Dear Ms. Westfall, April 13, 2011
I have completed the novel The Color Purple written by Alice Walker. This novel takes place in a rural area in the South during the around the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. The main character, Celie, is described in the novel as a very shy and controlled woman. Every since she was a little younger, she has been physically and mentally abused by her father. One day, a man who in the book goes by the name of Mr.__________ comes by to her father’s house. He asks her father is he could have his other daughter named Nettie, who is described to be beautiful and very smart. Celie’s father says no to Mr.__________ but instead says that he can have Celie since she is ugly and dumb. Once Celie is now with this man, she continuously gets abused mentally and physically, and has to take care of his children and do the cooking and cleaning. It is not until the best performer and Celie’s favorite person Shug Avery arrives in town and stays with her and her family. This is when Celie begins to feel a little better about her life since she also a very big crush on Shug Avery. After many years, Celie wonders about her sister Nettie and how she is. It is not until years afterwards that she starts to receive letters from her sister, to find out that she is doing fine and is having a good time. Towards the end of the novel, Celie is able to have a better life and learn from her experiences.
This is an amazing novel that I was so happy to read. I really like the transition of writing Walker makes between Celie and Nettie. Throughout the novel whenever Celie and writing to God, there is confusion in the way Celie writes because of a number of reasons. These reasons include her having misspelled words and incorrect grammar. I completely understand that was necessary to do since during those times, education was not widely available to blacks, but I still found it to be a little bit confusing. On the other hand, when reading Nettie’s letters to Celie, I feel relieved that I don’t have to get frustrated or confused because Nettie has a better education compared to Celie, especially since she was able to go to Africa and have Samuel and Corrine teach her the material the children in Africa were learning. All in all, I found it very interesting that Walker wrote incorrectly in one chapter, then have perfect and proper grammar in the next.
Throughout the novel, between sections, there are pictures, specifically block prints, that appear frequently. The images themselves are very pretty and give off inspirational messages, but I still continue to ponder and wonder why Walker had these images put into the novel. My theory is that maybe those images are representations of Celie and her character. A lot of the characters in this novel, especially her husband and father, see her as a girl who follows orders and can be pushed around anytime and she would completely fine with it. This description is definitely not true because although she does not completely show it, she is a very intelligent and confident woman who actually has a lot of things to say which are expressed in different ways than others think they should be expressed. Some of these expressions includes her body language, what she talks to God about, and how she has deep connections with Nettie, Shug Avery, Sofia, and others.
In conclusion, this is a fantastic novel that I cannot wait to read again. I would definitely recommend this novel to both adults and young adults not only because it is realistic, but also because it is a very historical novel.
Sincerely,
De’Andra Johnson
Work Cited
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt Inc., 1992. Print.
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