...The Color Purple Walker, Alice- 1982 Alexis Moss Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple (book titles in italics) to give her insight of men, women, love or the lack thereof, physical, mental, and verbal abuse. The men within this book were very powerful. It would be safe to say that the men were slave owners, and the women were the slaves. Celie was the main character of the book, and she endures every form of abuse from individuals in her life that should have been showing her love. Everyone abused her except her sister Nettie, whom she found herself trying to protect from their father. Celie’s mother abused and cursed her, even while being on her sick bed because her husband desired to have sex with Celie more than her. Walker uses this unique protagonist to comment on the racism, sexism, and abuse of women who was so prevalent in the early 1900s. Walker used Celie’s inner monologue (in the form of letters to God and her sister Nettie) to convey the overarching message of the novel; the power of finding that inner voice that leads to freedom from the oppression of society’s expectations. The plot takes place over a 30-year period in the reconstruction South of Georgia. They live in a rural farm community and were a hotbed of activity for civil rights and suffrage. This book was written from the other side of racism, from the victim’s point of view forcing the reader to see the result of bigotry. Racism not only affected Celie’s life but also the life of her friend Sofia...
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...FILM CRITIQUE: THE COLOR PURPLE 1 The Color Purple Devon Murraine ENG225: Introduction to Film Instructor: Kayla Ward October 20, 2012 [no notes on this page] -1- The Trials and Tribulations of life 4 The Color Purple “The Color Purple” is a 1985 American drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the eighth film directed by Spielberg and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker (Walker, 1996). The film tells the story of a young African American girl named Celie and shows the problems faced by African American women during the early 1900s; including poverty, racism, and sexism. The character Celie transform as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions. 2 1 1. “The Color Purple” (italics) [Angela Trodello (TA)] This movie has a great representation of characters where mentioning the talented Whoopi Goldberg and the famous Oprah Winfrey. These characters represent in the movie oppressed women who have surmised by their husbands and society. Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Is more of the quiet type, a woman who lives under the pressure and demands of the man but Oprah Winfrey as Sofia, is more of a strong type, she believes in equal rights with the men. 3 2. companions. The intro needs a thesis statement. Introduce the elements of film-making that you will analyze. How do they affect your critique? [Angela Trodello (TA)] 3. men. How does their acting contribute to the mise-enscene? [Angela...
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...The Color Purple Celie’s Life Terry Bradford Ivy Tech Community College Abstract Story of a young African American woman (Celie), growing up in the rural south during the early to mid- Nineteenth century the depression era. Her life is a struggle early on. She is beaten constantly and raped by her father as a result two children were born. Both were taken at birth. She leaves one hell only to end up in another one. Her father basically sells her into marriage her fate is no better with her husband. The beatings continue. She has to endure having sex with him. She is there only to take care of his house and raise his children who have no respect for her. She has no voice until a woman named Shrug comes into her life. She then becomes a woman with a voice and learns how to use it. The Color Purple Celie’s Life In the movie The Color Purple we deal with a young African American woman (Celie), who grew up in early to mid-ninetieth century in the rural south during the depression. She grew up poor and uneducated. She deals with poverty, racism and sexism. There is nothing about being a black woman in this this period of time to be proud of. In social comparison, her race, that is being black compared to being white, black people are considered inferior. And by being a woman only makes it worse. Thus we have the formation of Celie’s...
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...Elements of fiction “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker The Color Purple is an epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name. This novel is making arguments on the topic “racism and sexism”. The Color Purple is an extraordinary novel that’s full of surprises. Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on female black life in the 1930s in the southern United States, addressing numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture. Alice Walker’s biography [pic] Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1994, in Eatonton, Georgia. Living in the racially divided South, Walker attended segregated schools. She graduated from her high school as the valedictorian of her class. With the help of a scholarship, she was able to go to Spelman College in Atlanta. Later, she switched to Sarah Lawrence College in New York City. While at Sarah Lawrence, Walker visited Africa as part of a study-abroad program. She graduated in 1965—the same year that she published her first short story. After college, Walker worked as a social worker, teacher and lecturer. She became active in the Civil Rights Movement, fighting for equality for all African Americans. Her experiences informed her first collection of poetry, Once, which was published in 1968. Better known now as a novelist, Walker...
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...Alexita Professor Jamie ENC 1102 August 4, 2013 Alice Walker Section 1 Biography According to Michael Mayer, Alice Walker, one of the best-known and most highly respected writers in the United States, was born in Eatonton, Georgia. She was the eighth and last child of Willie Lee and Minnie Lou Grant Walker. Her parents were sharecroppers, and money was not always available as needed. At the tender age of eight, Walker lost sight of one eye when one of her older brothers shot her with a BB gun by accident. This left her in somewhat a depression, and she secluded herself from the other children. Walker felt like she was no longer a little girl because of the traumatic experience she had undergone, and she was filled with shame because she thought she was unpleasant to look at. During this seclusion from other kids of her age, Walker began to write poems. Hence, her career as a writer began. Walker found the love of her life in 1967, a white activist civil rights lawyer named Mel Leventhal, and they married him in 1967. A year later she gave birth to their daughter, Rebecca. It was not until she began teaching that her writing career really took off. She began teaching at Jackson State, then Tougaloo, and finally at Wellesley College. Walker was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and spoke for the women’s movement, the anti-apartheid movement, for the anti-nuclear movement, and against female genital mutilation. She also started her own publishing company:...
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...My paper will focus on how Alice Walker’s The Color Purple questions the notions of gender. In the article “Feminism” Carolyn Perry states that “Feminism differs from the women’s movement in that it moves beyond the political and economic issues at heart of the women’s movement…, such as tearing down the hierarchical structure of sex and gender roles and changing the way people view men, women, and gender”(255). She believed that it wasn’t a such thing as “a women’s place”(255). In The Color Purple Alice Walker shows us that women can over come oppression and become stronger if they believe they can. Unlike Celie in The Color Purple, Alice Malsenior Walker had a fairly happy childhood. She was the last of eight children born by her parents. She began 1st grade at the age of four and was very successful. She was very happy with her life “…until an accident (a brother shot her with a BB gun) blinded her in one eye and made her feel ugly”(Taylor2614). After the accident her grades began to fall because she was unhappy and the children at her school began tease her. After having surgery on her eye, She regained her confidence and graduated valedictorian of her class. The Color Purple took place in a time where women believed that the man was in charge. Back then women weren’t allowed to express their opinions. In the first sentence of The Color Purple, Walker shows us how Celie’s stepfather would rape her and threaten her to do what he wanted. “You better not never tell no...
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...The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Color Purple is a series of letters written mostly by the main character, Celie, to God. The plot takes place over a thirty year period. In the beginning Celie is a fourteen year old, African American girl who lives with her dying mother, father, and sister, Nettie, in Georgia. Celie’s father, Alfonso, rapes her and eventually she has two children by him, she believes the first one he killed, and the other he sold. Celie’s mother dies, and her father brings home a new wife. Nettie begins dating this man, Mr. __, but their father will not let him marry her. He claims that Nettie is smart and needs to stay in school and that she could be a teacher someday. Instead he says that Mr. __ can marry Celie, calling her ugly and dumb, but good with children. So Mr. __ takes his time to think about it, but since he really needed a mother for his children he agrees to marry her. He treats Celie like an object; he rapes and beats her, while his children boss her around like a slave. Nettie runs away from home to Celie and Mr. __’s house. Mr. __ compliments Nettie right in front of Celie, but Nettie passes the compliments on to her sister. Mr.__ then says that Nettie cannot stay in his house, because she rejects him. Mr. __’s sister, Kate, comes to visit and tells her to stand up for herself, and fight back. Mr. __ son, Harpo, struggles in his relationship with his wife Sophia. Harpo wants Sophia to obey him like Celie obeys Mr. __. Sophia is a strong...
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...Stacy Jackson C. Liegh McInnis ENG 105-09 December 7, 2011 Critical Analysis of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple to give her insight of men, women, love or the lack thereof, physical, mental, and verbal abuse. The men within this book were very powerful. It would be safe to say that the men were as slave owners and the women were treated as slaves. Celie, being the main character of the book, endures every form of abuse from individuals in her life that should have been showing her love. Everyone abused her except her sister Nettie, whom she found herself trying to protect from their father. Celie’s mother abused and cursed her, even while being on her sick bed because her husband, Celie and Nettie’s father, desired to have sex with Celie more than he did with his wife (Celie’s mother). Marriage is a union between a man and a woman although in today’s society in some states it could be man and man or woman and woman. However, within the traditional marriage, the man is said to be the head of the household, especially within the Christian faith. Marriage consists of God, the husband, and then the wife which is how it was intended to be. In this context, historically, the men within a marriage ruled or oppressed the wife. The wife had to do whatever her husband demanded of her. Alice Walker’s The Color Purple explains the marital oppression of women, which included an older widowed man who is given a younger unattractive wife by her step-father...
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...The Color Purple Sherelle Rozier English 2001 South University Thesis: Celie, an abused child and wife, Shug, a strong independent woman who was once a town whore, and Nettie, the sister of Celie who left the United States to become a missionary teacher. All these strong women need affection and love, and bond together to find their own voice. Celie’s story is about an abused child and wife who finds her independence. Celie was a slave to her husband and his children. Celie is able to gain her own security with the help of Shug and her sister Nettie’s letters. Celie finds independence and courage after years of abuse and other incredible obstacles. Nettie’s story is about a woman who left the United States to study becoming a missionary and hopes one day to reunite with her sister again. Nettie finds a good family and leaves the United States. B. Nettie keeps writing letters, hoping her sister will one day read them. III. Shug’s story is about a strong independent woman who was once the town whore and seeks love from men and helps Celie find love and courage to live on her own. Shug’s father did not want her to sing sinner’s music. B. She is known as a whore, but she presents herself as a strong and determined woman . In the novel The Color Purple, Alice Walker creates a woman who faces struggles and hardships as a child and as an adult. This story is narrated by Celie, the main...
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...COLOR PURPLE: LIFE OF CELIE Margaret Njigua Northshore Community College Psychology 118 Professor Stanga April 14, 2014 The Color Purple is a novel that was written in 1982 by Alice Walker. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name. Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on the life of women of color in the southern United States and addresses numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture. Born in 1895, Celie who is the main character was raised on a farm in a small town in Georgia where formal education took a back seat to physical labor and household maintenance, and the Church was the main focal point of socialization among local town members. The Color Purple chronicles the startling tragedy and triumph of Celie in her struggle for self-empowerment, sexual freedom, and spiritual growth in the early twentieth century. Its winter 1909 and Celie is fourteen years old. Her step-father, who she thinks is her real father, sexually and verbally abuses her. He impregnates Celie and she gives birth to a girl, whom he steals...
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...The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, is a story that follows an uneducated black woman, Celie, during her life, through her suffering and attempts to find love and happiness in life. Celie seeks to gain power over herself and struggles to from the power of her father and her husband Mr.___ – later known as Albert. Shug Avery a friend and lover help her get the power. The message in The Color Purple is that there are certain qualities a woman needs in order to avoid being treated wrong. In order to avoid being treated wrong woman need to be brave and sometimes would have to do things that could cause fights. Having support will lead to being treated right since people are there for you when you need it. Another way is having hope. Hope prevents ending life! Women’s main objective is to be brave so no one treats them wrong! At first, Celie was treated badly by everyone and was scared of men in the book “He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church. I may have got something in my eye but I didn’t wink. I don’t even look at mens. That’s the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I’m not scared of them. Maybe cause my mama cuss me you think I kept mad at her. But I ain’t. I felt sorry for mama. Trying to believe his story kilt her”(Walker,5). Celie is basically scared of men because all her life she has been beat by men. This makes her not look at men because she sees them as evil since they all treated her bad. When someone takes action from being harassed, abused...
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...Throughout the novel “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker Celie’s life is filled with abuse and struggle to be loved as an equal. She gains confident with the help of the women in her life that are not afraid to speak their mind in response to injustice. These women and the past hardships Celie had to face allowed her to understand why she needs to be confident in herself. As a person that has experienced similar events, I can relate to Celie’s struggle for confidence. This is why, abuse can fill a person’s life with sorrow and unhappiness,and as a result, the hardships faced enable one to become stronger and more independent. In the novel, Celie faces injustice as a women and as a person. She is constantly being beaten by her dad and her...
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...Beteckning: Humanities and Social Sciences Double Oppression in the Color Purple and Wide Sargasso Sea. A Comparison between the main characters Celie and Antoinette/Bertha. Ingela Lundin 2008 C-essay English Literature Supervisor: Dr Maria Mårdberg Examinator: Dr Helena Wahlström Table of Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose and main questions ............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Method and material......................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Theoretical approach ........................................................................................................ 2 1.4 Previous research – an overview ...................................................................................... 3 1.5 Introducing the novels ...................................................................................................... 4 2. A comparison of the double oppression in the two protagonists’ marriages.................. 6 2.1 The diminishing and isolation of Celie and Antoinette/Bertha........................................ 6 2.2 The upholding of the white man’s norm ........................................................................ 14 Conclusion..........................................................
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...Cody Stetson Mr. Nester AP Writing/English 12 3 March 2015 The Color Purple Feminism in women's movements has been a prominent impact that revolutionizes women's rise for independence and equality amongst men. The ideology of feminism is shown rather often in various works of literature, through various different literature time periods. The way it is depicted in these novels can often include other various objective prejudices, such as racism or sexism. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, depicts the same ideology, along with those extra prejudices, throughout the endeavors of her more prominent characters, such as Celie or Shug Avery. Walker's novel is a prime representation of the vocalization of women's true voices throughout the gender differences that plagued them and their entirety. Celie is a prime example of how unruly prejudice and direct insults can be on a woman of her time. She was portrayed as a character that is always quiet, never outspoken, lacking self-confidence, and is considered to have an appearance like that of a hag-woman, for men and women alike never compliment her for her own looks or features. Men like Alphonso and Mr. ____ only see Celie as yet another object in their lives, and treat her with the same respect as the whites did slaves during societal times before hers. The treatment of women in this novel as well as the absurdity and abuse from the men that correlate to this novel can directly be assumed by most female characters and their...
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...In American the American novels of The Color Purple and The Scarlet Letter, the protagonists in each book face harsh conditions in their life. These difficulties arise from their community and their marital life. In times of trouble, these characters sought refuge from the cruel treatment of both their communities and their husbands. But both characters had different forms of refuge. Hester shut herself off from the community of Boston, while Celie confided in her close female companions to help pilot her life. These perspectives of refuge reap different results. The characters of Hester Prynne and Celie share similarities in their marital life, both character’s husbands are cruel and heartless people. But, the characters differ in social...
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