when she is to give birth her father takes the infant away from her, and makes it seem like he has killed the baby in t...

I choose to read the book “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker. The book talks about the life of an African-American lady by the name of Celie that lived in the southern United States in the late 1930s. It addresses the numerous issues that included the low ranking of American social culture. In the book it talks about how she wrote books to God because the father she had would beat her and rape her. He also got her pregnant and then she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Her father end up taking the baby shortly after birth.

The rivalry between the right of men and women has been an hardily fight for decades. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker portrayed a patriarchal society made by and for men. In this system women struggle to obtain a voice. An example is the protagonist, Celie, who from the beginning of her life experience sexual, mental and physical abuse from her step-father and also by her husband. As a result of this unequal system where women are consider nothing without a man, Celie develops a passive character only doing what men order. However, with the unconditional support of the women around her, she finally attain her liberation and independence. As a result, her emancipation generate an opportunity to make her realize her individuality and inner strength.

The Color Purple Essay: It Was the Worst of Times The book The Color Purple was written by Alice Walker.   The book was not written in a conventional manner.   It was a series of letters spanning the life of Celie, the main character.   Most of the letters were written by Celie and some by her sister Nettie.

Marguerite despite her setback, had a childhood before the incident, unlike Celie who was never given the chance of one. To begin, Celie’s childhood was very eventful and filled with responsibilities only adults should have. Celie had become the main caretaker of her famil...