As time passes she writes longer letters and with more detail and fluently emotive language, "I just be thankful to lay eyes on her" She also shows that she feels more positive about asking questions to people, in the first letter she only believes she can talk to God, "Dear God… Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me" but by letter fifteen she says "But I got a million question to ast”. Celie also becomes more mature as she writes her letters; she is very naïve in the first letter, not understanding where children come from and talking about taboo subjects with childish words, "his thing". This unusual style contributes to the structure, giving two points of view and two styles, in the first-person narrators - Celie and Nettie. “Each of the sisters writes to the other, as an act of faith, keeping up spirits in times of despair. Mr_ stands in their way of "communicating" with one another, suggesting that he is trying to prevent their sisterhood. It highlights how men try to suppress women further, in preventing them from being educated.” CRITIC. This oppression from men in a patriarchal society is softened by the bond or "sisterhood" that the female characters share. The sisters keep writing despite the distance and uncertainty of whether the other is alive, which highlights their determination and defiance, as well as the strong bond between them. Their letters allow us to see a critical view of the world thus highlighting politics- “Celie illustrates neglect and abuse, while Nettie's look at the inhumanity of white colonists and African men.” CRITIC. Walker's style is unusual for a novel as the letters are written phonetically. Celie has a distinct dialect; “hot diggidy dog…I don’t like his teef…where she at?” This character comes over extremely well because of the style Walker uses. The letters let us into the character's head allowing the reader to feel her emotions and really sympathise with her. Because of these factors, Celie's courage and strength is amplified to a height that will move any reader.
The theme of Education and literacy is addressed through Celie’s letters. Celie is not very well educated as shown in her first letter where there is an obvious crossing out "I am fourteen years old. I am I have always been a good girl…" In the beginning of the book Celie's writing is very poor, with many vernacular spellings, "He never had a kine word to say to me" and poor punctuation, "She say It too soon". These back up the fact of her age and that she is poorly educated. During the first fifteen letters, however Celie takes education in to her own hands and along with Nettie tries to learn to read and write better.
The use of sexual slang is typical of the language within the novel, which rarely coheres to conventional grammar or spelling “I ast our new mammy…the blood run down tween my breasts” Many words are written phonetically and slang terms are frequently employed. Celie had no formal education - her stepfather refused to let her go to school, "too dumb to keep going to school”. Her accurate observances with the fact that she learns to read without schooling, demonstrates she is not without natural intelligence. This reinforces the fact that it was because of the restrictions women and blacks due to the political stances of the 1940’s that education was limited.
The language continues to be colloquial but begins to represent something more than Celie's lack of education and rather illuminates the politics and power in the early twentieth century. “Coloured peoples think you a hick and white folks be amuse". Celie speaks the way that she thinks and is happy to do so. "Look like to me only a fool would want you to talk in a way that feel peculiar to your mind". She has formed her own identity and no longer needs to approval of others, and so the unconventional grammar and spelling becomes a symbol for her refusal to conform. Celie’s writing skills develop towards self-improvement and awareness. 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 leads to knowledge and then dissatisfaction. The male dominance allows a certain double standard whereby the men are able to make their own rules the underlying social structures in America. “Slave codes forbade whites from teaching slaves to read and write. Women all throughout the country were not able to read and write, nor were the women in Africa as well. Education reserved for the men, leaving women illiterate just as the slaves were illiterate.”CRITIC It can still be argued that women and blacks are not fully emancipated due to the fact there has never been a female or black president in the United States to date.
Writing is seen as a weapon and Celie’s communication with God holds a strong importance. Religion and politics have been seen to have a close parallel due to the fact so much controversy can be aligned with the two. I think it is worthy to note how Celie does not conform to the idea of blacks “only being able to preach on a Sunday-Brinkley” as unintentionally she rejects any political barriers religion can be seen to create through her Letters being addressed "Dear God", as does the last letter End "Amen”. God holds a strong importance in Celie's life; however, she does lose her faith, believing God "must have been asleep”. In her anger Celie admits that she is disillusioned with the idea of religion. She tells Shug "the God I been praying and writing to is a man…Trifling, forgetful and lowdown…If he ever listened to poor colored women the world would be a different place", Shug objects Shug believes “God is inside you and inside everybody else…”.Shug presents Celie with the freedom to question her conventional view of God, created and imposed upon her by white men, and to use her own experiences to invent a form of spirituality. A new spiritual belief is that "it pisses God of if you walk by the colour purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it". Celie associates the colour purple with herself, and for once it is not because of bruises. She accepts she is something God created which deserves to be loved and admired. This strong correlation formed by these feminine characters can be interpreted as a revolt against the typical male patriarchal society.
Religion is used to suggest that patriarchal society should be overthrown in order to create a better, purer world. Religion allows Walker to bring in more complicated themes and expand our knowledge and understanding. Walker widens are understanding through globalising themes “army got to wear clothes if they fighting in Europe, France, Germany or the Pacific”
Walker draws a parallel between women in the early twentieth century and slavery through the life of Celie, performing many of the jobs assigned to women during the period as well as labour in the field; “I move around darning and ironing, finding hanskers…while I’m in the field, I be’s chopping cotton three hours by time he come”. Her role in society directly correlates with the gender roles of the women of America and the Olinka tribe allowing a conclusion to be made that many women were most always subordinate to men until the Women's Rights Movement.
In the early twentieth century, female subordination and gender roles existed all across America. Set during a time of European imperialism, male dominance is highlighted in Olinka by the high value of having a son rather than a daughter. Women were considered the property of men, such as when Alphonso gives Celie to Albert without her consultation; “I got to git rid of her. She too old to be living here at home. She’d come with her own linen?” The Olinka tribe can be described as a microcosm of the bigger picture, enhancing the reader's knowledge of the wider picture. A microcosm of black people's oppression. As a microcosm of the wider picture this almost shows that certain black people contributed to their own downfall during slavery and this presents a more balanced view. This could be the opinion of Nettie, as in Letter fifty-seven as she writes, 'sold in to slavery their strongest folks' and asks 'Why did they sell us?'’. Perhaps Walker is using Nettie here as a way of balancing the argument and educating the reader in order to advance the themes in the novel.
The women are praised for hard work; 'her fields are praised for their cleanliness, productivity and general attractiveness.' This is a realistic presentation as it highlights women's significance at the time. This is a comparison to America and the praise of Celie in Letter twelve, 'You keep a clean house.' Whilst this shows praise for women, it really only highlights them as housewives and gives them little significance in society.
Brinkley cites, “Women were defined in their sphere as custodians of morality and benevolence; the home that women were confined to was simply a refuge from the harsh and competitive world “. I disagree with this as I believe one must cross the boundaries of home as you cannot fully appreciate the politics in a contemporary society if you do not do so. “Nearly a quarter of all white Southern women over 20 years old were illiterate and had little if any experience with schooling. If a Southern woman attended the little schooling that was available to her, she was generally limited to training designed to make her a more suitable wife. They were limited to jobs on the farm such as spinning, weaving, agricultural tasks, and in the time of slavery, supervising slaves (Brinkley 379”).This proves once again that Southern women were confined to their set gender roles in a society that was dominated by males.
The Color Purple is a novel of abuse, rape, incest and exploitation and racial tension is a key theme in the novel. As Nettie sets out to be a missionary in Africa, paradoxically she is not taken seriously by the Olinka people who she set outs to help, being regarded by them in the same way as they see white men - interfering and useless. American law, governed by middle-class, middle-aged, white men, made no attempt to protect or enforce the rights of poor black girls such as Celie. “Celie is seen as nothing more than a substandard possession. Falls pregnant by her father and he sells the babies, giving her away for marriage with the bargain "She'd come with her own linen. And she can take that cow…” Albert treats her as a slave. "Sometimes he beat me anyhow…whether I do what he say or not". Without the law to protect her rights it is left to Celie to fight for herself.” The men within the novel represent different social pressures by conventional ideas and stereotypes. Walker presents men as the weaker, although not gentler sex. Characters like Albert, Alphonso, Harpo and Grady exemplify male weakness and male impulses to bully. Pa is the idea that all women are sexual objects to be used by men. Albert is the insistence that a wife should be submissive and obedient to her husband. Before The feminist movement of the 1960's, women were previously exploited and suppressed Walker goes on to show how the protagonist Celie gains independence and freedom, as well as a step nearer to gender equality. In letter seventy-seven Celie sets up her own business, ‘Folks pants, Unlimited‘. Walker chooses "pants" to be created emphasising equality and female emancipation. Celie discovers a talent for, making pants - a symbol for her new empowerment. The "perfect pair of pants" are "totally comfortable", the same way that Celie now feels; the concept of making a quilt dramatically emphasises solidarity between women; “Shug finger the pieces of cloth I got hanging on everything. It all soft, flowing, rich and catch the light. Every stitch I sew will be a kiss”. There are several patches sewn together. Each patch represents woman, on its own it is small, weak and insignificant but when together they create a strong unity and a sense of togetherness. This strongly underlines the theme of solidarity between women. Improvement in Celie’s life doesn't happen until she achieves self-actualization, and so her inheritance and her pants making business can be seen as the power women will discover once they become empowered.
The Olinka sub-plot widens our knowledge of the themes and particularly the struggle of black women outside America. It is interesting how far comparisons can be made between the African village and Celie's hometown in America, There are examples of a similar patriarchal society and male dominance with white superiority. Just like Celie, the tribe of Olinka are helpless. Therefore, the social structure has a similar base to that in America- blacks being subservient to white authority in America. Slavery, even after its abolition, has similarities with women's oppression, particularly. “During slavery, laws prohibited slaves to hold property, leave premises without permission, be out after dark, congregate with other slaves, and carry firearms”. Husbands, both black and white controlled their wives. They forced women to serve them and had the ability to harshly punish. “The gender roles played by Celie, the women in the Olinka tribe, and women all throughout America act as a parallel with Slavery. These roles coincide with the treatment of slaves and even seem to have developed as a result of slavery. In some cases, women's oppression seems to be a milder view of slavery; in others, it seems just as bad.” The opinion of a male critic, Brinkley, differs somewhat to female writers. Women, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton supported both the Women's Rights Movement and the Abolitionists' Movement because they reasoned that by pointing out the similarities between the two hardships, they could enhance their position by helping the black's position.
The life of Celie emphasises the hardships of black people and also the gender inequality of domesticity. Nettie in Africa becomes aware of colonisation and the oppression of African women by Europeans and also by African men, "The husband has life and death power over the wife". Nettie becomes aware of the harsh patriarchal society as she is well educated and the reader becomes aware of her feminist role when she says to Celie "You got to let them no who got the upper hand". Nettie realises that due to her education and geographical mobility that in order to survive, women have to support each other and therefore makes Celie aware that she deserves a better life. Through Nettie, Walker highlights the traditional roles of women “… centre around work and their children" and "They indulge their husbands". Nettie pin-points the cultural differences. The Olinka women seem happy to share their husbands; they can't have men as friends. This highlights the relationship between Albert and Celie as Celie shares Albert with Shug by cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. The Olinka women undergo much more suffering and oppression as they are forced into female circumcision and facial scarification for their culture imposed by the patriarchal society in which they live; “she was planning to scar her face...they still have their own ways”.
However, some critics believe that ‘The Color Purple’ is too involved with the personal experiences of Celie to explore political issues meaningfully. Each of the characters help and guide Celie and each encounter difficulties which they overcome and provide learning experiences for Celie. They act as role models for Celie and provide the concept and theme of support and unity amongst women; they also empower and liberate Celie in to being confident and independent. Shug and Celie's relationship especially emphasises women being a pillar of support towards each other in times of crisis.
“The novel centres on Celie's development from naïve, unaware adolescent into a mature, politically and emotionally aware adult who has discovered how to love others and how to let others love her.” The theme of female support and unity is a major theme in the novel. Slavery links the African and American cultures together and also links Celie and Nettie as in both Africa and America men are unable to see women as equal.
Some critics have lambasted Walker concluding, “The characters created by Alice Walker go though many trials and tribulations during whatever prejudice they come against, characters such as Celie stay strong and emerge with their beliefs and morals in tact. The treatment of these key figures is, in places, almost too much for the reader to bear. These characters deserve much gratitude for their immense bravery and strength against those who persecute them.” To an extent I think this exemplifies Walker's intention for creating a novel to impact upon a reader however I strongly believe that this novel shows immense changes in the character because of political issues such as prejudice. I also believe in some cases such as Celie, prejudice makes them stronger. Those who emerge triumphant deserve much admiration, as it is difficult to emerge morally strong if you have been the victim of terrible abuse posing the question is Celie’s character unrealistic? However the famous quotation from Martin Luther King comes into mind: "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character." I think the author and the main character Celie have this same dream also.
Walker is an African American, a civil rights activist, a believer and a poet, who expresses her thoughts and opinions on the oppression of black women and black men. Some of Walker's critics claim that Walker uses much "wit" and has "an amazing way with words". Walker grew up in the state of Georgia but in the years that The Color Purple is set things were a lot different to how they are now. Despite the civil war between the North and South divide of America, slavery was still an every day occurrence in parts of 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 writer as she prefers to be called a womanist, which she defines as being a black feminist. Walker is a feminist as the whole of the novel portrays her influence on giving women equal rights to the rights of men. Walker, like Celie has used her own personal experiences effectively in conveying the politics relevant and most applicable to her.
Celie has many misfortunes and negative ordeals including rape and several beatings but at the end of the novel she survives, grows in confidence, maturity and becomes independent due to the support given from other female characters. Celie is freed from degradation by men and patriarchal society that was present at the time of the novel. The beginning and the ending, through Celie's experiences indicates that the novel is a tragic comedy. The tragedy in the reality of these scenarios having actually once occurred and the comedy through Celie’s dialect and innocence; “men look like frogs to me- no matter how you kiss ‘em, as far as I’m concern, frogs is what they stay”. It is easy to criticize the ease with which Walker concludes the novel, ensuring that Celie's life has a somewhat unlikely "happy ending". Yet if the reader approaches the novel as an allegory for female empowerment then the ending is far more satisfactory. By using Celie as a focus point, Walker successfully embeds political elements into her story and opens the reader’s eyes to the real world.