The Color Purple

The theme of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is very straightforward and simple. Like many other novels devoted to the mistreatment of blacks and black women especially, The Color Purple is dedicated to black women’s rights. Much of the narrative in Walker’s novel is derived from her own personal experience, growing up in the rural South as an uneducated and abused child. In short, the goal of this book and indeed all her writing is to inspire and motivate black women to stand up for their rights. Celie, the main character, undergoes an inner transformation, from a submissive, abused wife to an unabashedly confident and independent black woman and businesswoman. There are other more secondary themes, such as the rejection of the traditional, Christian, "white-man's" God. Thanks to the influence of Shug Avery and Nettie, a new age kind of God is developed and is a great comfort to all three women. Even Celie's last letter is written to this vague kind of god-- a god of nature and stars and people.
There are other more secondary themes, such as the rejection of the traditional, Christian, "white-man's" God. Thanks to the influence of Shug Avery and Nettie, a new age kind of God is developed and is a great comfort to all three women. Even Celie's last letter is written to this vague kind of god-- a god of nature and stars and people. The reader is struck by the colloquial, black-southern language of the text, as well as the graphic scenes of sexual abuse. Celie writes her story in the form of letters addressed to God. It seems she can trust no one else with her secrets. Soon Celie’s mother dies, leaving her to tend to the family. The pattern of abuse from Alfonso, usually described as “he,” continues, eventually leaving Celie twice pregnant. Her first baby is taken by Alfonso and killed, while her second child seems to have been sold by her stepfather. Celie hides all this from her dying mother however, saying that God took the children. Eventually Alfonso