Why Purple? Education is an important part of any societies success. The better educated a society is the longer it survives. Americans have always made education a priority and designed a public educations system that is free to its citizens. This free educations is imperative to ensure that the future of America is secure. A well educated society is stronger, well established and citizens live longer happier lives. Teachers in America have a very difficult task, as it is their responsibility to guarantee that students receive a quality education. Parents can make the work of teachers difficult and challenging especially when controversial books are evolved. Alice Walker's book The Color Purple is one of the many books that are considered …show more content…
Teachers have found it especially useful because the book exposes students to ideas and subjects that can be encountered in real life. Many educators believe that, "The themes and controversies of many questioned texts are used to foster a dialogue and discussion in the classroom." (Chen, 2014) The idea of removing books with controversial subjects from schools only avoids tackling the subjects in appropriate settings and forces students to learn about them on their own. Controversy arises because parents are passionate about protecting the innocence of the students while teachers are passionate about exposing students to invaluable stories about how difficult life can be. The purpose of The Color Purple is to inspire students to observe how the characters in the story face difficult challenges and the role education plays. The characters in Alice Walker's book are uneducated, allowing students to recognize the difficulties that arise when there is a lack of education. Students who value education and understand how it can help them in the future are better prepared for …show more content…
Difficult topics, atrocious grammar, and its old-fashioned setting are some of the main arguments against teaching The Color Purple in the classroom. Difficult subjects can be dangerous for teachers. Discussions about sex, rape, abuse, and the use of inappropriate language are commonly avoided because it is considered unsuitable for children. Parents and teachers may feel these subjects to be unsuitable or inappropriate nevertheless, they are a component of the society in which students will integrate in to. Students will have to learn about these subjects somewhere and at some point in their educational career. The Color Purple is well known for its compelling story, however it is filled with awful grammar. English teachers spend the majority of their careers focused on proper grammar, and the introduction of Alice Walker's book can counteract years of hard work. The reality of the grammar used in The Color Purple is that it was how individuals spoke during that era. Exposing students yet again to another topic typically avoided by teachers. Students when sending a text message to a friend or talking during recess use language that wouldn't be considered grammatically correct however it is appropriate. Celie's language in the book often looks just as bad as it sounds, but is written how the character would write or speak, "I ast. She don't know but she say she gon
Alice Walker grew up in rural Georgia in the mid 1900s as the daughter of two poor sharecroppers. Throughout her life, she has been forced to face and overcome arduous lessons of life. Once she managed to transfer the struggles of her life into a book, she instantaneously became a world-renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner. The Color Purple is a riveting novel about the struggle between redemption and revenge according to Dinitia Smith. The novel takes place rural Georgia, starting in the early 1900s over a period of 30 years. Albert, also known as Mr._____, and his son Harpo must prevail over their evil acts towards other people, especially women. Albert and Harpo wrong many people throughout their lives. To be redeemed, they must first learn to love others, then reflect upon their mistakes, and finally become courageous enough to take responsibility for their actions. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker effectively develops Albert and Harpo through redemption using love, reflection, and responsibility.
Sisterhood does not only bring women together, it also helps make women stronger individuals in a patriarchal society. For instance, The Women of Brewster Place is an African American novel by Gloria Naylor that takes place in 1982 in Brewster Place. This novel contains several stories which focus on the lives of each of the seven women that live there. These women come to Brewster Place to find comfort. Eventually, the women build bonds that help them deal with the negativity of the society that they live in. In addition, The Color Purple by Alice Walker is an epistolary novel that takes place in rural Georgia during the 1980’s. Celie, who is the protagonist in The Color Purple, is a poor and uneducated fourteen year old African American girl. She is constantly physically and mentally abused by the men in her life. She forms strong friendships with women whom she idolizes and women who stand up to the social norms of society. In the end she gains confidence and becomes a stronger individual. The women in the novels The Color Purple and The Women of Brewster Place have shown that the only way to survive in a patriarchal society is through sisterhood.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harcourt Bruce Jovanovich, Publishers. New York, San Diego, London, 1992
My reaction to this article was quiet agreeing. I agreed with many things stated in this article, the article explained the story exactly right. For example when it states the relationship between Shug and Celie because Shug was always there for Celie. The article did a really good job explaining the novel and gave a really good report. (The New York Times).
Walker brought most of the horrific and even sickening scenes of the book to life, with the help and influence of society in history. One of the greatest influences to have an effect on Walker's style of writing and especially The Color Purple, were instances from slavery and prejudice. The whites owned and empowered America during the time of slavery. They had no respect for any other race, which they thought of as substandard. As Lean'tin Bracks stated, blacks were considered to be racially inferior, and they were used for the exploitation of the white culture. The whites used the black people as animals, and made them do their every bidding. Blacks and whites were separated form each other and this segregation of the two races barred blacks from legal and economic access, and they were put to punishment by the white culture. Interaction between the two races rarely occurred other than specific affairs or whites intruding on blacks. There were no penalties to pay by whites, therefore intrusions were common, and they took advantage of the African-Americans. The intrusions varied from breaking and entering to rape and murder for no apparent reason (84). Walker used this basis of racism to grip the reader and take them through a story of a women, who survives physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, everyday.
The relationship between Celie and Albert went through many changes throughout this novel. Albert, or Mr._________, was a man who seem to be a person who was very angry, powerful and hateful. His father was a man who believed that love was not the point while trying to find a good wife, obedience was. The woman didn't have to be attractive, rich or one who was in love, all she had to do was cook, clean and tend to the children. Albert was taught that this was the way to an successful life. Albert feel in love with Shug, they did not marry. Mr.____ was controlled by his father even as an adult. His father wouldn't allow his son to marry Shug. His father didn't want him to actually love, because he never loved himself. Albert married a woman his father approved of, and he treated her how his father taught him to. Margret cooked, cleaned and tended to the children. After his father took shug away from him, he hated his father, but was so controlled by him that he could never stand up to his father. She later died and left behind a house to be cleaned, cooking to be done and children who needed to be tended to. He fell in love again with Nettie, but she was not allowed to marry him. Albert was forced to find a quick replacement for Margret. So instead he married Celie. He beat her not only because of the angry towards his father, but also because she was neither Shug nor Nettie. In the marriage of Celie and Albert there was no love or devotion. They were just stuck with the other. Celie married Albert because her step father told her too and Albert married because he wanted a full time maid. They just went one day to the next with Albert giving the orders and Celie carrying out these orders. It was like boss and employ, except Celie was anything but rewarded for carrying out the orders.
According to Scholl’s article, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, is a parable. In classifying a story as a parable, Scholl determines that a parable must be a “movement through a realistically improbable sequence of narrative reversals toward a conclusion that defies realistic expectations.” (Scholl, 255) These reversals are very evident throughout the novel and render the conclusion unrealistic. In almost every character, there is an ironic reversal of what should happen and what does happen.
Alice Walker’s writings were greatly influenced by the political and societal happenings around her during the 1960s and 1970s. She not only wrote about events that were taking place, she participated in them as well. Her devoted time and energy into society is very evident in her works. The Color Purple, one of Walker’s most prized novels, sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men. The events that happened during and previous to her writing of The Color Purple had a tremendous impact on the standpoint of the novel.
In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, numerous symbols influence and drive the plot of the novel. One of the most important symbols that Walker incorporates into the plot is the letters written by Celie to either God or Nettie, signifying the power of voice. The epistolary format of the novel itself enables readers to understand Celie, whose letters are initially addressed to God. After being raped by her stepfather at the age of fourteen, he tells her to “never tell anybody but God” (Walker 1); thus, Celie’s original letters are presented more as confessions and prayers. This first letter itself “initiates the story of Celie's unrelenting victimization” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88), and the audience notices that the way in which Celie narrates the events occurring in her life over the course of the next several letters lacks sentiment and opinion....
The relationship between Shug and Celie cuts very deep. Both of them help each other become what they really need to be. Both Celie and Shug were very oppressed people. Celie was oppressed by her lack of caring, and by her lack of self esteem. Shug is caught in other people's image of her. She is not free to become what she really wants to be, which is a loving member of a loving family, which she never really had. This is shown by the quote on page 125-6. "(Mama) never love to do nothing had to do with touching nobody, she say. I try to kiss her, she turn her mouth away. Say, Cut that out, Lillie." Celie freed Shug from the role that everybody wanted her to fit into, and Shug freed Celie from the psychological bonds that were keeping her from making of her life what she wanted it to be, by being a mixture of friend, idol, lover, and teacher.
The Color Purple depicts the struggle within the life of the female protagonist, Celie. Celie, a clear victim of abuse, narrates the story through a collection of writings that starts with her confession of “Dear God.” Celie’s story encompasses around her life and the characters that breaks the common gender depiction. The story heavily addresses the subject of social and behavioral standards for either men and women. It raises an issues on traditional marital subjects, family patriarchy, and social topics. In a traditional take of the family structure, the man often exhibits the dominant male figure head with the final say. The father provides the money and security for the wife and children as well as claim authority over the family. He becomes very work oriented and cares for the children only in times of need. On the other hand, the woman acts to be passive and pleases her husband. She plays a major role in raising and educating the children in every way possible. Often times, the woman takes a small part in maintaining a profession; although, she holds responsibility for all house work. The societal perspective of the patriarchal family system relies so heavily on gender roles that it becomes an expectation and the regulated norm. The Color Purple disrupts this gender norm by introducing characters that faces marital issues due to being the opposite of the typical gender role. Because they embody the opposite gender’s likely attributes, it becomes a questioning issue that leads to striving to live up to social norms or dealing with society disapproval. Within the progression of the novel, the women possess a sense of empowerment while as the men accept how things are in the world. The introducti...
Women have battled for centuries to be equivalent to men. In “The Color Purple," Alice Walker illustrates the theme of women’s heartache, racist acts, and complications of a day to day woman. The Color Purple took place during a demeaning era to not only African American women but African Americans in general were treated inhumane. African American women submitted themselves to controlling men due to the belief of that’s how it should be. During this time, women were used for manual and sexual labor. They were referred as one’s property, hardly spoken of or treated like human-beings. Women faced lack of self-love and identity therefore the definition of love was clouded.
Throughout The Color Purple, Alice Walker conveys the importance and the power of female friendship in all forms. It shapes and forms the strong bond of female companionship as means of refuge from oppression, male dominance and a world full of violence perpetrated against woman which the female protagonists wish to break free from. Walker constantly reminds the reader of the gruelling pursuit of identity that all are in search for, both in Africa and America; for females to gain equal recognition as individuals who deserve fair and just treatment in a patriarchal society where as Albert states “Men suppose to wear the pants" in soceity. In conclusion, not only leading Celies personal growth as independent woman but also to the extraordinary establishment of a female solidarity network within the novel. It is this network of female friends that wages a potent challenge to dominate over the patriarchal structure in the text.
The progression of civil rights for black women that existed throughout the twentieth century mirrors the development Celie makes from a verbally debilitated girl to an adamant young woman. The expression of racism and sexism that evidenced itself during the postmodern era presented Walker with an opportunity to compose a novel that reveals her strong animosity toward discrimination. Without these outlets, Walker would not have had the ability to create a novel with such in-depth insights into the lifestyle of an immensely oppressed woman. The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor, young black girl, growing up in rural Georgia in the early twentieth century.
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.