...Elements of fiction “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker The Color Purple is an epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name. This novel is making arguments on the topic “racism and sexism”. The Color Purple is an extraordinary novel that’s full of surprises. Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on female black life in the 1930s in the southern United States, addressing numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture. Alice Walker’s biography [pic] Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1994, in Eatonton, Georgia. Living in the racially divided South, Walker attended segregated schools. She graduated from her high school as the valedictorian of her class. With the help of a scholarship, she was able to go to Spelman College in Atlanta. Later, she switched to Sarah Lawrence College in New York City. While at Sarah Lawrence, Walker visited Africa as part of a study-abroad program. She graduated in 1965—the same year that she published her first short story. After college, Walker worked as a social worker, teacher and lecturer. She became active in the Civil Rights Movement, fighting for equality for all African Americans. Her experiences informed her first collection of poetry, Once, which was published in 1968. Better known now as a novelist, Walker...
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...The Color of Freedom Life for black women in the early 1900s was difficult, not only because of racism and lack of women’s rights, but because of the subjugation they faced from the men in their lives and from society. In the novel, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, the narrator is an abused black woman named Celie. Walker uses this unique protagonist to comment on the racism, sexism, and abuse of women that was so prevalent in the early 1900s. Walker used Celie’s inner monologue (in the form of letters to God and her sister Nettie) to convey the overarching message of the novel; the power of finding that inner voice that leads to freedom from the oppression of society’s expectations. Celie started off the book as a powerless victim of the men in her life with no voice. Walker uses Celie’s first person point of view to tell her life story of abuse and submissive silence. Celie’s only form of communication about her thoughts and feelings are through letters to God that are brief at first but then are more complex as Celie gets more confident and finds her voice. In the beginning, Celie’s inner voice had been beaten into silence at an early age by her abusive step-father and later by her husband with emotional and physical abuse. She survived by “[not] fight(ing)… stay[ing] where (she) told” and staying silent letting her step father believe that she is” too dumb to keep going to school” (Walker 2.254, 3. 342) Celie was only able to find her voice once she stood up to her husband...
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...The Color Purple Walker, Alice- 1982 Alexis Moss Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple (book titles in italics) to give her insight of men, women, love or the lack thereof, physical, mental, and verbal abuse. The men within this book were very powerful. It would be safe to say that the men were slave owners, and the women were the slaves. Celie was the main character of the book, and she endures every form of abuse from individuals in her life that should have been showing her love. Everyone abused her except her sister Nettie, whom she found herself trying to protect from their father. Celie’s mother abused and cursed her, even while being on her sick bed because her husband desired to have sex with Celie more than her. Walker uses this unique protagonist to comment on the racism, sexism, and abuse of women who was so prevalent in the early 1900s. Walker used Celie’s inner monologue (in the form of letters to God and her sister Nettie) to convey the overarching message of the novel; the power of finding that inner voice that leads to freedom from the oppression of society’s expectations. The plot takes place over a 30-year period in the reconstruction South of Georgia. They live in a rural farm community and were a hotbed of activity for civil rights and suffrage. This book was written from the other side of racism, from the victim’s point of view forcing the reader to see the result of bigotry. Racism not only affected Celie’s life but also the life of her friend Sofia...
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...“Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender,” a quote by author Alice Walker. Walker basically created the definition of womanism by using this quote in her book In Search of our Mother’s Gardens. What is womanism? What are womanist views of feminism and are they well founded? Many womanists would agree that the feminist movement was only to created to end sexism. Author Bell Hooks states that anyone who supports feminist politics needs to comprehend the fact that the work does not end with the fight for gender equality (Hooks, 662). Many womanists would believe that feminism was only created by middle-class white women for middle-class white women, and they would be correct. Many feminists only believe in equal rights for middle-class...
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...Cathcart 1 Ciera Cathcart Period 0 Mrs.Allan Honors English 28 April 2014 The Hidden Outlier Truth Lies, fairness and kindness is the reality of all americans no matter what color, race, or who you are. Nobody wants to be singled out ever.The treatment of women has always been a hard subject in society and many subjects of novels. Walker dramatically shows realistic imagery, as she reels the reader in by conditions black women put up with and what life can be like when you are abused. In The Color Purple ,by Alice Walker, tackles the subject of sexism in communties. The first amendment does issue the fact that women's rights should be their and that everyone has the freedom, and that we all have quality The Color Purple written by Alice Walker should not be banned, through various arguments. Some including that it is an honest depiction of African-American life in the early 20th century, it addresses child abuse issues, rape, that still need to be addressed in our society, and because the freedom of speech is a constitutional right. The Color Purple was banned due to explicit language, sexual content, and racist stereotypes. Although, you would think the banning of the book is very difficult or hard but it is actually simple. There are two different ways to get a book removed, either banning or challenging. Banning a book is the removal no matter what. A Challenged book is when its an attempt to remove...
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...Culture in the Color Purple “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” That is a quote by Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Minister of India. I interpreted this as culture expands your knowledge as well as you spiritual life. This statement is false. In the novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple, the Characterization of the protagonist, Celie, and the setting of the novel disprove this. Mohja Kahf also shows evidence against this in her poem, My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears, with the plot of the poem. The main protagonist in Walker’s, The Color Purple, is Celie, a young African American woman fighting through the struggles of living in the early 1900s as a black female. The novel is written in an epistolary style with Celie writing letters to her distant sister Nettie, and god in the beginning. Eventually Celie stops writing to god and solely writes letters to Nettie. “‘…the god I been praying and writing to is a man. And act like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgetful, and lowdown.’”(Walker 73). At this point Celie has finally given up belief in god, which in a way removes the blindfold from her eyes. When Celie was relying on god nothing good was coming from it. So once Celie became less spiritual and cultural and acted on things that displeased her by herself, she got results. The whole time these cultural beliefs were just blinding her. It’s the early 1900s in Georgia, in the Deep South, a region...
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...The Color Purple Celie’s Life Terry Bradford Ivy Tech Community College Abstract Story of a young African American woman (Celie), growing up in the rural south during the early to mid- Nineteenth century the depression era. Her life is a struggle early on. She is beaten constantly and raped by her father as a result two children were born. Both were taken at birth. She leaves one hell only to end up in another one. Her father basically sells her into marriage her fate is no better with her husband. The beatings continue. She has to endure having sex with him. She is there only to take care of his house and raise his children who have no respect for her. She has no voice until a woman named Shrug comes into her life. She then becomes a woman with a voice and learns how to use it. The Color Purple Celie’s Life In the movie The Color Purple we deal with a young African American woman (Celie), who grew up in early to mid-ninetieth century in the rural south during the depression. She grew up poor and uneducated. She deals with poverty, racism and sexism. There is nothing about being a black woman in this this period of time to be proud of. In social comparison, her race, that is being black compared to being white, black people are considered inferior. And by being a woman only makes it worse. Thus we have the formation of Celie’s...
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...FILM CRITIQUE: THE COLOR PURPLE 1 The Color Purple Devon Murraine ENG225: Introduction to Film Instructor: Kayla Ward October 20, 2012 [no notes on this page] -1- The Trials and Tribulations of life 4 The Color Purple “The Color Purple” is a 1985 American drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the eighth film directed by Spielberg and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker (Walker, 1996). The film tells the story of a young African American girl named Celie and shows the problems faced by African American women during the early 1900s; including poverty, racism, and sexism. The character Celie transform as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions. 2 1 1. “The Color Purple” (italics) [Angela Trodello (TA)] This movie has a great representation of characters where mentioning the talented Whoopi Goldberg and the famous Oprah Winfrey. These characters represent in the movie oppressed women who have surmised by their husbands and society. Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Is more of the quiet type, a woman who lives under the pressure and demands of the man but Oprah Winfrey as Sofia, is more of a strong type, she believes in equal rights with the men. 3 2. companions. The intro needs a thesis statement. Introduce the elements of film-making that you will analyze. How do they affect your critique? [Angela Trodello (TA)] 3. men. How does their acting contribute to the mise-enscene? [Angela...
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...Brave New World and The Color purple are two very distinct novels that convey two very different messages. However, it can be argued that they do have very similar ways of conveying it, most of the characters except lead insular lives, unaware of what is occurring outside their own small neighborhood. They are particularly unaware of the larger social and political currents sweeping the world. Despite their isolation, however, they work through problems of racism, sexism, violence, and oppression to achieve a wholeness, both personal and communal. It is evidently clear that Walker and Huxley construct a male dominant patriarchal society in these novels where women are oppressed and essentially stripped of their freedom, individuality and contentment....
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...best”, it was apparent that her clothes were old and worn. Not only were her clothes old and worn, the features of her face told the story of her life. As the woman approached the steps of the church, she is met with people who whispered unspeakable things about her and stares from those same people. There were stares filled with fear; fear of her color, fear of the known and the unknown. This woman was not welcomed in the church as she soon found out when she was asked to leave and when she didn’t leave, she was physically removed. Alice Walker was born during an era long before the Civil Rights Movement. Though not clearly stated, one can deduce from her writings in this story and in her book, The Color Purple, that she was met with prejudicial whispers and stares. “Issues of race and gender form the center of her literary work and her social activism, which included participation in civil rights demonstrations led by Martin Luther King, Jr.” (Clugston, R.W. 2010). According to R.W. Clugston, Ms. Walker continues to write from the perspective of African American women and is “advocating ways to approach challenges of sexism, racism, and poverty in American life.” (Clugston, R.W. 2010). From my perspective as an African American...
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...Cody Stetson Mr. Nester AP Writing/English 12 3 March 2015 The Color Purple Feminism in women's movements has been a prominent impact that revolutionizes women's rise for independence and equality amongst men. The ideology of feminism is shown rather often in various works of literature, through various different literature time periods. The way it is depicted in these novels can often include other various objective prejudices, such as racism or sexism. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, depicts the same ideology, along with those extra prejudices, throughout the endeavors of her more prominent characters, such as Celie or Shug Avery. Walker's novel is a prime representation of the vocalization of women's true voices throughout the gender differences that plagued them and their entirety. Celie is a prime example of how unruly prejudice and direct insults can be on a woman of her time. She was portrayed as a character that is always quiet, never outspoken, lacking self-confidence, and is considered to have an appearance like that of a hag-woman, for men and women alike never compliment her for her own looks or features. Men like Alphonso and Mr. ____ only see Celie as yet another object in their lives, and treat her with the same respect as the whites did slaves during societal times before hers. The treatment of women in this novel as well as the absurdity and abuse from the men that correlate to this novel can directly be assumed by most female characters and their...
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...Celie has no power in society or over her abusers because of her race and gender and her only form of expression is through her letters to God. The abusers in this novel are not stereotypical or purely evil as they are often husbands of the women and do have redeeming qualities. The violent abusers are the victims of sexism, racism or parentalism, which once again emphasises the cyclical nature of life. For example, Harpo only beating Sofia after his father implying he is less of a man for not beating his wife. The characterisation of this character is representative of a lot of males in...
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...COLOR PURPLE: LIFE OF CELIE Margaret Njigua Northshore Community College Psychology 118 Professor Stanga April 14, 2014 The Color Purple is a novel that was written in 1982 by Alice Walker. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name. Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on the life of women of color in the southern United States and addresses numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture. Born in 1895, Celie who is the main character was raised on a farm in a small town in Georgia where formal education took a back seat to physical labor and household maintenance, and the Church was the main focal point of socialization among local town members. The Color Purple chronicles the startling tragedy and triumph of Celie in her struggle for self-empowerment, sexual freedom, and spiritual growth in the early twentieth century. Its winter 1909 and Celie is fourteen years old. Her step-father, who she thinks is her real father, sexually and verbally abuses her. He impregnates Celie and she gives birth to a girl, whom he steals...
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...them out. You have taught me that that farting, is funny, granted, not always appropriate, and sometimes unpleasant, you taught me that if I cannot laugh, if I am more offended by a fart, than by war, famine, political corruption, deforestation, racism, sexism, classicism, the wrongfully imprisoned, the treatment of women, the foreclosing on homes while banks debts are forgiven, if a fart offends me more than all of that, then I am not a human. You taught me not to laugh to fit in, laughter, should be honest, if there is no sincerity in my joy then my happiness will be a forgery that fools only myself. You taught me not to fear being hated and that regardless of who I am what I say or what I do, I will be hated by some and you taught me that if I am going to be hated regardless of who I am, then I need to be be fearless enough to be who I want to be. Thank you for your joy. Thank you for your wisdom. You have impacted me more than you will ever know. Kelsey I have such high admiration for you and everything you do. You are such a genuine, kind, altruistic person. You have a beautiful soul; a soul that makes others’ take flight. You are such a clear mentor in my life, it is no wonder why you remind me of bright blue. Blue is the color of the spirit. Blue is associated with open spaces, freedom, intuition, imagination inspiration, and sensitivity; it also represents meanings of depth, trust, loyalty, sincerity, wisdom, confidence, stability, faith, heaven, and intelligence. I am convinced...
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...Deyanna Johnson The effects of Alice Walker’s life on her writings Alice Walker is a short story writer, poet, and author of children’s books. Her writings have become a favorite and popular read in the literary community. Some of her writings have transcended from the written version into screen writings. Drawing from her emotions, Walker’s writings range stem from personal pain, abortion and suicide. er HerAlice Walker writings were influenced by her unusual childhood, her literary mentors, and struggle with self- esteem. Initially, Alice Walker’s writings were influenced by her unusual childhood. Alice Malsenior Walker was born February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia, to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah (Grant) Walker. Walker’s family included five boys and three girls. She was the youngest of her eight siblings (Alice Walker para1). By the time she was eight years old, her family knew she would rather play more exciting games with two of her brothers than spend time playing with her dolls. The children sometimes acted out stories from the westerns. As a little girl, Alice Walker also went through hardships in life. At the age of eight, Walker was accidentally injured by a BB gun shot in her eye by her brother. Her partial blindness caused her to withdraw from normal childhood activities and begin to write poetry to ease her loneliness. She found that writing demanded peace and quiet, but these were difficult things to come by when ten people lived in four rooms....
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