In 1982, Walker published her most famous novel, The Color Purple. For the novel, which chronicles
Context ALICE WALKER WAS BORN on February 9, 1944, in the small rural town of Eatonton, Georgia. She was the eighth and last child of Willie Lee Walker and Minnie Tallulah Grant, two sharecroppers. Walker's parents' experiences with the oppressive sharecropping system and the racism of the American South deeply influenced Walker's writing and life's work. When Walker was eight, one of her brothers accidentally shot her, permanently blinding her in one eye. Ashamed of her facial disfigurement, Walker isolated herself from other children, reading and writing to pass the time. In 1961, on a scholarship for disabled students, Walker enrolled in Spelman College in Atlanta, where she became active in the A-frican-American civil rights movement. Two years later, Walker transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in New York and eventually traveled to Uganda as an exchange student. When she returned for her senior year, Walker was shocked to learn that she was pregnant, and, afraid of her parents' reaction, she considered suicide. However, a classmate helped Walker obtain a safe abortion, and she graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1965. At this time, Walker composed two early landmark pieces: "To Hell with Dying," her first published short story, and Once: Poems, her first volume of poetry. Walker continued her involvement with the civil rights movement after graduation, working as a
The differences between the novel by Alice Walker, "The Color Purple" and the film by the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg.
The paper shows the differences between the novel by Alice Walker, "The Color Purple" and the film by the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg. The paper shows the distinct differences between film and the literature that inspired both versions of "The Color Purple", differences unique to each different media that yield very different effects upon the reader and upon the viewers of Walker's tale. "In contrast, Celie's pregnancy in the film is revealed not verbally but visually. Film is often called a visual rather than a verbal medium and the film's rendering of this event confirms this. In the film, a sense of Celie's innocence is conveyed by the young girl's voice singing songs with her younger sister, the sight of the child Celie playing patty-cake with her sister and the two girls running through green fields. The scene looks idyllic, until the young actress playing Celie becomes entirely revealed from head to toe. Then, the viewer suddenly realizes with a jolt, the child is pregnant." Alice Walker's second and most famous novel, The Color Purple, tells the story of Celie, a fourteen year old girl repeatedly raped by her (step) father, and impregnated twice by him. Told in the form of letters to God and her younger sister, Nettie, the novel covers a period of time that we can only estimate to be almost 30 years or so. This novel gained particular popularity when made
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
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
COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE DEPICTION OF CELIE'S STRUGGLE IN STEVEN SPIELBURG'S FILM VERSION OF 'THE COLOR PURPLE' AND THE NOVEL
COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE DEPICTION OF CELIE'S STRUGGLE IN STEVEN SPIELBURG'S FILM VERSION OF 'THE COLOR PURPLE' AND THE NOVEL Innocence and naivety is portrayed instantly as the initial theme for "The Color Purple", in both respects. Spielburg opens with the positive scene of the heroine, Celie, playing wistfully in the fields with her sister, Nettie. Similarly, the novel commences with the words, "I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl". In both cases, the brief curiosity of youth is quickly driven out, as the reader and the audience are forced to realise the fate of this adolescent girl. This having been said, each media handles the topic in very different fashions. Alice Walker enforces explicit imagery of rape onto the reader, so as to comprehend some of this girl's evident pain; on the other hand, Spielburg chooses to jump straight into a vision of an agonizing birth of Celie's second child, hence showing the consequences of the terrible abuse she has suffered. Both interpretations are particularly disturbing and provoke interest from the audience or reader, considering the unequivocal, abusive language present in Celie's opening letter, and the dreadful screams that we are to witness after only minutes of the film. The novel elaborates on such events as the death of Celie's mother, and the continuing abuse from her father. The reader also learns much
To what extent do you find
To what extent do you find "The Color Purple" an optimistic novel? The book brings up issues which can be viewed as ether as optimistic or pessimistic. These are often topics which arise through conflict, some of the conflicts that I will talk about in this essay are: the relationship between men and women, black people and white people and the relationship between Africa and America. I will use these to try and determine how optimistic "The Color Purple" is The book shows optimism towards the finding, and keeping of the black cultural identity. Throughout the book yams are mentioned both in Africa and hidden in the food of young Eleanor Jane. The yam is a symbol of black identity and even though the blacks are no longer in their homeland they still eat their traditional food. Although they eat the yam based food they have lost a lot of their black roots but the book shows how they can very easily be found again, this is shown in the letters to and from Celie. So this shows "the color purple" in an optimistic light. The use of an authentic black voice is optimistic. The book is an epistolary, and the letters in the book are written in the way the characters would speak. Words are abbreviated and the sentences are usually very short. The vocabulary is often limited although the thoughts of the characters are often complicated. Phonetic spelling is also used for example
Alice Walker's depiction of men in The Color Purple has been controversial. Explore the opinions of the two critics and explain your own views of the way Walker presents men in The Color Purple.
Student: Jo Townsend Subject/Project: English Literature Coursework The Color Purple ==> Alice Walker's depiction of men in The Color Purple has been controversial. Explore the opinions of the two critics and explain your own views of the way Walker presents men in The Color Purple. Throughout this essay I intend to explore a variety of different critics' opinions based on how men are portrayed in Alice Walker's novel, 'The Color Purple'. I would like to argue/debate that Alice Walker is not pinpointing black males in the novel but an entire society. There are many different ways in which a reader could find this novel controversial and therefore it is very hard to define controversy. Alice Walker was writing 'The Color Purple' around the time of the Civil Rights Movement. This movement opened people's eyes to the inequality that black people suffered. Walker describes herself as a 'womanist' therefore it is clear that she would choose to write about the hardships that black women would face. It does seem very significant for the time Walker wrote the novel (approximately mid 1970's) as the life of black women had never been explored in the depth that Walker went to. Alice Walker spoke 'when others dare not' (Wesley : 1986). In many ways Walker's novel opens people's eyes to an unheard of topic and encourages discussion on it. I disagree that Alice Walker's
Discuss how Walker and Atwood present the self awakening of key characters within the Colour Purple and Margaret Atwood poems.
Discuss how Walker and Atwood present the self awakening of key characters within the Colour Purple and Margaret Atwood poems. Both writers explore the plight of women and condemn the acts of sexism and racism. Walker and Atwood both show how women can overcome the harsh situations that occur, however the writers do this using various different styles. The life of Celie in "The Color Purple" emphasises the hardships and joys of black people, focussing on gender inequality. Celie is in a position of complete powerlessness throughout the beginning letters. She is so defenceless that the only person she talks to is God, and even then she is forced to write letters rather than pray. "Dear God what is happening to me? " Celie first loses the ability to control her own life when her mother falls ill. This forces her to assume the duties of her mother. Through rapes and beatings she is completely dominated by Pa. "Wives are like children and they must be beaten if they are to be kept in order" When talking of Celie Pa states"I can let you have Celie, I got a fresh one in there myself" This reminds us of the purchase of a slave. And shows how Celie is used throughout the beginning of the novel. Trudier Harris also thought that Walker was "trying to divide the black community through her accounts of male dominance." However I think Alice Walker gives a realistic
Explore the theme of the creation of women's identities in The Color Purple and The Yellow Wallpaper. Include a detailed examination of how the form of each fiction contributes to the impact of the narratives.
Natalia Atkinson PI: W7234978 A210: TMA05 05/07/2004 Explore the theme of the creation of women's identities in The Color Purple and The Yellow Wallpaper. Include a detailed examination of how the form of each fiction contributes to the impact of the narratives. In both The Color Purple and The Yellow Wallpaper we see a progression of a woman's physical and mental state influenced by the social circle they inhabit. Both narrators find themselves recreated through their writings - they explore situations and intricate emotions. Celie and Jane use their writings as a cathartic expression of feeling, Celie through her letters to God and Nettie, Jane through the journal format of the short story. The Color Purple is an epistolary style novel in which Celie directs most of her letters to God, and later to her sister Nettie. The opening letter reveals more than is actually written through the style Celie adopts. We hear that Celie has been brutally raped by the man she thinks is her father as she says 'he push his thing inside my pussy' (p 3). The crude, coarse language reveals that this is the regular language used by Celie, adopting the oral tones in her written word. It is clear from the first letter that this is a naïve and innocent narrator of partial education. The sentences are constructed as single units of meaning with no conjunctions which