Tolog Review: The Color Purple

The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
reviewed by Genevieve Zix

The Color Purple, a novel that is now nationwide phenomenon, was published in 1982 and later earned the author, Alice Walker, a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia in 1944. She became known through her excellent writing skills and intelligence, as it was rare for a young black girl to have such an impact back in the 1940’s-50’s. Later, in 1985, the famed director Steven Spielberg released her award-winning Literary Fiction on the big screen, creating awareness of injustice and inequality. Recently, her widely-known story has been adapted into play, even making an appearance in the Tony Awards. Walker continues to be an empowering activist, and inspires women around the world. The story of The Color Purple has become an immense success, as it’s story has been adapted into both movie and play format.

In the novel, Alice Walker introduces readers to Celie, a 14 year old African American girl living in Georgia. She is impoverished, illiterate, and is sexually abused and beaten by her father, leaving her writing letters to God in desperation. She had given birth to a daughter and a son due to her father’s harassment, later finding them missing because her father had stolen them away. Celie’s younger sister, Nettie, has discovered that a man known to readers with the name of “Mister” wants to marry Celie. However, Celie does not have any interest in Nettie’s potential husband and instead takes interest in his lover, Shug Avery. Their father does not allow Nettie to marry Mister, but instead wills him to marry Celie. This turns out to be unfortunately abusive marriage, in which Mister persists on making advances toward Nettie, who flees home for her own good. Later on, Harpo, Mister’s son, marries his girlfriend Sofia after he impregnates her. Shug soon becomes sick, causing Mister to take her into his home to rest and recover. At first, she is rude and indifferent to Celie, but the two later grow a bond while Celie is taking care of her. Celie develops a sexual attraction towards Shug, but does not know what to think of it, since it is the first time she is experiencing love. Before then, she had only known of abuse and pain. The story continues to tell of Celie’s exploration of true love, religion, and emotional healing.

Alice Walkers’ writing style in The Color Purple is as if she were uneducated, which makes readers feel closer to Celie because she is uneducated. Her brief sentences and scattered words tell the audience that the main character struggles with putting her thoughts together. These methods are used throughout the book in order to make the Celie more dimensional and realistic, in order to let readers grow close to her and feel what she feels. This novel has not only positively impacted African Americans across the nation, it has also impacted women. By raising awareness of things such as sexual abuse and harassment, women have learned to raise their voices and speak out about their experience. This contributes as to why it is such a successful novel. Its empowering and coming-of-age fashion appeals to readers of all kinds.