The Color Purple Passage Analysis Essay
Maya Kennedy
10/24/14
English AP
The Color Purple by:Alice Walker Genre:
● Epistolary novel, confessional novel
Historical Text:
● By this time in history slavery was long outlawed but its effects were still felt heavily by those African Americans still living in the southern United States.
Segregation was imposed strictly, and entire black populations lived “isolated from white society”. They “had to sit in separate parts of movie houses, drink out of separate fountains, and could not eat at white lunch counters”. Even churches were segregated. The jobs that most African Americans held were as sharecroppers, working on large farms that were still owned by the families that had used slave labor decades before.
Protagonist: …show more content…
● Celie~she is a poor Africa American women is the victim of domestic violence and low self esteem. The novel centers on celie`s development from a struggle and unaware adolescent to a mature emotional sound and politically aware women has discovered how to love her.
Antagonist:
● Celie~ antagonist are all the hardships that she must overcome in order to gain her self esteem. she must over come the interracial conflict, specifalyy sexists oppression, within her family. Her father who rapes her and impregnates her and then by her father. Who virtually sells her. Her husband albert beats her and forces celie to have sex with him. Both men impress upon her that she is a lowly human being.
Brief:
● Celie Johnson as she struggles through life in the early 1900`s. The story starts of with celie about 14 years old, giving birth to her second child by her father. Her father takes the second second child away and tells her never to tell anyone about this. Time passes and local farmer “mister” (Albert Johnson) comes by to marry celie`s younger sister Nettie. Her father refuses and gives him Celie instead.Mister neglects and abuses Celie. When mister is unable to lure Nettie her sends her away, leaving Celie more alone than ever. Shug Avery comes to vist and befriends Celie helping her to understand that she is more than Misters servant, Celie leaves the threat that everything he touches will fall apart until he does right by her. mIster finds Compassion and does right by her, and helps celie find her sister thats been in Africa with her two sons that Celie father took away.
Theme:
● The power of Narrative and voice
● The power of strong female relationships
● The cyclical Nature of Racism and sexism
Significant Literary Element:
● Motifs
● Letters~ The letter writings form to emphasize the power of of communication.
Celie writes to God and Nettie writes letters to Celie. Both sisters gain strengths from their letter writing , but they are saved only when they receive responses to their letters. Although writing letters enables self expression and an audience.
When Celie never responses to Nettie letters, Nettie feels lost because Celie is her only audience.
● The Rural Farm Communication~ Alice sets most of her novels in a rural farm community that she has few visitors and she focuses on colorful portraits of each of her characters. Walker readers public events almost irrelevant events from the outside world. The unspecific time and place broadening the novels scoupe its making it`s theme more universal.
Journal Entry 1
Letter 1
Celie writes letter to god at the beginning of the novel. Clearly this letter is to God is not a prayer. On the other hand despite the sexual violence describes in the letter, there is nothing excessively melodramatic about the letter style. She writes the letter to God in much way that she would write to, or speak to, a good, close, loving friend. Alice Walker written these letters in black folk language. Talking to her friend “God” Celie uses the words “breast’’, “vagina” and “his thing” without any sense of embarrassment. These words are the only words that celie knows for these terms. Celie is an innocent young girl who has been sexually abused by her father and now she is confused as to why it happen to her. The reason why Celie writes to God is that she would like to tell her mother but her father threatened her “saying if you tell your mammy i`ll kill her’’.Sexual violence should not be rewarded to a “good girl”. She asks God for a sign, to let her know what's is happening. She feels that she1s being punished that somehow she's to blame, and she doesn't understand why. She hopes that a sign from God will explain why she`is suffering from rape, incest, and so much sudden responsibility. Celie of course, doesn`t know this only that she is struggling to endure to hold on during the
crisis. She is troubled and in terrible pain, and is deeply confused. Therefor she writes to someone she can trust which is God asking for understanding and explanation.
Journal Entry 2
Analysis of Major Character: Celie As a young girl Celie is constantly subjected to abuse and told she is ugly. She decided therefore that she can best ensure her survival by making herself silent and invisible.
Celie`s letters to God are her only outlet and means of self expression. To Celie God is a distant figure, when she doubts cares about her concerns. Celie does little to fight back against her stepfather Alphonso. Later in life when her husband , Mr__, abuses her she reacts in a similar passive manner. However, Celie latches on to Shug Avery a beautiful and seemingly empowered women as a role model. After Shug Avery moves into Celies and Mr__`s home, Celie has the opportunity to befriend the women she loves and to learn, at least how to fight back. Celie takes the act of Sewing which traditionally thought of mere chore for women who are confined to a domestic role
Journal Entry 3
Passage Analysis “He beat me today cause he say i wink at a boy in church.
I may have got somethin in my eye but i didn't wink. I Don't even look at men. Thats the truth I look at women, tho cause im not scared of them… Sometime pa still be looking at Nettie, but i always git his light. Now i tell her to marry Mr.___. I Don't tell her why. I say marry him, Nettie and try to have one good year out of your life. After that, i know she be big, but me never again.
A girl at church say you git big if you bleed every month, i don`t bleed no more.” (page
6)
This passage is important because Celie just so casually mentions that her Pa beats her for doing something so simple and for the something she didn't even do. This Is a common occurrence in the story. She also mentions that she doesn't look at men, which is reflected in the book when she falls in love with Shug Avery. Celie thinks men are frogs and hse is not interested in them. It is also extremely important that she points out the bleeding. Celie can no longer have children and she realizes this there. Celie wants Nettie to marry Mr___ because she doesn't want her to end up the way she has live the life she has had to …show more content…
live.
Journal 4
Quoted Text Harpo say” I love you Squeak” he kneel down and try to put his arms round her waist. S he stands up. “My name Mary Agnes” she says. This is from Celie`s forty first letter. Squeak has just returned from an unsuccessful attempt to release Sofia from prison. The prison warden raped Squeak and she returns home. However, Squeak is not defeated and she makes an important act of resistance when she decides to reject the belittling nickname “Squeak” that Harpo has imposed her upon her. Alice Walker repeatedly stress the importance of language and storytelling the first steps towards liberation . Just as Shug Avery Renames Celie a virgin and just as Celie reverses Mr__`s words to say ” I`m pore, I'm Black, I may be ugly and can`t cook, but im here” Mary Agnes renames herself to show her refusal to let the man in her life gain interpretive control over her.
Journal Entry 5
Character Analysis: Mr__
Although Mr.
__’s development is not the subject of the novel, he undergoes just as significant a transformation as Celie does. Mr. ____ initially treats Celie as no more than an object. He beats her like an animal and shows no human connection, even during sex. He also hides Nettie’s letters to Celie from Celie for years.Mr. _____’s harsh treatment of Celie spurs her development. Celie’s discovery of Nettie’s letters begins her first experience with raw anger, which culminates in her angry denunciation of Mr.
____ in front of the others at dinner. Celie’s newfound confidence, instilled in her by
Shug, inspires her to react assertively and forcefully to Mr. ___’s abuse.When Celie returns from Tennessee, she finds that Mr. ____ has reevaluated his life and attempted to correct his earlier wrongs. Mr. ____ finally listens to Celie, and the two come to enjoy conversing and sewing together. Mr. ____ eventually expresses his wish to have an equal and mutually respectful marriage with Celie, but she declines.
Overview
It was a beautiful story that made you want to cry, laugh and smile along with the characters. Well put together plot line, the characters were people you could really
feel for and identify with. I loved the humanness of it all, way different stories were intermingled with each other and how you felt closure at the end of it all. I learned that you should really have respect in your self and even appreciate yourself more because you only have one life and you have to make the most of it. You should have to put up with violence and learn to stand up for yourself and what's right. And learn to make new friend and the companionship of a female women goes a long way. I also learned this book was probably made about little after the slave period ended. but it stilll had some racism in.
10/24/14
English AP
The Color Purple by:Alice Walker Genre:
● Epistolary novel, confessional novel
Historical Text:
● By this time in history slavery was long outlawed but its effects were still felt heavily by those African Americans still living in the southern United States.
Segregation was imposed strictly, and entire black populations lived “isolated from white society”. They “had to sit in separate parts of movie houses, drink out of separate fountains, and could not eat at white lunch counters”. Even churches were segregated. The jobs that most African Americans held were as sharecroppers, working on large farms that were still owned by the families that had used slave labor decades before.
Protagonist: …show more content…
● Celie~she is a poor Africa American women is the victim of domestic violence and low self esteem. The novel centers on celie`s development from a struggle and unaware adolescent to a mature emotional sound and politically aware women has discovered how to love her.
Antagonist:
● Celie~ antagonist are all the hardships that she must overcome in order to gain her self esteem. she must over come the interracial conflict, specifalyy sexists oppression, within her family. Her father who rapes her and impregnates her and then by her father. Who virtually sells her. Her husband albert beats her and forces celie to have sex with him. Both men impress upon her that she is a lowly human being.
Brief:
● Celie Johnson as she struggles through life in the early 1900`s. The story starts of with celie about 14 years old, giving birth to her second child by her father. Her father takes the second second child away and tells her never to tell anyone about this. Time passes and local farmer “mister” (Albert Johnson) comes by to marry celie`s younger sister Nettie. Her father refuses and gives him Celie instead.Mister neglects and abuses Celie. When mister is unable to lure Nettie her sends her away, leaving Celie more alone than ever. Shug Avery comes to vist and befriends Celie helping her to understand that she is more than Misters servant, Celie leaves the threat that everything he touches will fall apart until he does right by her. mIster finds Compassion and does right by her, and helps celie find her sister thats been in Africa with her two sons that Celie father took away.
Theme:
● The power of Narrative and voice
● The power of strong female relationships
● The cyclical Nature of Racism and sexism
Significant Literary Element:
● Motifs
● Letters~ The letter writings form to emphasize the power of of communication.
Celie writes to God and Nettie writes letters to Celie. Both sisters gain strengths from their letter writing , but they are saved only when they receive responses to their letters. Although writing letters enables self expression and an audience.
When Celie never responses to Nettie letters, Nettie feels lost because Celie is her only audience.
● The Rural Farm Communication~ Alice sets most of her novels in a rural farm community that she has few visitors and she focuses on colorful portraits of each of her characters. Walker readers public events almost irrelevant events from the outside world. The unspecific time and place broadening the novels scoupe its making it`s theme more universal.
Journal Entry 1
Letter 1
Celie writes letter to god at the beginning of the novel. Clearly this letter is to God is not a prayer. On the other hand despite the sexual violence describes in the letter, there is nothing excessively melodramatic about the letter style. She writes the letter to God in much way that she would write to, or speak to, a good, close, loving friend. Alice Walker written these letters in black folk language. Talking to her friend “God” Celie uses the words “breast’’, “vagina” and “his thing” without any sense of embarrassment. These words are the only words that celie knows for these terms. Celie is an innocent young girl who has been sexually abused by her father and now she is confused as to why it happen to her. The reason why Celie writes to God is that she would like to tell her mother but her father threatened her “saying if you tell your mammy i`ll kill her’’.Sexual violence should not be rewarded to a “good girl”. She asks God for a sign, to let her know what's is happening. She feels that she1s being punished that somehow she's to blame, and she doesn't understand why. She hopes that a sign from God will explain why she`is suffering from rape, incest, and so much sudden responsibility. Celie of course, doesn`t know this only that she is struggling to endure to hold on during the
crisis. She is troubled and in terrible pain, and is deeply confused. Therefor she writes to someone she can trust which is God asking for understanding and explanation.
Journal Entry 2
Analysis of Major Character: Celie As a young girl Celie is constantly subjected to abuse and told she is ugly. She decided therefore that she can best ensure her survival by making herself silent and invisible.
Celie`s letters to God are her only outlet and means of self expression. To Celie God is a distant figure, when she doubts cares about her concerns. Celie does little to fight back against her stepfather Alphonso. Later in life when her husband , Mr__, abuses her she reacts in a similar passive manner. However, Celie latches on to Shug Avery a beautiful and seemingly empowered women as a role model. After Shug Avery moves into Celies and Mr__`s home, Celie has the opportunity to befriend the women she loves and to learn, at least how to fight back. Celie takes the act of Sewing which traditionally thought of mere chore for women who are confined to a domestic role
Journal Entry 3
Passage Analysis “He beat me today cause he say i wink at a boy in church.
I may have got somethin in my eye but i didn't wink. I Don't even look at men. Thats the truth I look at women, tho cause im not scared of them… Sometime pa still be looking at Nettie, but i always git his light. Now i tell her to marry Mr.___. I Don't tell her why. I say marry him, Nettie and try to have one good year out of your life. After that, i know she be big, but me never again.
A girl at church say you git big if you bleed every month, i don`t bleed no more.” (page
6)
This passage is important because Celie just so casually mentions that her Pa beats her for doing something so simple and for the something she didn't even do. This Is a common occurrence in the story. She also mentions that she doesn't look at men, which is reflected in the book when she falls in love with Shug Avery. Celie thinks men are frogs and hse is not interested in them. It is also extremely important that she points out the bleeding. Celie can no longer have children and she realizes this there. Celie wants Nettie to marry Mr___ because she doesn't want her to end up the way she has live the life she has had to …show more content…
live.
Journal 4
Quoted Text Harpo say” I love you Squeak” he kneel down and try to put his arms round her waist. S he stands up. “My name Mary Agnes” she says. This is from Celie`s forty first letter. Squeak has just returned from an unsuccessful attempt to release Sofia from prison. The prison warden raped Squeak and she returns home. However, Squeak is not defeated and she makes an important act of resistance when she decides to reject the belittling nickname “Squeak” that Harpo has imposed her upon her. Alice Walker repeatedly stress the importance of language and storytelling the first steps towards liberation . Just as Shug Avery Renames Celie a virgin and just as Celie reverses Mr__`s words to say ” I`m pore, I'm Black, I may be ugly and can`t cook, but im here” Mary Agnes renames herself to show her refusal to let the man in her life gain interpretive control over her.
Journal Entry 5
Character Analysis: Mr__
Although Mr.
__’s development is not the subject of the novel, he undergoes just as significant a transformation as Celie does. Mr. ____ initially treats Celie as no more than an object. He beats her like an animal and shows no human connection, even during sex. He also hides Nettie’s letters to Celie from Celie for years.Mr. _____’s harsh treatment of Celie spurs her development. Celie’s discovery of Nettie’s letters begins her first experience with raw anger, which culminates in her angry denunciation of Mr.
____ in front of the others at dinner. Celie’s newfound confidence, instilled in her by
Shug, inspires her to react assertively and forcefully to Mr. ___’s abuse.When Celie returns from Tennessee, she finds that Mr. ____ has reevaluated his life and attempted to correct his earlier wrongs. Mr. ____ finally listens to Celie, and the two come to enjoy conversing and sewing together. Mr. ____ eventually expresses his wish to have an equal and mutually respectful marriage with Celie, but she declines.
Overview
It was a beautiful story that made you want to cry, laugh and smile along with the characters. Well put together plot line, the characters were people you could really
feel for and identify with. I loved the humanness of it all, way different stories were intermingled with each other and how you felt closure at the end of it all. I learned that you should really have respect in your self and even appreciate yourself more because you only have one life and you have to make the most of it. You should have to put up with violence and learn to stand up for yourself and what's right. And learn to make new friend and the companionship of a female women goes a long way. I also learned this book was probably made about little after the slave period ended. but it stilll had some racism in.