Alice Walker is one of the most popular figures in those days. Her writings mainly concentrate on their lands and the people, especially women. Her writings give energy and awareness of those days. In the 1970s, women have a lot of suppression in their society. Male dominations have an important role. Women do not express their ideas. But her novels and essays give an awareness of their society. Her works are considered as a classical womanist text. It is full of focuses on male domination, oppression, and race gender.
The Color Purple is written in first person narrative style. It is an epistolary or letter-writing form. Sometimes it’s combined with a diary and journey. This genre was first used by Samuel Richardson in the Mid-eighteenth century for his work, Pamela and Clarissa. Mostly, this genre openly explains her experience. It easily creates a picture in the reader's mind. It is the first-person narrative so she cannot overly express it because it happened in earlier days.
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Walker introduces several themes in her work. Such as the varied sorts of pain faced by human beings, the triumph of the human spirit losing her innocence, search for identity. This epistolary format explores women’s suppression and identity. The first-person narrative gives a structure to the reader’s mind. They easily understand the author’s mind. It will be helpful for all people to understand their society.
Epistolary or letter-writing as a literary form in fiction is a powerful genre for women writers interested in using a novel to examine modern society critically and present a world better than the one they have had. Since letter-writing reveals the thinking processes of the characters, it has to express their voices. In feminist works language and the adequacy of language come under scrutiny. There have been novels that use letter-writing to focus on the reconstruction of the self, especially women. Two such works are Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook (1962) and Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982).
Walker’s novel particularly points out the language, power, and gender. She gives an awareness of the new style of writing. The reader finds it difficult to understand the protagonist, Celie’s language. It challenges the reader. The first half of the book is addressed to God. Almost Celie has written a letter to God. And the second half of the book, Celie and Nettie exchange their letters. It shows their language, grammar, spelling, and writing style. Celie is an uneducated woman. Because her father did not allow going to school. So her writing is clearly understood by everyone. She has poor knowledge, poor spelling, and poor grammar.
Celie’s letter particularly points out the Black people’s dialect. For example, the conjunction of the verb ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ often jumped. The plural form of nouns and verbs creates an irregular ending. And two men change into two men. She says instead of she says. Double negative commas are used. The color purple is also considered a classic womanist text. They live in a male-dominated society. Black American Forum states that “It has become the classic novel by a black woman”. The narrative techniques are linked with the plot because they give the image of identity and rebirth of survival. She expresses her ideas in a formal and oral dialect. It gives a new life to society. The black young women are treated like a sexual object. In this novel, the protagonist Celie is raped by her step-father. Socialist and Radical theory is used in the novel. Socialist theory points out how women are economically dependent upon others, especially men. This role helps to identify the major roles of women such as mothers and housekeepers. Radical theory points out the family relationship and how the men control women. At the beginning of the novel, Celie has no identity. Her husband also calls Celie a ‘nobody’. Celie is also unable to define herself. Later, Celie realizes her identity and also leaves him. Celie says, 'I'm pre, I'm black, I may be ugly and can't cook. But I'm here.' Linguistics says that Walker's languages give a new strategy for the story because Celie’s language is uncontrolled. It expresses the 1960s Black English people's dialect. So it has its own structure and vocabulary system. Simultaneously, she proves her Standard English because most of the reader misunderstands her works. First, the sentence is not given more importance. After that Walker gives the improvement of her language and style. She said, 'My mind ran up Celi's writing gives confidence to Afro-American society. Alice Walker is also impressed by the reader. Celie's writing has a grammatical error and her reported speech is also bad. Celie uses her own grammatical rules.
Alice Walker points out that language is whatever the character speaks. Life and writing are a synonym, of each other. This type of writing provides the sympathy of the audience. God is an essential character in the 19th century because they are freely communicating with God. Celie believes that God is considered as a White man on a thought, git confirmed, run back and sort of lay down'(215)
He was big and old and tall and grey-bearded and white. He wears white robes and goes barefooted…Ain‘t no way to read the bible and not think God is white. . . . When I found out I thought God was white, and a man, I lost interest. You're mad cause he doesn‘t seem to listen to your prayers. Humph! Does the mayor listen to anything colored say? (194 –195).
God has a great role. He does not punish but rewrites the world. The color purple is an uncommon one because mostly, the epistolary novel exchanges the ideas between the two people. But The Color Purple is different. It expresses individual ideas because emotions overcome the ability to speak. The first-person narrative arrangements are perfectly good such as Celie to God, Nettie to Celie, and Celie to Nettie. It allows delivering their ideas, wisdom, liberation, painfulness, etc. For example, she believes that Olivia and Adam are her siblings as well as her children. It explains her final position in society. She says, “My momma is dead. She dies screaming and crossing. She screams at men. She curses at me.” Celie learns education from her sister Nettie. Her education provides liberation.
This novel gives a new experience of African people. It also gives great states of black people; they become uncorrupted and lead a beautiful life. It reflects Walker's family history. In The Color Purple, she criticized her grandfather Henry Walker was a model of Mr.____ He may also have an affair with a young beautiful singer, so it is called an autobiographical novel.
Celie is a young and beautiful black girl. She is the protagonist of the novel, but in the end, she is nearly middle-aged woman and gets freedom. First, she writes a letter to God and then to her sister Nettie. It gives them the independence to write about their life. At first, she is isolated and also she has only a friend, well-wisher, mother father called God. Half of the novel she has to address him. Her father was killed by someone, and her mother married another person called Alfonso. He is a stepfather of Celie. Her step-father misused her because, in the 18th century, women did not have any liberation. They are dominated by their family. As usual, her father abused her after the death of her mother. She is the eldest one in the family, so, she tolerates all the things. After, some years later, Alphonso, plans to arrange the marriage for Celie. Celie is not interested in marrying that person because he has already married a lady and had some children. He is also a widower. But, it's a male-dominated society, so Celie marries a cruel man. She is ill-treated by her husband and his children. She leads her life as a stepmother, but she has also fallen in love with her husband’s ex-lover Shug Avery. She is a singer and a bold lady. She manages the entire situation quickly. So Celie likes her very much and is also addicted to her songs. One day Shug Avery is sick. So, Mr.__carried her to her place. So Celie helps her husband’s ex-lover. And then both of them had a friendship with each other, but unfortunately, it collapsed because they fell in love with each other and lived in a relationship. She already knows that it is a big mistake but she needs some care, love, and affection. So she accepts her relationship. Sofia and Shug have a great role in Celie’s life, of course, Nettie is the first person to help her sister. She is a good and king hurt. This character is coming from Celie.
Celie is a good and lovely person. She does not get angry with anyone. She has a lot of patience in her life. But she gets angry with her husband because he has hidden her sister’s letter for many years. She has to face a lot of problems in her life. She is not the weaker sex. She wants some time to overcome their position. Every woman has to achieve their freedom, and liberation with the help of their friends and family members, especially women. Celie also overcomes their position with the help of her friends and sister.
Shug Avery is a good beautiful energetic character in the novel. Her real name is Lillie, but throughout the novel, she is called Sugar and Shug Avery. She is also called the Queen Honeybee because she takes care of her friends and audience. She is a good and successful singer, she lives a sophisticated life, and she hates male-dominated society. She wants to live without hesitation. She is also having an affair with Celie’s husband Mr._. She has one boy called Germaine. And then she is also an affair with Celie. She hates everyone. First, Shug hates Celie but long days later; Celie helps Shug and treats them as a child. So she loves her and gets a relationship to wither. She is a brave woman. Walker also creates her like a feminist because she does not like the male-dominated society. She proves their freedom in her home and society also. She earns a lot of money and respect with the help of freedom. Celie also wants that and admires her. She always has affairs with both the sex. She has to move all the places and compose their music, liberally. She gives a way of Celie’s life because she has lived a hard life. She has also accepted her points and joined her. Finally, she teaches all the things and says, “Celie is a virgin girl because she does not have a good relationship with her husband and misused step-father. At the beginning of the novel, Celie says that God is a good friend, mother, father, etc... but at the end, she says that Shug is her mother, friend, sister, lover, etc..
Sofia is a significant character in the novel, especially in Celie’s life. She is marrying Celie’s husband’s son Hope. Sofia is a brave girl and always she calls a man because she has a male activity. She has to do; cutting wood like man’s work, but it’ll be a dangerous one for her life. Hopes is living in a male-dominated society, so he treats her as a laborer. She does not like her husband’s attitude. Celis is getting angry with her because he does not respect her son. But latterly she agrees that she is a good person. One day, she gives some ideas to her son. So Hope beats her. But she knows that this incident happened to her aunt. So, she refused him and went to another way. Latterly, Celie argues that she has to commit a great mistake in her life. Hope also agrees with his mistake but she refuses him and then she is going to join as a servant of Major’s house. She is also leading a hard life of nearly 12 years. She had some freedom and also wore pant-like men because men a good and respectful people in the world. Of course, she also wants some freedom like the man, society will curse her but she does not mind anything whatever society likes because she wants freedom so she has to face all the problems and manage the situation very smoothly. After the end of the novel, Hope realizes her mistakes and both of them get a good relationship with each other.
Mary Agnes is also called a Squeak. She is a minor character in the novel. She is the second wife of Hope. She is also like a Celie because she gets a lot of pressure in her life but she accepts the male-dominated society. She said that Hope says, I Love you suddenly I forget all his mistakes and accept her husband's affection. But she is a good singer. She does not express herself in any situation. Shug helps her run a musical shop after that she also overcomes their position.
Nettie is another important character, she is a sister of Celie. But Celie is also called Nettie as her child. Celie lost her freedom, and a happy life for her one and only lovely sister. Alphonso, her step-father plans to abuse Nettie. But Celie does not permit them to touch her and then she goes to the White man’s house. She has lived a beautiful life because she expresses her freedom, thoughts, etc. They are white but he does not hesitate the freedom of the person. Corrine and Samuel have to help all the time and they also adopted Celie’s children Adam and Olivia.
Nettie is a brave and clever girl in Celie’s family. She is continuing her education with the help of her sister Celie. After that, she is going to the assistance of the American missionary. She maintains contact with her sister Celie but Mr.___does not like it because he also loves Nettie. Celie protects her husband’s attitude with her sister and saves her life. So he plans to hide all the letters, but Celie realizes that she is dead. But Shug reveals the truth and then Celie and Nettie have a good relationship with each other.
Albert is one of the most vulgar, stupid, and lazy characters. He is considered as a sin and pathetic. Usually, the evil person is considered a physically powerful person, but it is changed in Albert’s character. He always ill-treated his wife Celie. But he loves Shug Avery and gets relation with each other.
The sinful nature comes from his father. His father is a role model in Albert’s life. He is a married person, unfortunately, his wife was dead. After the death of his wife, he plans to marry another girl Celie, but he gets a relationship with the ex-lover Shug also. But he does not want to marry Shug because she cannot live as a slam and she wants some independence. When she is sick, suddenly he brings her to his home and takes care of her health. Celie is a black and dominant girl so she helps her husband’s lover as a nurse. But Albert does not think that Celie’s emotion but he wants to improve his lover Shug’s health. Albert also wants to marry another girl called Nettie, Celie’s sister. She is a good-looking and charming person. But Celie could not accept this marriage. So Albert always beats her. So Celie is a death doll of Alberts' hand. He hides her sister Nettie’s letters. Albert is always having sex with Celie in a cruel way. But it is changed in Shug's relationship because he is acting as a good lover. After all, he always loves Shug. When Shug and Celie plan to leave him after that he realizes his mistake. Albert wants some relationship with Celie. After that Celie also accepts her husband.
Alphonso is Celie’s stepfather, after the death of Celie’s father Celie’s mother married Alphonso. When Celie is an adolescent, he repeatedly abuses her. She is 14 years old girl so she does not reveal anything in society and her house because her mother was dead and her sister is also a young girl. So she tolerated all the things and then he plans to arrange the marriage between Celie and Mr.___. Celie does not want to marry him but she beats her, and then Alphonso plans to abuse her second child Nettie Celie can’t allow that, so he gets angry with her and says, she is very big and ugly.
Celie's mother is named as a mom and she is mentally affected after the death of her real husband, and she marries another man called Pa. She never deals with the happiest life. She is sick because of her frequent pregnancies. She is dead after the second pregnancies of Celie and Alphonso.
Mary Ellen is a second wife, Alphonso, after the death of Celie’s mother he marries a 15-year-old young girl. She also has a lot of children by Fonso, so she leaves him and Fonso tells Celie that she is too old for him.
Daisy is another young woman. Fonso marries her after the leaves of Mary Ellen. She is fifteen years old and her parents are working in Fonso’s land. Fonso describes himself as a good person and also he treats himself as a husband and father of Daisy. Daisy is a kind-hearted person and she is also devoted to him before the meeting of Shug and Celie.
Miss Addie Beasley is a perfect woman and she is also Nettie’s and Celie's teacher. She tries to convince Fonso of Celie’s education, but he refuses her education.
Kate and Carrie are Mr.___’s sisters. They come to examine Celie after she is married to their brother (Letter 12). They are always criticizing his first wife, Annie Julia, because she is not leading a family as a good housewife, but admires Celie’s activities.
Annie Julia was Albert's first wife. She is the mother of Harpo. She was murdered by her boyfriend. Harpo held her in his arms while she died (Letter 17). After the death of his mother, Harpo and his siblings suffer from nightmares. Bub is the second son of Albert. He is a drunkard and frequently goes to jail. Albert’s daughter’s names are not mentioned.
Tobias is Albert's brother. He is described as a fat and yellow bear man. He always meets Shug and Celie at Albert’s house and he also thinks that Celie is his wife so he always brings some chocolate gifts for Celie and Shug.
Odessa is Sofia's sister and she is very big and strong and then Walker also describes her as Amazons. Sofia and Odessa are strong-minded and faithful to their family. She is married to Jack but they have no children. Odessa and her husband plan to provide a home for Sofia and her children. But, unfortunately, Sofia decides to leave Harpo (Letter 30). Shug and Mary Agnes, Odessa helps to protect Sofia from prison, and then Odessa and Jack bring up Sofia’s children.
Jack is Odessa's husband and runs a farm. He is an army man so he always wears army trousers He is not an important one in the novel and he is a strong and loyal person. Celie always honors him because he helps to make her garments.
Samuel is a minister. They are adopting Celie’s biological children, Olivia and Adam. Samuel takes care of Corrine, Nettie, and the children, and they are going to Africa for missionary work. He tells the truth about her step-father because Celie and Nettie cannot realize that Alphonso is her step-father. After the death of his wife Corrine, Samuel plans to marry Nettie. Nettie mostly spent her time with Samuel and her sister Celie’s children and also realized that all black men are not bad.
Corrine is the first wife of Samuel. She is the adoptive mother of Celie’s two children; Olivia and Adam were adopted by Corrine and Samuel. Corrine is a kind-hearted woman, but she doubts Samuel and Nettie's relationship. After a long time she agrees with their illegal relationship, after the death of Corrine, Samuel marries Nettie.
Olivia is Celie’s and her stepfather, Alphonso’s daughter. She is adopted by Samuel and Corrine in Africa. Olivia has a sisterly relationship with Tashi, an Olinka village girl. This friendship crosses intellectual limits.
Tashi is a bold young Olinka girl. She has a friendship with Olivia and Adam. After that Adam and Tashi have to be married. Grady is Shug’s husband. Celie thinks that Grady is always boring. He is a loving and kind-hearted man, and then he is a womanizer. He spends Shug’s money and then Grady and Squeak affair with each other. Shug realizes his mistake but never asks anything about his relationship.
Miss Millie is the wife of the mayor. She lived in Celie’s town. Miss Millie is racist but she admires the good manners of Sofia’s children, so she asks Sofia to be her maid. Sofia also accepts to work as a maid.
Eleanor Jane is the daughter of Miss Millie. Sofia is the only member of the mayor’s household, so Jane has a good relationship with Sofia. Eleanor Jane realizes that Sofia is a second mother. She has a strong affection for Sofia.
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