THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker

Themes in the novel FEMINISM The novel deals with the struggle, both in America and in Africa, of women to gain recognition as individuals who deserve fair and equal treatment. Male dominance is the norm in both countries. As Albert says "Men s'pose to wear the pants". It takes various forms, not least of which is sexual aggression. In the very first letter, Celie tells of the abuse she suffers at the hands of the man she believes for a long time is her father. Mary Agnes is raped by the white uncle whom she approaches for help to get Sofia out of prison and Mr (Albert) also tries to force Nettie to submit to him before she leaves the house after fighting him off. Celie's sexual encounters with her husband, Mr- are sordid and unloving "Just do his business, get off, go to sleep" As Shug remarks, Celie "make it sound like he going to the toilet on you." Physical violence also seems to be a common occurrence, even in relationships which are quite loving, like that between Harpo and his wife Sofia. He beats her because "the woman s'pose to mind." It is a respectable thing for a man to do to his wife, in his view. Women are exploited very seriously, especially Celie, who is married off to Albert to look after his children and is expected to work on the farm and submit without objection to all of Albert's demands and those of the children. She is also meant to accept Albert's affair with Shug Avery, which extends even to him sleeping with her under the same roof. In fact fidelity is not seen as an important quality by men, although the same behaviour in females is cause for comment. Notice how the preacher attacks Shug by implication because of her loose lifestyle, but men are allowed to behave as they wish. The novel's message is that women must stand up against the unfair treatment they receive at the hands of men and that they must do this by helping one another. The women in the novel, even those who have interests in the same men, nevertheless band together to support and sustain one another throughout the novel. The bond of sisterhood is important, both literally in the persons of Nettie and Celie, Sofia and Odessa and metaphorically in the persons of Mary Agnes and Sofia, Albert's sister and Celie, Tashi and Olivia and of course Shug Avery and Celie, who embody the twin roles of sisters and lovers in their relationship. Some of the women in the novel have learned to fight for themselves. Sofia is powerful and physically strong. She is not subservient and has great strength of character as well. She can and does fight for what she wants, but of course her aggression results in her dreadful experience at the hands of the police after she dares to "talk back" to the white mayor, and her subsequent sentence to drudgery as the mayor's servant lasts for many years. The bond between her and Mary Agnes is stronger than their mutual claim on Harpo's affections. Mary Agnes endures rape for Sofia's sake in order to get her released from prison, and when Mary Agnes goes off to be a singer it is Sofia who looks after her child. Shug Avery is the most "liberated" of the women in the novel, although she also suffers verbal attack from the church elders because of her lifestyle. Her career as a blues singer enables her to experience much more freedom than the other women whose lives are bound by home, work and child care. She is also much more sexually liberated than many other females, having numerous affairs and enjoying her sexuality with no restraints or false guilt.. She has, also, a strong belief in God which is unfettered by convention and her relationship with Celie is a central theme of the novel. It is Shug who liberates Celie in all aspects of her life, guiding her into emotional, sexual and financial independence and combining the roles of sister, friend and lover. Snug possesses equality because of her own integrity as a person, and she passes this on to Celie. It is no accident that the enterprise which gains Celie her independence is, paradoxically, a "woman's job"sewing - but the product is trousers, for women to wear.

Masculine and feminine temperament are also addressed in the novel. Shug is described by Albert as being "more manly than most men", but as Celie rightly points out to him, those qualities of independence, honesty and integrity are equally valid as womanly qualities. What the novel asserts is that PEOPLE are weak and strong, and gender should not dictate perceptions of qualities which are essentially human. RACIAL ISSUES A sense of racial tension runs throughout the novel alongside the feminist issues dealt with. Celie is the daughter of a successful Negro store owner, lynched by white men for no other reason than his financial success. All the characters in Celie's family and the extended family she comes into contact with through Shug and her husband's children are the poor exploited blacks of the American South. They are almost exclusively ill educated, badly housed, unable to travel or to better themselves. The exceptions to the rule, Nettie's benefactors, Samuel and Corinne, are unable to progress in their homeland, having to travel to Africa to be "successful" as missionaries. Paradoxically, of course, they are not taken seriously by the Olinka people who they set out to evangelise and save, being regarded by them in the same way as they see white men - interfering and useless. When they return to Europe they are treated with suspicion and unease by the white church elders. All the characters are poor. When Mary Agnes dresses up to visit her uncle to try to get Sofia released from prison, she looks "like she a white woman, only her clothes patch." There is obviously a huge inequality in terms of education. Nettie and Celie go to school but only while they are not needed for domestic toil. As soon a Celie is married, her education stops. Nettie's is carried on as a result other sister's sacrifice. Most of the characters live in sub standard housing, segregated from the white population. They have their own cemetery; church; school and have to wait in line in stores until whites are served. It is common for white residents to treat Negroes as though they were animals. Deeply offensive things are said and done to them. When Nettie is going to Africa, a white bystander remarks "Niggers going to Africa... now I have seen everything." The few characters in the story who manage to change their fortunes only serve to emphasise the plight of the rest. Shug Avery is a successful blues singer with a life of comparative luxury, able to travel and earn money. Some of this affluence comes also to Mary Anne, and eventually to Celie when she begins her dressmaking business. Nettie is lucky to be fostered by Samuel and Corinne and with their help achieves a career and education, but the majority of the people have to struggle to survive from day to day, trapped by poverty and ignorance. Even the poorest of the whites consider themselves superior to any black, no matter how successful. (It is worth noting that the real blues singer, Bessie Smith, upon whom Shug Avery is loosely based, died as a result of being neglected after an accident because she could not be treated in a white hospital) The story of Sofia is the main episode in the novel which illustrates the hazards of being black in Georgia in the thirties (and later) Sofia is spirited and strong, assertive and independent and yet she is reduced to total helplessness when she dares to answer back to the mayor's wife - a spineless creature who is herself as weak as Sofia is strong. Sofia refuses to be patronised. She makes the mistake of "looking like somebody" - driving in a car, an unusual thing in those days for anyone, let alone a black woman and replying to the mayor's wife's offer of menial work with a "Hell, no" The beating she receives is out of all proportion to the offence she committed but the white ruling class shows no mercy to an "uppity nigger". The fact that all of her friends accept what has happened to her shows the extent of the madness of the society of the time. They are able to save her from the prison sentence by a trick, but it does not condone the fact that there was no justification at all for the severity of what was done to her in the first place, or the ten years domestic service she endures being ordered about and patronised every single day. The incident of the Christmas visit home shows how ignorant the whites really are, since Miss Millie has no idea that she is being unfair when she insists on being driven home. Slavery in fact was abolished after the Civil war but it lived on in all but name for almost a century. In the character of Eleanor Jane, Alice Walker manages to show that it is possible for black and white to mend relationships and begin to understand and accept one another. By the end of the novel Eleanor Jane

and Sofia are able to relate like equal women rather than black servant and mistress, but only after Sofia has been brutally honest with the younger woman about the reality of the way she feels about her and her child. Eleanor Jane begins to realise that Sofia is a woman, not a faceless black person like all the rest of her race and even turns on her own parents, demanding to know how a woman like Sofia could work for "trash". The main point to note about the racial prejudice shown by whites to blacks is that it is very often unconscious and all the more insidious because of that. RELIGION The church is an important part of the social life of the community in which Celie lives. At the beginning of the novel she is a staunch member of the church, and continues to be so, working as hard there as she does for Mr and his children. Her letters are addressed to God and she says "As long as I can spell G-o-d I got somebody along." She looks to God as a support and a help although in practice she gets very little help from her fellow church goers. Her faith is naive and childlike, and it undergoes a number of revisions and alterations as the novel progresses. She realises that the God she needs is not the one she originally envisages. It is significant that she sees him as white and old "like some white man work at the bank.". All the angels are white, too and she comes to realise that this God is useless to her. Nettie's letters begin to show her that Jesus was more like her than a white man "with hair like lamb's wool", not "white" at all. She has been conditioned in her belief by the illustrations in the white interpretations of the bible. Her changing perceptions of God are completed by Shug Avery's unconventional interpretations of God and His purpose. Shug rejects the narrow Church and its false perceptions, preferring to have a personal religion in which God figures "Not as a she or a he but a It." She shares this revelation with Celie - the Gospel According to Shug - in order to worship, a person should "lay back and just admire stuff. Be happy." Shug (and later Celie) admires the natural world and its beauty, in all its richness and variety, including sexuality. In fact there is a strong similarity between sexual satisfaction and worship. Celie comments that she and God "make love just fine" later in the novel. The title of the book is derived from this philosophy. Shug asserts that it "pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field..and don't notice it." Celie accepts this interpretation as part of her general emancipation and it liberates her as much as her sexual fulfilment with Shug and her economic success both do. By the end of the novel she has found a much more open and relaxed attitude to religious belief and a purpose in her life which was not provided by the narrowness other original church upbringing. Nettie's religious experience is different to Celie's, being more conventional in the missionary setting in Africa, but she, too arrives at a more relaxed and tolerant outlook as the novel ends Her experiences with the Olinka tribe are educational, in that they show her and Samuel that the conventions of organised religions are often restricting, not liberating as they are meant to be - that the message of the Gospel has to be in harmony with the people receiving it. Her acceptance of the ceremony of the roof leaf as "not Jesus Christ, but.in its own humble way is it not God?" is significant, as is her decoration of her hut with native artefacts rather than the stereotypical images of the missionary Jesus and saints. She ends up with a more spiritual and personal relationship with God as a result of her time in Africa, and like her sister comes to realise that the narrowness of conventional belief and practice closes rather than opens the way to a personal contact with the Almighty. Both the sisters complete a personal journey towards a deeper knowledge of God as the novel ends. Celie's last letter begins. Dear God, dear stars, dear trees, dear sky dear peoples . Dear Everything. Dear God. Simple, naive in the extreme, but sincere and very optimistic. THE AFRICAN EXPERIENCE All Nettie's experiences as a missionary in West Africa take up a large part of the novel. Initially she is excited at the prospect of returning to her roots in order to convert her ethnic brothers and sisters. A series of disappointments and disillusionments follow, as she realises that they are uninterested in slavery, the black

experience in America, or really in the religion which the missionaries have brought them. Paradoxically, Corinne, Samuel and Nettie are alien outsiders among their own original people. There is no racial unity between the three of them and the Olinkas despite the colour of their skins and their common heritage. Olinka society is at first fascinating and alluring but as the time progresses Nettie begins to realise that it has deeply disturbing customs. Women are treated abominably, not allowed education or independence and are under the "protection" of men. this protection is no better than dominance and subservience. Nettie, like many of the women in Georgia is not accepted by the men of the Olinka because they mistrust her independence and spirit. Only Tashi comes round to her way of thinking and she is ostracised and leaves the tribe to marry Adam travelling back to America with Nettie and Celie's children. The practice of female circumcision and facial scarring is also revolting to Nettie, who regards it as degrading but understands it to be a custom which enables the Olinka to cling on to its tribal identity in a changing world. It is a barbaric custom and Nettie feels helpless to influence the tribe or to help the victims. The saddest part of the African experience is the way in which the people of the tribe are exploited by the white traders who drive their roads into the interior obliterating ancient settlements and destroying lifestyles which have lasted for centuries. The Olinka are hospitable and give the builders food while they destroy the village and the roof leaf supplies. Alice Walker gives us a sad portrait of a dying lifestyle and an obsolete people. There is a strong sense of outrage that people are driven out of their rightful homes for foreign (white) economic gain, forced to pay for the privilege of living in corrugated huts and becoming prey to disease because their yam crops are destroyed Ultimately Samuel and Nettie are forced to leave and return to America. The link between the people in Georgia and the Africans is that both are victims of white oppression, but tragically, despite their common heritage, they can be of no help to one another.

Character Notes
CELIE At the start of the novel Celie is a young girl of fourteen; ignorant and naive. At the end she is a middle aged woman who has succeeded in achieving independence, self-esteem and an increased knowledge of the world. The book charts her progress through a series of letters written by her to God and her sister Nettie, from whom she is parted early in the novel, together with Nettie's replies. At first Celie is isolated and God is the only person in her life. All the early letters are addressed to him and we find out that she has been betrayed and abused by those who should have cared for her. Her natural father was murdered, her mother goes mad and dies. Her stepfather, Alfonso, abuses her and fathers her two children, then marries her off to his friend , Albert ( known only as Mr by Celie) to look after Albert's children and work his smallholding. Celie is offered as an alternative to Nettie, Celie's sister with the incentive of a free cow to go with her. She is "spoiled", as Alfonso says to Albert, and will not be any trouble. She is abused and beaten, treated as a slave by Mr and his children and deprived of her children, believing them to be dead for a long time. Her life as a wife and stepmother is horrific, until she meets and falls in love with her husband's lover, the blues singer Shug (sugar) Avery. Caring for her after an illness, she begins the friendship which turns later to love and an enduring relationship which eventually leads to Celie's emancipation and emergence as a mature, self-possessed woman. Deep affection and care are the most important characteristics of Celie. She is loyal and intensely kind to the women in her life - Shug; Sofia, the wife of her stepson, Harpo; Nettie, her sister, and of course her children, Olivia and Adam. Even though she is treated with gross disrespect by Albert, their mutual interest in and love for Shug enable them to reach an understanding and mutual respect for one another in time. Celie's natural compassion makes it very difficult for her to hate anyone, although she becomes very angry when

she finds out how Albert has withheld her letters from Nettie out of spite, and wants to cut his throat with his own razor. Shug dissuades her and gets the letters restored and Celie regains her temper without compromising herself. Although exploited and abused; ignorant and powerless; Celie is not a weak woman. Her strength, unlike that of Sofia or Shug is not physical or artistic, but it is the strength of integrity. She remains honest and compassionate, caring for everyone she comes into contact with. Although she rejects the conventional church teaching, preferring to accept Shug's creed of personal involvement with nature and the idea of God as a spiritual entity, she actually embodies a great deal of true Christian charity and her reward, through the female in her life is to achieve sexual, economic and spiritual liberation. She takes charge of her life and in doing so manages to achieve in middle age a dominant role with property, a home and money to offer her sister and her children when they come home from Africa.

ShugAvery
Her real name is Lillie, but she is known as Shug, short for sugar, throughout the novel. Also referred to as the Queen Honeybee, signifying the hold she has over her friends and audiences. She is a blues singer - very successful and wealthy. Unlike other black women, she is well travelled and quite sophisticated. The dominant impression of her is that she has enormous vitality. She is not a pleasant person, having a very acerbic, tough exterior. She can be insensitive and cruel, even to people she loves. Celie's first impression of Shug when she nurses her serious illness is that Shug is "evil". Throughout her life she seems to have chosen her own path, sleeping with whoever she pleases and pleasing herself in her lifestyle. She has a number of illegitimate children from a long standing affair with Celie's husband, Albert (the only man she seems to really love) and several passionate affairs with other men, some young enough to be her own son (Germaine is only 19.) She also has a serious love affair with Celie, although there is no indication that she has ever been lesbian before. Shug's sexuality is a strong element in her character. She is; although very feminine; described as having traits which are masculine. She is dominant, powerful and takes charge of relationships. Celie notices "how Shug talk and act sometimes like a man" and her lover Albert comments that she "act more manly than most men".. This is not seen as a handicap, but as more of an enhancement of her femininity. In fact Shug is a truly liberated woman in many ways, holding down a prosperous career; owning her own home; directing her affairs with men and women to her own liking; travelling as she pleases and enjoying a prominent place in artistic society as an accomplished musician. Significantly also, she is less handicapped than many of the other women by her colour, although she does come in for some criticism from her fellow blacks in church because of her "sinful" lifestyle. Sexually and in terms of her faith in God, Shug is also liberated more than any of the other characters in the novel. She has no false modesty about intercourse and passes her freedom on to Celie in a practical way. It is Shug, too, who shows Celie the freedom to worship God in the fullness of creation; linking the idea of physical enjoyment to spiritual freedom. It is an unconventional belief, but Celie finds real enlightenment through her association with Shug. Shug also helps Celie in practical ways; restoring Nettie's letters to her and enabling her to find a career in sewing trousers and giving her a home in Memphis while she establishes her new business. Generosity is also extended towards other women, with Shug getting Mary Agnes a start as a singer, even though this leads to her elopement with Shug's husband, Grady. There is a childish streak in Shug, as there is many of the other characters in the novel. She is naive in many ways and often shows lack of sympathy and understanding for Celie's feelings especially, but fundamentally Shug is admirable when seen as a product of the time and place of the novel's setting. She is warm, loving, generous and kind to those she loves and embodies for Celie the family closeness which she lacks. Shug is mother, sister, friend and lover; as she says "Us each other's peoples now." SOFIA (AND HARPO)

Sofia marries one of Albert's children; Harpo and this couple play a significant part in the story, especially in the development of the theme of equality in marriage and racial prejudice. Sofia, like Shug, is a strong character with masculine tendenciesdoes much of the physically demanding work around the farm and the house when she and . She Harpo are first married and she is more capable than Harpo of sustaining hard physical labour. She is also very assertive; contriving to persuade Albert to allow the marriage in the first place by deliberatley getting pregnant and literally dragging Harpo up to Albert's house, "marching hand in hand, like going to war. She in front a little." She has support from a pack of sisters as strong as she is who provider her with a refuge when she eventually leaves Harpo because he has not been able to match her own strength of character or accept her independent spirit. The stereotypical way Harpo and other men like him has been raised makes him sure that he should beat Sofia for not being submissive. In the only hostile act Celie performs against a woman, she advises Harpo to do that to Sofia, but he comes off very badly, being beaten by Sofia quite badly in return. Harpo thinks about female roles in a very conventional way, but in fact he is more feminine than masculine in many ways himself. He is a good cook, enjoys looking after and playing with the children and does not relish or perform manual labour very well. Instead of accepting that they can live together harmoniously despite their difference in conventional roles, Harpo tries to assert himself as the dominant male and as a result Sofia leaves him and takes up with the prize fighter, in whose company she is when the mayor's wife asks her to become her maid. The indignity of Sofia's fate after her refusal to be patronised is a large part of the plot of the novel. Her independence, strength, pride in herself and natural indignation at her treatment at the hands of the whites leads to a twelve year sentence of humiliation and suffering.. Typically her spirit is not beaten, even though she is made to suffer considerable bodily and mental pain. She is, like Celie and the other women in the novel, supported and sustained by their mutual care and tolerance of one another's situations. Mary Agnes, at first a rival for Harpo, later becomes a friend and protector. It is her intervention which leads to Sofia's release from jail and in the end Harpo and Sofia are able to reach a mutual tolerance of one another and care for their assorted children in harmony. In keeping with the general feeling of optimism at the end of the book, Sofia is also able to persuade Eleanor Jane, the mayor's daughter to think carefully about how to relate to black people and there is a suggestion that tolerance and friendship could be achieved eventually between them. Mary Agnes (Squeak) Mary Agnes is a minor character - the woman Harpo takes up with after Sofia leaves him and who later goes off with Shug's ex-husband Grady to be a blues singer and drug dealer up North. She is important though in that she provides another picture of assertiveness and support for her fellow women. She endures the degradation of rape by her white "uncle" when she goes to him to help get Sofia released from jail and shows that she, too, has a creative talent when it is discovered that she has a good blues singing voice. With Shug's help she carves out a career for herself as a singer and makes a good living from it. She is rather unfortunate, or perhaps just weak, because she eventually arrives back home having failed to make a huge success of either her new relationship or her career, the fact that she is reabsorbed into the circle of women shows the strength of their solidarity and the nature of their relationship as one of mutual respect and support. Nettie and the children Celie's "lost" sister Nettie and her (Celie's) children, Adam and Olivia, who are taken away from her by her stepfather Alfonso play an impmportant part in the story. Nettie is sent to be cared for by Corinne, the minister's wife early in the story, because Celie fears that Nettie will also be abused if she stays in the family home with Alfonso. Albert originally intends to court Nettie, but is persuaded to make do with Celie instead. She senses, correctly, that Corinne and her husband Samuel are respectable. God fearing people who will

look after the girl and provide a home for her. Coincidentally, Corinne also fosters Celie's children, so they are able to be brought up by their Aunt, too. Nettie is the clever girl of the family, able to continue her education (at Celie's expense) and as a result able to travel as a missionary assistant to Africa with Corinne and Samuel. She maintains contact with Celie, but the jealousy of Albert means that for many years her letters are withheld. Her experiences in Africa; her thoughts and feelings about the relationship between the Olinkas and the Americans; her views on religion and her developing love and eventual marriage to Samuel form the basis of the letters in the second half of the novel. Like Celie she has a strong sense of duty and a devotion to her family. She writes even when she believes that there is no possibility other letters reaching Celie as an act of faith and of course part of the optimism of the novel is the eventual reunion of the sisters . Nettie remains blameless and tolerant and her reward is marriage to the only male character who shows strength and integrity. Samuel is tolerant, wise and sensitive, he regrets deeply his failure to influence the Olinkas and Nettie, in comforting him, wins his affection and devotion after many years of blameless admiration. Nettie is the only woman in the novel who is chaste until she marries. Corinne suspects her of designs on Samuel but her suspicions are groundless. Nettie's care for and interest in Celie's children is considerable, as is her regard for Tashi, who eventually marries Adam and comes back with him to America. She (Nettie) is deeply suspicious of the Olinka men's dominance of their women, and she compares this attitude with that of the white Americans to their black countrymen. Her role, then is one of carer, like her sister, but more importantly she has the role of observer; of the development of Celie's children and of the effect of foreign intervention on the African way of life. The men - Alfonso, Albert, Grady, Harpo and others "Wherever there's a man, there's trouble!" It is hardly surprising that most of the male characters in this novel are presented in an unsympathetic light. They are all, even Samuel, inferior in some way to the women they associate with. They behave deplorably; acting in an aggressive, often brutal way; They show little understanding of women, treating them as slaves, menial workers or sex objects. They seem also to have no solidarity , unlike the females, who band together to support and console one another. The men in this novel seem to be incapable of bonding with one another and show little evidence of communicating on anything other than a very basic, crude level. Perhaps the least attractive of the men is the stepfather, Alfonso (Celie's spelling - he can be Alphonso if you give him his real name). He violates Celie at the age of fourteen, makes her pregnant twice and then sets out to do the same to Nettie, prevented only by Celie's determination to offer herself as a sacrifice to Albert instead of her sister. After removing her two children, he negotiates with Albert for Celie, offering a free cow as part of the deal, then takes two other wives, both in their teens before he eventually dies. Ironically he has a gravestone which describes him as "an upright husband and father" In addition to his cynical sexual depravity he also defrauds the two girls of their heritage, living in a large house and using the considerable income from the real estate collected by the girls' real father before his death. After Alfonso dies the house and land is restored to Celie and it is to their rightful home that the two women finally come to end their lives with their extended family around them. Albert, his friend, is known for much of the novel as "Mr" by Celie. She is not even friendly enough with him to use his given name and he makes little effort to get to know her at all until their mutual attraction to Shug Avery forces them together enough to acknowledge their tolerance for one another. In the early days of the marriage, Mr is callous and exploitative; carrying on his affair with Shug under the same roof and making no attempt to treat Celie as anything other than a household chattel. The only mitigating feature about Albert is his devotion to Shug Avery. he has a lifelong passion for her and remains devoted to her even when their physical relationship stops. Apart from that he is thoroughly vindictive, keeping all Nettie's

letters from Celie as a deliberate act of meanness because Nettie refuses to sleep with him. Shug is the only woman who has any effect on him. She is able to stop him from beating Celie; she gets Nettie's letters back and eventually she is able to effect a slight reconciliation, after Celie leaves him to go away with Shug. It is their mutual love for Shug which enables Celie and Mr to reach a modus vivendi - that and a proper submissive attitude on his part. Grady, Shug's (temporary) husband, is repellent and patronising. It is difficult to see why a vital character like Shug Avery decides to take up with such a weak character, but he conveniently acts as a way of accommodating Mary Agnes when she goes off to be a singer. Germaine, also is a strange companion for a woman as strong as Shug, being much younger than she is (nineteen) and very effeminate. The affair is short lived, though, and perhaps serves to illustrate the "masculinity" of Shug and the point that role reversal is possible. There is no doubt, though that men in general are treated with scant respect by Alice Walker in this novel. She has chosen a collection of brutal, ignorant people to be the partners of her female characters. Artistically and philosophically this is understandable, as it enables her to reinforce the point that women in their own right are quite capable of standing apart from men, becoming independent and self confident as sisters, in a caring and supportive network such as the one which upholds Celie and her friends. (NB You are not required to believe the philosophy of Alice Walker. You may argue that the novel is exceptionally biased and unconvincing if you wish.)
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Imagine you are at a book burning. Everyone cheerfully throws novels into the flames. Imagine you are on a committee responsible for deciding what books to ban from a high school. What books are these, which are destined to be constantly banished from a library or thrown into flames? One of these is The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. Throughout the years, this book has been censored and banned for violence, sexual content, and racism, even though it has been applauded by some as a beautiful, meaningful story. Who is right and who is wrong? You be the judge. The book begins with Celie writing to God about her horrible childhood, where she is raped and her children are taken away from her. Even when shes married off, her living conditions dont get any better. Her husband, Albert, sends off her sister, Nettie, beats Celie, and dares to bring home a woman whom hes having an affair with, Shug Avery. Celie tells God everything, all about her relatives- her stepson, Harpo, her daughter-in-law Sophia, and Harpos girl friend, Squeak (or Mary Agnes). They have hardships as well, which she tells to God, along with her own sorrow. Yet despite all this, she finds away to enjoy life, by befriending Shug, who helps her get through tough times. Eventually, they fall in love. Celie finds Netties letters, which her husband had been hiding from her. They tell of her children, growing up in Africa with missionaries, and of life there. Netties life is also a great presence in the book. But the letters also reveal a dark secret- Celies Pa is not her father. Her father was lynched. But life goes on as usual. Celie begins writing to Nettie instead of God, when she starts becoming blasphemous. With Shug's help, though, she keeps up her faith and eventually leaves her husband. Shug, and Mary Agnes move with her to Memphis, finding careers and lives radically different then before. Things are still complicated, though, with Celie doubting Shugs love. She comes back home though, inheriting the house from her mother and real father. Celie makes pants for a living, starting her own business. Shes even made peace with her husbandand her sister, after writing letter after letter

of her life and family in Africa, comes home as well. The book ends, after all the sorrow and worry, with joy at the reunion of the two sisters.

The woman who wrote this controversial novel is Alice Walker. She was born February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia. Her parents, Willie Lee and Minnie Lou Grant Walker, were sharecroppers. Her poor black southern background is also evident in The Color Purple, as the main characters experience a lifestyle she was probably familiar with. The Color Purple is her third novel. She is a civil rights activist, and she also speaks for the womens movement. Her dream of equal treatment for all sounds strongly through her book. She also wrote the book partially to honor her ancestors. Alice Walker told Ester Inverem in an interview at seeingblack.com: "I always felt their [her ancestors] help. I always felt supported. I have never felt alone in that sense, you know? I mean, even when I was alone with all the people doing whatever they do, I always felt my ancestors. And, over time, I guess, it just got really clear that they are the most honest and reliable critics and appreciators of one's work. Alice Walker has won many awards for her book The Color Purple, and for other novels. Her most impressive achievement was when she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. She also won the American Book The Color Purple, along with others for this popular book. Shortly after Alice Walker wrote her award winning third novel, the criticisms and challenges began. There are many different reasons for questioning the appropriateness of this book: violence, sexual content, and racism are the most common. The Color Purple has been challenged and banned often for its violence. One example of this was when it was challenged at AP English classes at Northwest High School in High Point, N.C. (1996) because it is graphic and violent. It was also challenged because of its violence on the Round Rock Texas Independent High School Reading list the same year, 1996. A passage that may be one of the reasons this book is considered violent is found on page 84, where Alice Walker describes Sophias condition after she was beaten: I see Sofia and I dont know why she still alive. They crack her skull, they crack her ribs. They tear her nose loose on one side. They blind her in one eye. She swole from head to foot. Her tongue the size of my arm, it stick out tween her teef like a piece of rubber. She cant talk. And she just about the color of eggplant. Sophia, a character who has been appraised in the book for her kindness, strength, and independence, is described here with wounds and a horrible description of her condition. Was it really necessary to go into detail, and make it so depressing? Many say its completely unnecessary to be described so brutally. Another violent scene is at the beginning of the book, on page 1, when Celie is raped: When that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and get used to it. Its horrible to hear about children being abused this way. Even though there wasnt much description, the mere notion is cruel and violent as well as depressing, because its the main character, whom we emphasize most with, thats being abused. Violence was not the only reason this book was considered so controversial. This book was probably banned the most for its graphic sexuality. Indeed, one literary criticism, Lettered Bodies and Corporeal Texts in The Color Purple says: The very form of The Color Purple produces an analogue to the female bodywithin the text, as both

are continually fragmented and remembered. Letters within the text, however, are similarly connected with the female body. Mr.------ conceals Nettie's letters because she refuses to be seduced by him; he rapes her language because he is denied her body. The rape scenes especially contributed to challenges- in 1990, parents in New Bern, North Carolina, say: I plan on pushing it until its out of the system. What it says is what children see These parents made this decision after reading one of the rape scenes in their childrens book. Indeed, Alice Walker starts off the book with a rape scene on the first page!: Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldnt. First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle around. Then he grab hold my titties. Then he push his thing inside my p---y. Many people would think that she didnt need to describe Celies abuse so graphically, but rather just say that she was raped. Its depressing as well to hear about the main character getting abused. Many parents want to keep their children protected from hearing about sex until their older. Even some adults consider it inappropriate to read this in a book. Yet another inappropriate scene in the book is found on page 109, when Shug and Celie first get intimate with each other: Page 109: She say, I love you, Miss Celie. And then she haul off and kiss me on the mouth. Us kiss and kiss till us cant hardly kiss no more. Then us touch each other Then I feels something real soft and wet on my breast, feel like on of my little lost babies mouth. Way after while, I act like a little lost baby too. Not only is this a very detailed sexual scene, it is also between two women. This is probably beyond some peoples comfort levels, even if it werent about Lesbians. There are many who dont want them or their children exposed to the idea that two women, who are portrayed as heroes, to sleep together. Proof of this was when this book was challenged in Oakland, California honors class of 1984, for: Troubling ideas about human sexuality. Last but definitely not least, The Color Purple was banned for racism. Although Racism was a big part of life in the South, it is still very controversial. Many critics also still cant see why, even though hundreds of years after slavery was abolished, it still is discussed and incorporated in authors like Alice Walker. She does mention slavery often, as well as racism. Also, in An Interview With Alice Walker (by seeingblack.com), it says about the criticism on her award winning book: some took it as validation for the Black feminist voice, while others said that the awards only proved that Black women writers were being awarded for bashing Black men. Thats just the reason this book was challenged in 1995, in Junction City, because of negative image of black men, In truth, most of the men in the book, such as Celies husband Albert and her father are abusive and cruel. An example of its banning for this reason was when it was challenged in Oakland California for troubling ideas about race relations., as well as sexual content. Some of these race relations that might be troubling can be found on pages 82-83: All those children, say the mayors wifesay, and such strong white teef Miss Millie finger the children some more In this passage, the Mayors wife treats African Americans like they were animals to buy and fuss over. For example, she was examining their teeth the way one would a horse. This unjust behavior many would prefer not to read about. Yet another passage of racism is found on page 99, when Sophia, Celies daughter in law works for a white girl:

Im sitting where I always sit, I *Sophia+ say. Thats the problem, she say. Have you even seen a white person and a colored sitting side by side in a car, when one of em isnt showing the other how to drive or clean it? If an African American were to read this, they might feel offended, because its demeaning to their ancestors. It might also be controversial that Whites considered themselves superior, a notion that many dont want others exposed to for fear that they might think that thats the way to act. After hearing so much proof of The Color Purples vulgarity and so many cases in which people have decided they wanted it banned, there may be some doubt in your mind as to whether this book should remain in libraries and schools. Some believe that the proof in this paper is enough to ban it everywhere, all over the world, while others believe that its powerful message is more important then the controversial material. I put myself in the latter group after reading this book. Violence, sex, and racism, was and probably still is part of everyday life. To ignore it, or to only mention it lightly, would not have the powerful effect on readers that make them connect with the story and characters. This book is also historical fiction, and if Alice Walker had not conveyed a sense of what life was like for poor African Americans in that time period, then I do not believe The Color Purple would be as interesting a book. This does not mean that children should read the book, but this book is not just a random collection of inappropriate or controversial things as some people make it out to be. Men and women who are looking for controversy will find it- but if they believe this book is pointless and obscene, then they have missed the beauty of the novel. It has already been stated that Alice Walker was a feminist and active in the civil rights movement, fighting against racism, which later on became one of the reasons her masterpiece was banned. The Color Purple tells us the injustices of an older America, while at the same time, spinning a story of individual people who endured them. It was as though they were on a ship at sea, having to steer through the many storms to enjoy a few moments of warm sunshine. In my opinion, anyone mature enough to handle this book should read it, and it should be available to them through schools and libraries. Is this the book so many wish had never been written? Sadly, it is, for ever since The Color Purple has been published, its undergone challenges and banns, keeping people from its message, all because of its violence, sexual content, and racism. Note: The last part is my opinion on this book. Feel free to tell me yours!

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Source #1: Alice Walker. [online]http://www.ontalink.com/literature/alicewalker/. November 18, 2005. Source #2: Aninniinas Alice Walker Page. *online+ http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/alicew/ November 18, 2005 Source #3: An Interview With Alice Walker. [online] www.seeingblack.com/2003/x022803/walker.shtml November 18, 2005 Source #4: N. Foerstel, Herbert. Banned in the U.S.A. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994. Source #5: Kane, Matthew. New Found Growth- The Color Purple Themes [online] http://homepage.ntlworld.com/matt_kane/themes.htm November 10, 2005

Source #6 Wendy Wall, "Lettered Bodies and Corporeal Texts in The Color Purple." Studies in American Fiction 16, no. 1 (spring 1988): 83-97 Source #7: P. Doyle, Robert. Banned Books Chicago, Illinois: Mid-American Printing, 2004. Source #8: Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Source #9: The Color Purple.[online] http://title.forbiddenlibrary.com November 10, 2005

The Color Purple and Its Controversy

Elana Jefferson http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1045361-The-Color-Purple-and-Its-Controversy A writer must always live with his or her own wordsespecially if they wind up on the big screen. And there is no better example of this idea than Alice Walker and her 1982 novel, "The Color Purple." In 1994, Walker dedicated an entire new volume, "The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult," to chronicling her complex journey as "The Color Purple" was made into a film. And now, more than 20 years after the novel's release, she is back on the trail talking about it again, as well as the firestorm that greeted the 1985 film directed by Steve Spielberg. Why? Because an enhanced "The Color Purple" DVD recently hit the shelves. "The DVD, I think, is really special because you have some additions to the film itself that I think will really help people see how much commitment went into creation of the film," Walker said in recent interview with SeeingBlack.com and other journalists. "I think that there were a lot of questions early on about how it was made. And a lot of those questions will be answered. And I think that it will be lovely for people to just see what a family we created on the set." When it was published in 1982, "The Color Purple" raised a stir in the Black community because of its depiction of a brutal and soul-less Black man who abused his young wife Celie in the rural South. At the time, the book's portrayals of Black men, described as "often negative" by Mel Watkins in the New York Times Book Review, were seen by many in the Black community to be a part of a general trend in fiction by Black women. Books by authors including Terri McMillan, Gloria Naylor, Toni Morrison and Walker, all with contracts at major publishing houses, included less-than-shining examples of Black manhood. Who can forget trifling Franklin in McMillan's "Disappearing Acts"? Or the buzzard Luther Nedeed in Naylor's "Linden Hills"? When Walker won both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for "The Color Purple," many took it as validation of a Black feminist voice, while others said that the awards only proved that Black women writers were being rewarded for bashing Black men. "I got tired a long time ago of White men publishing books by Black women about how screwed up Black men are," wrote Courtland Milloy, in his column for The Washington Post. In "The Same River twice," Walker acknowledged such critics and quoted them. And now, even while promoting the DVD, she still says "The Same River Twice" closed the chapter on that part of her life. "I looked at all of that controversy and criticism, and I put it to rest," Walker said. "But, you know, criticism comes, it goes. And, you know, you're lucky if, after they get through with you, you're left standing. And I'm very much left standing." Since the book and film, Black film has undergone a renaissance and now there are a greater variety of images of both Black men and women on the screen. Walker says that she enjoys the

work of many in this "new wave" of filmmakers, including Spike Lee and Robert Townsend, and is working with one of the producers of last year's critical hit, "Frida," on a film version of her book, "By the Light of My Father's Smile." "I think that the book did help to bring in greater freedom for people to express how they view life," she said. "And, I'm very happy about that. Because you really can't, you know, be a good artist if you can't say what you really feel. And people may be offended, but that's how you feel, and that is your right, and that is your gift as well. "From the writer's point of view I think that [The Color Purple] has had a really good impact, especially on literature. And I think also on film. Even if you don't like it, you have to see the incredible acting and just amazing beauty of the people. I mean, I think that you would just have to feel that you want to have more of these people on screen. I know that's how I feel." Walker said that in the Color Purple, as in other works, she worked for and in honor of her ancestors. "I always felt their help. I always felt supported. I have never felt alone in that sense, you know? I mean, even when I was alone with all the people doing whatever they do, I always felt my ancestors. And, over time, I guess, it just got really clear that they are the most honest and reliable critics and appreciators of one's work. "And when things like that are right, the synchronicity, you always feel your way to be the right way. I mean I felt like I was really on course, and that if I went off of it, they would let me know. "How many of those ancestors had to do whatever they had to do to make it possible for me to get educated, to actually end up sitting at a desk writing about them? I mean [when I was writing the book], I was just crying and laughing, and just really feeling love. You know, just love for them, their love for me. "Love is big. Love can hold anger, love can even hold hatred. I mean, you know, it's allit's all love. It's about the intention of what you want it to do. It's about what you're trying to give. And often when you're trying to give something, you know, it has a lot of pain in it. But the pain too is a part of the love." She offered special support for women of color who need to forgive: "Well, you know what? Actually, some pain is so severe that there's nothing else you can do. I mean, forgiveness is the only remedy. I mean, unless you want to just worry it to the grave. Because ultimately, it hurts you, you know. The person that you are going on over, often they don't even remember. So there you are with your heart all hard and not forgiving. And, you know, wishing they'd fall over dead or something. And they don't even know. So the best thing is to really work on yourself and opening your own heart and just letting all that stuff go. And it is possible. It sometimes takes a lot of time and a lot of sitting. You know, just sitting with yourself and trying to work with your own heart. And this is one of those areas where Buddhism is very, very good. Finally, Walker affirmed her sense of activism as a writer and this sense of activism circles its way back to her voice in works such as "The Color Purple." "Oh I, you know, talk at rallies, I march, I write. In fact, 11 days after 9/11, when the President was talking about retaliating by bombing people in Afghanistan, I made an address in which I talked about how we really do not want to be bombing children and women and people and donkeys and whatever else people have over there. You know? We don't want to be bombing the earth itself. It's wrong.

"I mean, when we're attacked and we suffer, what that's supposed to teach us is not that we want to attack other people to make them suffer. What it's supposed to teach us is that we don't want that to happen. You know? War is so obsolete. "We are a family," she said. "And we have all the different representations of humanity in the family. And, within this family, there has to be total freedom. There has to be the freedom to be yourself. You have to be free to express your views." Esther Iverem's reviews also appear on BET.com and Africana.com. -- February 28, 2002

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