“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, is a novel that captured my
attention after only reading the first few pages. As much was not explained in detail yet, I
was engaged and I am curious on what is yet to come. However,
with the knowledge that I have gained from what I have read, there is a lot to
say about the novel.
Thus far, around eight characters have been introduced. Out of these
characters, there are a few that caught my attention. Celie, the predominant
character in the novel, is one among them. From what I have read, Celie is
living a tough, painful and sorrowful life. The first few pages in the novel,
reveals that she is a young fourteen year old girl, whose mother had passed
away. When she says “Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t. First he
put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around … saying You better
Shut up and git used to it” (Walker 1), I understood that Celie was being
sexually abused by her father. Despite the fact that this is the most
disgusting thing a father could do to his daughter, it furthermore depicts the extremely
difficult life she is living.
Another character that I believe
is significant is Mr.____. He was introduced as Nettie’s boyfriend, who Celie
wanted Nettie to marry. However, their father thought Nettie was too young, and
made Celie marry him. What comes to my attention is his name. Why is it
Mr.____? I believe that there may be certain significance for that. When Celie
explains about Mr.____’s children she says “The girls hair ain’t been combed
since their mammy died” (Walker 1), shows that Mr.____ has not taken care of
his children. This represents that he is very lazy and may have disregarded his
children from his life.
The final character that I found very interesting is Shug Avery. She was
described as a beautiful woman, rouge face and hair like a tail. From the
moment she was mentioned till the end of the first twenty pages, she seemed to
be an anonymous character. There was not anything mentioned about who she is
and where she may be. When Kate, Mr.____’s sister, said “he just brought her here, dropped her, and
kept right on running after Shug Avery” (Walker 20), she exposes a little about
who Shug Avery is, as Kate says that her brother would go after her even though
he already had a wife. Shug Avery is a very mysterious character. I am most
certainly looking forward to reading more, about these three characters, but
also discovering more about the other characters yet to develop.
“The Color Purple” takes place in Africa as mentioned on the back cover
of the book. It was evident that the novel took place in Africa in several
ways. Such as when Celie talks about her lack of education, the way water was retrieved
(a well or spring), and the kind of transportation they used, a wagon. The
setting of the novel suits the story well as I have read other novels, such as
“Chanda’s Secrets”, which take the
same setting, and have a similar storyline as “The Color Purple.”
After reading the first section of this novel, I have an idea of what
some potential themes may be. As soon as I realized that Celie was being
sexually abused by her father, I immediately thought of theme of fear. If I was
in her position, I would be beyond terrified, as I would not know what to do.
On top of living with a father like that, not having a mother to tell your
issues to would make me feel as if I was stranded alone on an island. Another possible theme could be the lack of
freedom for women. Celie, her mother, and Nettie all are treated with no
respect and have no say in any decision. For example, Nettie liked Mr.___, but
Celie was forced to marry him because of Nettie’s age. The decision was primarily
made by their father and Mr.____, and they had never asked Celie or Nettie how
they felt about it or what they truly wanted. In a sense, women were like
slaves to men as they followed their orders, and fed them food and took care of
their children. As the novel progresses, I would like to see these themes
expand, an also unveil new themes.
The tone of a novel is mainly the speaker’s attitude. In this novel, the
speaker is Celie, who is Alice Walker. As Celie uses words that make me feel
angry, mournful, and gloomy, it is clear that the tone of the novel is
negative. Seeing that the tone of the novel may or may not change, I wonder if
the novel continues to be negative or changes as the story develops.
After reading the first twenty pages, I have taken a lot from the novel,
and am expecting a lot from it as what I read was greatly interesting. I look
forward to learn more about the characters, discover more themes, and finding
out what the novel is all about.
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