Review of The Color Purple by Alice Walker

One profound character of this book is Shug. She is a woman whom all men loved in a fearful way. She danced, sung, laughed, and owned her story. She is the type of woman whose fierceness taught other women to be bold in advocating for themselves. She was deeply fierce in love as well and her affection taught Celie that her nose was not just a nose, neither was her kinky hair just hair or her blackness, just race. Shug invested in Celie’s sowing skills and renowned Celie’s name with power by believing in her. This is what feminism means to me.

TITLE: The Color Purple
AUTHOR: Alice Walker
GENRE: Fiction
NUMBER OF PAGES: 300
PUBLISHER: Mariner Books; 1 edition (2003)
ISBN: 978-0156028356
 
A MASTER PIECE THAT WILL NEVER GROW OLD OR WITHER
Out of my fascination about the first few pages of The Color Purple, I paused, then watched the film version in which Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg acted. The flawless production allowed me to envision the war against sexism that women had to fight when the men struggled with racism in the 1900’s of America. Alice Walker’s novel was funny and moving both in the movie and in the text. I cried and laughed. It is a story about African American lives, slavery, and patriarchy from the perspective of a woman, Celie who connects every other character with her brutal experience. The Color Purple, was written in form of letters from Celie, to God, and to her sister; Nettie who was forcefully separated from her at a young age.

I particularly love The Color Purple, because it celebrates a group of women who infected each other with bravery, success, and style. These women found their voices at different times and used it to defend each other against patriarchy and slavery. Another theme I found was “love” and how it invades our uncertainties, pain, and loss, with hope. How we could find ourselves like Celie did, because of the love that another person shows us unconditionally.

One profound character of this book is Shug. She is a woman whom all men loved in a fearful way. She danced, sung, laughed, and owned her story. She is the type of woman whose fierceness taught other women to be bold in advocating for themselves. She was deeply fierce in love as well and her affection taught Celie that her nose was not just a nose, neither was her kinky hair just hair or her blackness, just race. Shug invested in Celie’s sowing skills and renowned Celie’s name with power by believing in her. This is what feminism means to me.

Alice Walker’s master piece is one that will never grow old or wither in time and I am extremely glad that I read it.

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