The Color Purple

The main plot of The Color Purple is a young African American woman’s struggle through life in the early 20^th century with an abusive husband and separation from her family. Throughout the story, her husband and his children treat the character very poorly.

One theme that is noted is incest and rape. The main character, Celie, is raped multiple times by her father at age 14 and bears 2 children. She thinks that the father has taken the children and killed them in the woods, but at the end of the story it is discovered that the children were sold and Celie is eventually reunited with them.

Themes of race and gender play heavily into this story. Sexual orientation is also brought up in this story, although very conspicuously. The main character, Celie, is not sexually or emotionally aroused by her husband and the reader figures its because he is abusive. But throughout the story it is discovered that Celie is sexually attracted to a particular woman, Shug and doesn’t understand her feelings. Being homosexual back in those days was just unheard of.

Celie’s husband was the stereotypical male and very misogynistic. He thought it was a woman’s job to obey her husband and it was necessary to beat her if she didn’t obey. His son even learned this behavior and was confused when his wife disobeyed him. He became even more troubled when his wife beat him when he tried to beat her.
It was the norm for men back in those days to treat women as if they weren’t equal. Some women even believed it was normal to get beat everyday. This type of thinking was drilled into people’s heads and caused damage to the society.
There were only 2 strong willed women characters in this story. That included Shug, Celie’s eventual lover, and Sofia, Harpo’s wife. Sofia stood up to any man that tried to put her down or beat her. She was even described as being a very big woman who didn’t take nonsense. She even punched the mayor after he slapped her. There was a moment in the story where Sofia showed her strength and expressed to Celie how she felt about having to be so strong throughout her life. She said, "All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fightmy brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child aint safe in a family of men." She goes on to say, "I loves Harpo. God knows I do. But I'll kill hm dead before I let him beat me." Shug was also a confident woman. She never let a man talk down to her. Shug also taught Celie how to love herself. She was not only her lover, but also a mentor who eventually made her into a very strong person. Women like Shug and Sofia weren’t common whatsoever back in those days.

Scene of Sofia telling Celie about her strength


Alice Walker's great great grandmother was a slave and she used her family experiences to influence the characters of this book. In the video below, Alice said she wanted to be a part of her ancestor’s life at a time where she didn’t exist. Writing about life for blacks in the South directly affects Walker's work because that is where her roots are from. Being able to create stories about her ancestors allows her to realize her own strength and the strength of her writing.This book has gotten her the most recognition and prestige. She was the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize.

There was even a movie made in 1985 about this particular work of Alice Walker’s by the same title that stars Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. The film was directed by mastermind director Steven Spielberg and received 11 Oscar nominations.





















There is also a Broadway musical that was made out of this story. I’ve seen both the movie and Broadway musical and I highly recommend them both. It is an important story to tell and it teaches us about how some of our ancestors lived.

Clip of Alice Walker talking about the story

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple: a Novel. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982. Print.

-Arielle Cole