The Underlying Themes In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Life is not always fair, and in The Color Purple the main character, Celie, writes out her brutal life experiences in the form of letters to God and her sister Nettie. Set in the early 1900’s of the deep South, Alice Walker details the inspiring redemptions that embody the power, for black women especially, to be heard and respected during a time period where racial and gender discrimination were at its peak. Cause and effect, dialogue, and characterization support the underlying theme that Alice Walker conveys throughout the entirety of her work. The theme is that you have the right to live a happier ending in spite of a troubling past. These literary devices illuminate this theme by showing how unbreakable many of these characters turn out
to be. The experiences that these characters suffer through is what many of them owe to their redemption and it can be seen through cause and effect. For example, Harpo feels pressured to abuse Sophia the way his father abuses Celie in order to feel accepted by him. “Harpo ast his daddy why he beat me. Mr._ say, Cause she my wife. Plus she stubborn.” When Harpo tested out this commonly accepted domestic violence it only backfired. Sophia later left him a lonely man but they eventually reconciled their relationship and loved each other unconditionally without the outside pressure of suggested gender roles. Harpo learned the hard way of losing his one true love. Another example is the way Shug managed to adjust Celie’s dismissing attitude about God that later aids to her outlook on life as a whole. Celie’s idea of God is a white male who she personally feels disconnected with. Shug disapproves her theory and brings to light all the good things God surrounds them with. He suggests that instead of associating God with a specific gender or race, she should rather see God as an “it” or something that Celie can connect with. This encourages Celie to find this presence within every person and everything. Shug’s influence on Celie’s relationship with God had an everlasting effect on her outlook on life, self-esteem, and friendships by giving her the capability to stop and smell the roses. The words and suggestions exchanged between some characters, or dialogue, deliberately exhibit the novel’s theme by showing how some characters are able to break free and renew themselves.
Celie’s confrontation with Mr._ in front of everyone at the dinner table can be seen as one of Celie’s most inspiring moments. Although ironic in the end, this moment is very defining for her because she finally spoke her mind. “Took me long enough to notice you such good company, he say. And he laugh He ain’t no Shug, but he begin to be somebody that I can talk to.” Her ability to come face to face with self-actualization occurred when she finally stood up for herself after an entire lifetime of domestic abuse. Also, the fact that he is now somebody that she can connect with shows how much they were both able to grow without resentment. Considering the fact that men were people that she once hated, she can now see eye to eye with one that gave her so many reasons to dismiss him. Shug is a friend that Celie shared endless memories, lessons, experiences, and intimate moments with and although she cannot say the same about Mr._, she, at least, looks him as a decent guy. Another character who stood up for herself is Harpo’s new wife that he nicknamed “Squeak” who he used as a doll to regularly practice domestic violence on prior to his reconciliation with Sophia. In spite of that, Squeak made an unsuccessful attempt to release Sophia from prison. Instead, she returns home broken and defeated since the prison warden beat her and raped her. Squeak showed a huge amount of strength by resisting male oppression when she back talked Harpo at dinner. “ Harpo say, I love you, Squeak. He kneel down and try to put his arms around her waist. She stand up. My name is Mary Agnes, she say.” Clearly, Squeak was tired of Harpo belittling her with an offensive nickname such as that, but there is more meaning among her words and actions than what is on the surface. She stood up not only to Harpo,
but to everyone who thought they could continue to hurt her, use her, and belittle her. This is the type of strength that illuminates within characters such as Nettie, Shug, and Sophia who have resisted such treatment. Squeak and Celie both redeem themselves in such a surprising way that evidently proves how one is able to prosper in the end. Instead of allowing their hardships to break them, they let them make them; using it as motivation to become something that nobody saw coming.
Characterization is a device that best anchors the theme of The Color Purple. Celie is the protagonist that undergoes the greatest amount or change throughout the novel. She has been abused by two men who were supposed to love her but instead used her. In the beginning, admitted in her writings,“I don't even look at mens. That's the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I'm not scared of them.” In the long run, however, she is lucky enough to genuinely befriend others, and smile proudly in the end. “I’m pore, I’m black, I may be ugly and can’t cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I’m still here.” She proudly recalls some nasty things that several people have said to her as she's preparing to leave Mr._ and also embodies the theme Alice Walker successfully conveys. Without even realizing it, she molds into the beautiful, smart, and independent woman that many people said she could never become. Her stepfather Alphonso and Mr._ have both mentally, sexually, psychologically, and verbally abused her in such a way that, at first, made her believe she was worthless and disposable. In fact, several people, like Shug who ended up loving her in the end, even called her ugly until they came in contact with the true beauty that beams within her. It is incredibly difficult to remain mentally sane after experiences such as Celie’s but she was able to break through into something rather than “nothing at all.” A character who contrasts many characteristics of Celie is her sister Nettie that she shares an incredible and unbreakable bond with. Unlike Celie, Nettie demonstrated her acknowledgment of self-worth when she resisted the awful domestic abuse that Celie endured throughout most of her life. Her ambitious and courageous attitude foreshadows the relieving future that she not only worked for but was also blessed with. Celie is lucky enough to read all about it as Nettie takes on an insightful life experience in Africa.
Fortunately, many of the characters lived a happily ever after. The cause and effect, dialogue, and characterization developed by Walker created a novel with such a profound theme. It serves as evidence to show how people have the right to live a happy life in spite of a troubling past like Celie, Nettie, Harpo, Sophia, and even Mr._. These characters encounter countless events that would make any person in their right mind depressed or resentful. Instead, they all become aware that all of the gifts God blessed them with outweigh the negative factors in their lives. The happy ending finishes off as Celie reflects on the touching fourth of July evening writing, “And I see they think that me and Nettie and Shug and Albert and Samuel and Harpo and Sofia and Jack and Odessa real old . . . But I don't think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt.”