What, in your opinion, is the key moment In 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker?
What, in your opinion, is the key moment In 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker? Walker uses a number of key events or moments rather than just one moment, to help change the direction of the story. She does this in a number of ways but her favourite way is to use the characters and events surrounding Celie to help direct her character and show how Celie matures over time, and the sudden leaps in maturity that she takes. One of the key moments in Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple', is Shug Avery's first appearance, sick but too evil to die, and is a good example of how vivid and dramatic Celie's terse narrative style can be. Omission of grammatical markers gives freshness to everyday phraseology. Typographical simplifications are also effective. Dispensing with quotation marks and the convention of a new line for a new speaker produces a sense of intimacy, as Albert's and Shug's voices interrupt Celie's without formality: 'She is too evil for that. Turn loose my goddam hand, she say'. This first meeting with Shug is a turning in Celie's life. Before Celie has known Shug from a photograph and has found sisterly reassurance in her eyes. Now it is eyes that command attention. Though feverish, they look 'mean', ready to kill a snake and not scotch it. A more evocative term still is used twice. Shug is 'more evil than my mama' and that is what keeps her alive. She is too evil to
'The Color Purple' - How realistic is the presentation of the Olinka? What contribution does the story of Olinka make to the novel as a whole?
This essay if on 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker. Part of the A2 syllabus for English Lit. How realistic is the presentation of the Olinka? What contribution does the story of Olinka make To the novel as a whole? The Olinka tribe sub-plot in 'The Color Purple' widens our knowledge of the themes and particularly the struggle of black women outside America. It is interesting how far comparison can be made between the African village and Celie's hometown in America, and this perhaps makes the presentation of Olinka realistic. There is examples of a similar patriarchal society and male dominance. There is also the notion of white superiority in that they are dependent on a white trader from the coast, and are helpless when the English move through Olinka with plans for rubber factories and the road which splits the village. Therefore, the social structure has a similar base to that in America. Being reliant to the white trader on the coast is similar to the blacks being subservient to white authority in America, however on the whole the Olinka tribe are self sufficient and produce their own food. Nettie writes in Letter 61, 'the people here catch and eat.' Education is an interesting part of the social structure. Similar to Celie being denied an education in America after falling pregnant due to rape, women are not allowed to be educated in the Olinka tribe as education
Consider the opening scenes to Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple."
Alex Willson 4* Consider the opening scenes to Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple." Analyse the visual and sound techniques he uses to portray the character of Celie. Evaluate the response they provide in you, the audience, and how they provoke in you, the audience, and how they contribute to the success of the opening scenes. Steven Spielberg's the "The Color Purple" is a film about a young girl called Celie who has to experience a lot of tough challenges in her life mentally and physically. The director Speilberg uses many sound and visual techniques to portray Celie's character and make a bond between the viewer and her. Throughout the film Spielberg uses the visual technique composition which has a big part to play showing the power at the time and to help influence your feelings towards Celie in. One example in a shot Celie and Nettie are together on one side of the screen then the father comes into the shot on the other side. In this scene composition is used to show that the sisters are "united" against their father. Spielberg uses composition so the viewer responds to it and takes sides with the sisters rather than the dad. Another use of composition is when in scene five Mister is on the horse and Celie is helping along the cow this reflects the power at the time. Showing how women are second to men which make you sympathise to her even more as women are
An analysis of the Effectiveness of Letters 1-6 of The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
An analysis of the Effectiveness of Letters 1-6 of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a novel set in the Southern States of America during the 1920's. The main character in the book is a black girl named Celie who writes letters to God in a diary form about her life. Alice Walker's use of letters instead of chapters is the first style she implements to convey her story in the way she wants to. To capture our attentions and help us get used to this unusual style, Walker's first 6 letters are especially effective and revealing. These letters cover a huge period of time. The gap between Letters 1 and 2 for instance is at least a year. She also reveals to us characters and themes that will run throughout the entire novel and also forms a bond between the reader and the narrator due to the letter style. The first writing style Walker uses to get important information across in the first 6 letters is her use of short, emphatic sentences. These convey the information quickly whilst also shocking us and therefore grabbing our attention. For instance in letter 1, Celie writes her experience of being raped by her father in just 5 lines- "He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it." This style is emphasised in the other letters but especially in Letter 2. The letter starts- "My mama dead. She die screaming and cussing." The
Examine Alice Walkers Presentation of Men In “the Colour Purple”.
Examine Alice Walkers Presentation of men in "The Colour Purple". The Color Purple is a Pulitzer prize winning novel written by Alice walker, The original book sold over 4million copies, when the novel was published it was seen as controversial and to this day is still seen as controversial the reasons for in being controversial are " the representation of black men", bodily abuse, sexual abuse and lesbianism. Due to the outcry of people this novel was made in to a Oscar winning film, the same year that the color purple was released a film called Out Of Africa was released and won film of the year, the only explanation could be due to the color purple being a hard hitting film which puts men in a bad light they are seen as monogamists for the first half of the film. Alice Walker is a bisexual African American who was criticized for her personal representation of men and her portrayal of all African women's lives. The black men were outraged at her stereotypical view of their heritage and background. The novel "The color purple" is composed of a number of letters that were written between Cilei and her sister Nettie the sisters were separated at a very young age and made a vow to keep in touch. The letter correspondence stayed constant for many a year till they finally met about 20yrs later. There are many evil men in the novel who are shown in a bad light and thus
Discuss the presentation of Albert in ‘The Color Purple’
Discuss the presentation of Albert in 'The Color Purple' In these letters, Mr._ is a harsh, cruel man. He is presented as being bitter and chauvinistic and like many of the men in this society, has no respect for women. Mr._ changes with the arrival of Shug, we see his redeeming features and the reminder of his former, more likeable character. Towards Celie, Mr._ is contemptuous, he marries her because he needs a replacement slave and he would get Celie's cow in dowry. Mr._ takes "whole spring from March to June, to make up his mind" about marrying Celie, this seems like an insult to Celie. There is a lack of dignity for her, as Celie's own marriage is out of her control. Celie found "it hard to think with gitting married to Mr._ hanging over my head". "Mr._ come finally one day looking all drug out" showing he is only marrying Celie as a last resort, all he wants is her cow "that cow still coming?" Celie has a dismal wedding day, Mr._ is detached and doesn't care when his children hurt her, he says "don't do that! -But that's all he say". Mr._ refuses to chat to his children "they try to get his tention, he hide hind a puff of smoke". Yet when Nettie comes he pays her compliments she does not want to hear "That's a real pretty dress you got on." Celie fears for Nettie; "it nearly kill me to think she might marry somebody like Mr._" this shows she cannot think of a worse
The Life Lesson of "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker.
Nicole Klotzle Mrs. Cain 4th April 2003 The Life Lesson of "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker When Alice Malsenior Walker married Melvin Roseman, they were considered to be the first legally interracial couple in the state of Mississippi. Walker is one of those writers who when someone reads one of her works they automatically get pull to all of her writings. She writes with her heart and writes from experiences that she has went through. She is an all around wonderful person who loves and would help everyone no matter their race, sex, and/or their status in society and she doesn't let her money get to her head. As said by Astrid H. Roemer, "She isn't the girl on the book jackets; and she isn't all glamour and chic like Toni Morrison; and she isn't provocative and flashy like Buchi Emecheta; and she didn't lose herself in all her American dollars. In everything she does with conviction, Alice Walker is very open-hearted and wonderfully unpredictable." Alice Walker's life along with her involvement in the Contemporary Era of American literature strengthened the literary merit of her short story "Everyday Use." Life Alice Walker was born on February 9th, 1944 to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallelah Grant in Eatonton, Georgia. Now her family wasn't very wealthy; her dad only earned $300 a year and her mother was a domestic who worked as a seamstress just so her family would have more
One of Alice Walkers themes as a feminist writer is the support women give each other - Making reference to Nettie's letter on pages 141-142 from "friendship among women" to the end of the letter discuss how she conveys this theme in the color purple.
One of Alice Walkers themes as a feminist writer is the support women give each other. Making reference to Nettie's letter on pages 141-142 from "friendship among women" to the end of the letter discuss how she conveys this theme in the color purple. Alice Walker is a feminist writer who grew up in the state of Georgia, America. In the year that this novel was written things were a lot different to how they are these days. Despite the civil war between the North and South divide of America, slavery was still an every day occurrence in parts of South America particularly Georgia, which was still very pro-slavery. She applies a feminist approach to literature although she does not like to be called a feminist write as she prefers to be called a womanist, which she defines as being a black feminist. Walker's a feminist as the whole of the novel portrays her influence on giving women equal rights to the rights of men. Throughout the novel Walker highlights the realities that black women had to suffer and tries to convey that women do not like to be taken advantage of and need to fight for themselves and their rights for equality in gender and in race. Alice Walker is an African American, a feminist, a civil rights activist, a religious believer and a poet, who expresses her thoughts and opinions on the oppressing black women by white people and white and black men. Some of
Discuss Alice Walker's presentation of the plight of women in a mans' world in "The Color Purple".
The Color Purple By Alice Walker Discuss Alice Walker's presentation of the plight of women in a mans' world in "The Color Purple" Throughout the story, men mistreat many women. Through the collection of letters that Celie wrote, the reader could see that Celie has struggled for her happiness her entire life. As a positive criticism, Gloria Steinem believes that the reason Celie changes from writing to god to Nettie is because 'she must tell some one the truth and confirm her existence'. When she was only a little girl, her stepfather sexually abused her. He than sold her to a man named Albert or Mr._____ who had no intention of loving her, 'No matter what I feel. It just him'. Mr. _____ verbally and physically abused her. He made her do all the housework and demanded that she took care of his children, 'they look at me there struggling with Mr._____ children'. If Celie refused, she was punished. In the marriage of Celie and Albert there was no love or devotion1. They were just stuck with each other. Celie married Albert because her stepfather told her to and Albert married Celie because he wanted a full time maid. Albert gave orders and Celie like a duty full wife carried out these orders. The women in those days were thought of as something that a man owned. Once the woman was his he was to do what he pleased with her2. Celie was to obey him and only him, she was to be
The Color Purple: Literary Techniques Employed by Alice Walker to Develop Celie's Character.
The Color Purple: Literary Techniques Employed by Alice Walker to Develop Celie's Character by Hialy Gutierrez September 12, 2002 "It all I can do not to cry. I make myself wood. I say to myself, Celie, you a tree. That's how I know trees fear man," (23) uttered the protagonist of Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Such words of meekness were characteristic of Celie's speech that is, in the beginning of the novel. As the novel progressed, however, Celie's acquiescent behavior transformed into one of resilience and dignity. By incorporating the literary techniques of tone, symbolism, and juxtaposition into her novel, Alice Walker was able to develop Celie's character, emphasizing her progression from subservience to independence. Tone serves as an important device in personifying a novel's character. Such is the case in The Color Purple. In her subservient state, Celie responded little, if at all, to the abuse she was exposed to. For instance, Celie stated in a despondent tone that whenever she had been forced to enter into sexual intercourse, she would apathetically yield, allowing either her Pa or Mr. ______ to "git up there and enjoy himself just the same. No matter what I'm thinking. No matter what I feel. It just him. Heartfeeling don't even seem to enter into it." (69) Celie's continual surrender was marked by hopelessness. She believed that resistance would only do