The tense in ‘Purple’ is immediate past as Celie writes the events as if they have already happened, but due to the fact that they are written in letters she writes them down immediately and her writing to god creates this further.
‘Dear God, My mama dead.’
The idea that it is written in this way gives the reader a closer attachment to the narrator as everything Celie feels is conveyed through her eyes. The gaps between the letters written, leaves the reader to work out specific details on certain characters. The age of Celie is one example as it is only told at the beginning of the novel and partway through leaving the reader guessing and unsure of how long the struggle of Celie lasted. The significance of Alice Walker using this is to draw attention to the character and those around her, also to add to the uncertainties the reader would feel whilst reading the novel. ‘Caged Bird’ on the other hand is written in past tense with slight references to presence. Maya Angelou uses more reflective writing on past events creating more of a real character and conveying her thoughts as the book progresses.
‘I remember never believing that whites were really real’.
It also brings the idea that even though the incidents happened in the past, Maya still thinks of them as important as they have had a huge affect on her life.
In both ‘Caged Bird’ and ‘Purple’ the tone of the narrator tends to change along with the characters. ‘Purple’ echoes this more due to the fact that Celies language and expression progress, making it easier to identify the tone in which she is speaking and also the reader is able to grow with her. The majority of the letters including Netties tend to be more confessional as Celies letters to God are seen to be private and written much like journal entries,
‘I don’t even look at mens. That’s the truth.’
This is also the first set of information the reader receives of what Celie really has an interest in and feels about what is happening around her at the moment. Still at this point Celie is still passive and does not convey any emotions she is feeling. Walker tends to do this a lot throughout the novel to show Celies character more strongly and again allows us as the reader to both empathise and sympathise with her. As the novel continues Celie becomes more knowledgeable in both the world around her and how she feels about certain aspects in her life. Shug Avery becomes a major influence in Celies life as she teaches her about love and how life should be, not only is it Celies life she affects it is also Albert’s who still loves her after such a long period of time. When Celie finds out that Shug is coming to town, her tone in which she writes changes and is more of an exciting tone.
‘Shug Avery is coming to town!’
Not only does this allow the reader to get excited along with her but it also portrays a sense of happiness in which Celie is feeling. Further on in the same letter Celie talks about how Mr is getting ready to see Shug sing and how he is making a huge effort,
‘Look at himself, then undress and dress all over again’
The way in which Celie describes Albert allows us as the reader to imagine him scampering about asking her opinions, this also add humour to the novel which is a minor element conveyed throughout. Also Celie gives Albert a compliment for the first time and he responds,
You think so?
She as well as the reader finds this surprising, as he never asks her opinion on anything. It shows their development together and the slight effort to understand each other. By the end of this letter we find that Celie begins to admire Shug giving this sense of her finally admitting what she likes for a change. Nettie, Celies sister is a huge part in her life as she is the only real family Celie knows and who has not let her down. Towards the end of the novel Celie stops writing to God and begins writing to Nettie, this is the first time she writes to someone else other than God.
‘I don’t write to god anymore, I write to you.’
In a sense, people who believe in God look at him as their salvation whereas in Celies case Nettie is hers. The fact that she has written to God for so long and has not had any response so feels Nettie is the only one who understands her and always has. This is a sorrowful tone as it leaves the reader sympathising with her and waiting for her to overcome her struggle.
‘Caged Bird’ has a few main tones, which are continuous throughout the book. The way Maya Angelou writes is as if some events she talks about are personal even though the novel is an autobiography. This is reflected more when she speaks in the view of a child and the language she uses are soft sounding words echoing innocence and secrets.
‘Into this cocoon I crept’
Also it portrays to the reader this sense of escapism, her cutting herself off from those around her, which is shown quite a lot within ‘Caged Bird’. Even though this autobiography is full of Maya’s struggle, the way in which she describes and explains certain incidents comes across comical. This may have been done to take the readers attention away from the major struggles she is facing and to remind them she is writing the book and reflecting, having already conquered and survived.
‘The girls were commanded to pull up their dresses and then he lay on top of them and wiggled his hips
’
It seems when Maya talks about her brother Bailey, the majority of the time her tone is happy or the reader knows that something comical is about to happen between the two of them. Further on in this chapter we see a different side to Maya when she realise an older girl named Joyce is about to have real sex with Bailey. Maya believes it is wrong and begins to associate it with bad things.
‘Bailey, if you let her do that, you’ll be sorry’
It comes across as if Maya is worrying that Bailey will experience what she did and also this sense of the memories of her rape has had. Angelou includes this as it conveys the affects the rape had on her life even though it is hardly mentioned in the book after it happened. The way in which Maya talks when in her own adult voice comes across quite philosophical, as she educates the reader as well as telling the story.
‘If growing up is painful for the southern black girl, being aware of displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat’
This is at the end of the novel and acts as a prologue emphasizing her point of view as an adult.
The way in which both of the novels are structured is similar in the sense that they are both constructed in chronological order. The Color Purple starts off quickly into the abuse, whereas Caged Bird eases the reader into the story giving more information on the characters who will be included throughout the autobiography. Both of these styles keep the reader engaged in the books, encouraging them to read further. The abuses conveyed in each book are dissimilar; Purple is more artlessly described giving more detail in a poorly expressed way. This collaborates with the language, as this is what creates the effects the story has on the reader. In the middle of the book the reader can see an alteration in the way she writes the letters,
‘You a lowdown dog is whats wrong’
As opposed to,
‘But it hard to think with gitting married to Mr____’
Not only does it shoe Celies language has improved but also for the first time we see Celie stand up for herself. The fact that she has been so passive in the past, the idea that she believed God was a man and he would not agree with what she was doing and see the mens action as the right thing to do. Even though at this point Celie becomes more assertive her reasons for being so angry at Albert is not because he abused her but for taking Nettie away from her.
‘You took my sister away from me, I say’
This provokes the reader as they want Celie to start thinking about her and what seem to be going on within her life but yet she is still concerned about others. Also her way of addressing Albert is ‘Mr___’ showing her to be weak, at the end of the novel she finally calls him Albert equalising herself with him and conveying her strength, growth and her as an independent woman.
‘Oh I say, a little Albert carve for me’
Like Caged Bird the book ends with the main protagonist finally being happy which the reader has been awaiting. It ends with Celie and Nettie finally being reunited and Celie expresses her feelings more clearly than she ever in the book to promote her happiness. Caged Bird is written into chapters with the language contrasting along with the narrator’s voice. The language is quite complex conveying the adult but also the child speaking as an adult, portraying the idea that Maya felt she had to grow up much quicker due to what happened to her. There are also references to Alice in Wonderland reminding the readers that she is still a child
‘Cheshire cat’s smile’.
In Caged Bird Maya Angelou tends to make up some of her own words which brings humour into the novel with the reader not quite understanding what she means again shows her as a complicated character.
‘Powhitefolks’
This also brings in the thoughts of what Maya has about white people. Throughout the book racism is a major part of Mayas life more so when she goes and stays with her grandmother. Racism affects Maya from when she was a small child, adding to the abuse she would have already encountered, her being so young and seeing the way her grandmother gets treated, including mooned is a horror in itself for such a young child. Unfortunately for Maya more of it was to come.
‘The slick pubic hair made a brown triangle where her legs came together’
This novel ends with Maya just having given birth to her son and finally accepting him. Whereas Purple has a fairy tale final ending Caged Bird does not and ends with a slight insight into what is coming next, this is more because it is the first volume of six biographies.
‘The world had ended, and I was the only person who knew it’
From reading this at the beginning of the final chapter informs the reader that there is still a lot more for Maya to achieve but still believing the worst is over.
Religion affects the way both of the women in the novels perceive life. Celies hesitation to stand up for what is right is due to her unsure of the physical of God,
‘He big and old and tall and graybearded and white’
In contrast Caged Bird starts off in a church conveying that religion has been in Maya life for a long period of time. Most of the time when Maya talks about church she speaks as if it is a place of fun, more because of the fact that is where she and Bailey got into the most trouble and this seems worse to the reader as it supposed to be a holy place.
‘I didn’t try any longer to hold back the laugh, I just opened my mouth and released sound’.
In conclusion I believe that even though the use of first person narrative can be limited in information the authors used this to their advantage. Instead they give detailed viewpoints to allow the reader to have a close connection with the narrator allowing them to sympathise much more easily with the characters.
