The Color Purple

It seems that there is always strength in numbers; however, Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning epistolary novel, The Color Purple, claims that strength is also found in community, and through embracing your own identity. Although the novel portrays some strong female characters, they realize that their fight is not only an individual one; it is collective. Throughout the novel, the female characters band together not only to protect one another, but also to inspire each other to stand up for themselves, even if it means defying conventional ideals. Their methods echo the feminist sentiment that together women are warriors capable of anything. Although Shug and Sofia take their stand from the beginning of the novel, Celie’s evolution in character comes a bit later. Her character’s journey exposes the abuse and neglect that she has put up with for far too long, and, with the help of her female friends, she is able to finally embrace her gender, skin color, and sexuality.

Although the work is set in Georgia during the 1930’s, the issue of sexism, rather than racism, is more pronounced in the work. This is probably attributed to the fact that there are no major Caucasian characters in the novel. The only scene that illustrates race relations is when the Mayor slaps Sofia for telling him “hell no.” Walker does introduce us to the hard field labor that African Americans had to perform; however, The Color Purple pays more attention to the marginalization associated with not only being African American, but also being an African American woman. It is clear that, with the exception of Samuel, all of the other male characters cause great degrees of physical and psychological abuse to the women in the novel. Despite their subordinate status as African Americans in the South, they are not united together; instead, the male characters in novel, feel the need to control their women by force, a tactic that alienates both genders from one another.

Another point that the novel makes is that marginalized figures, like Celie, have no voice in the world. In Celie’s case, she is victimized by a father figure that is suppose to protect her, forced to part with her beloved sister, and given to a man that she does not love. Throughout the novel, Celie is victimized so much that she continues to endure further abuse. Her story parallels that of many African American women who endured injustice, after injustice. However, through the influence of others, Celie does manage to find her own voice.

Walker also portrays characters with nontraditional gender roles. Sofia and Shug represent two atypical African American women: they speak their mind, stand up to male figures, and control their own lives. They serve as foils to Celie, but also as catalysts who illustrate an independence that is within her reach. Shug is also sexually assertive, which leads many in society to label her as a harlot. However, she also influences Celie to embrace her own sexuality, body, and desires. Conversely, Harpo is portrayed as weak and insecure. He tries to make up for it by beating Sofia, but she refuses to put up with abuse, and leaves him.

The Color Purple also possesses an array of Gothic elements. Female directed violence is extremely pronounced throughout the work; it further marginalizes them by creating a scenario void of trust, and full of fear. Additionally, Celie’s presumed father commits incest by raping her multiple times, which results in Celie giving birth to two children. The repression that African Americans felt at the time also seems to also have a psychological effect on the male characters in the novel, who attempt to take out their frustration by further subordinating their female counterparts. However, although Celie believes that her sister, Nettie, is dead throughout most of the novel, she still has an intense connection with the ghost of her sister. Celie, no matter what, always seems to find solace in the memory of Nettie.