the color purple

Novel Analysis-The Color Purple



In the short story “The Color Purple,” author Alice Walker describes the life of Celie, a black woman growing up in the South. She must overcome racism and poverty to establish herself as an independent person. The novel also follows the maturation of her sister Nettie and the lives of Shug, Albert, and much of his extended family. A motif in “The Color Purple” is the recurring concept of roundness. The concept of roundness relates to the shape of the human body, and especially the female body. The letters are also another motif in the novel. The letters play an important role in conveying Celie’s thoughts and emotions throughout her life. Walker suggests that oppressed people can unite with solidarity to overcome their oppressors. A sub theme of “The Color Purple” is the harm inflicted on the Black community, both by their own cycle of violence and the racially motivated hatred of Negroes in the South.
The prota...