The Color Purple

Alice Walker

#4

          I read this book attempting to follow Nabakov's advice about avoiding emotional attachments to the characters with the idea that these relationships would distract me from other aspects of the book. I'm not sure how successful I was with this goal, considering how much I was moved by both Celie and Nettie's hardships throughout their lives apart from one another (one in Africa, one in the South in the US). Until recently, many, if not most, of the books I read "independently" provide entertainment and jumping off points for self-and worldly- reflection. However, I do realize this book was meant as another point of practice for our newly developing reading skills, and I think I was at least partially successful. Besides my investment in the characters' well being, I was able to stay away from concerning myself in the historical fact of the novel. Part of what drew me in was that it was that The Color Purple was set in such an interesting setting and time period-- one I really didn't know much about. However, while reading I removed myself from focusing on the occasional mention of political or social conflict. Finally, even though I decided not to write a specific blog post about them, I spent more time that I normally would contemplating the significance of minor characters in the story such as Tashi, Catherine, or Mary Agnes, to name a few.

          Something I want to wrap up and dig deeper into with this book is our main character's outlook on men. In my first blog post I began to analyze the reason she leaves certain names out of her story-- all of which correspond to men she has slept with or men that hold power over her (the two line up perfectly, which I doubt was overlooked by the author). In my third I attempted to decode her sexuality and how that effects her actions and thoughts towards males throughout the majority of the story. I think the two are even more interconnected than I thought and began to look into at the end of #3-- so much so that gender roles are worth discussing here as a focus of the novel.

         Keeping an eye out for more on this topic as I finished up this book, I finally hit the jackpot near the very end of the story. During a visit to town from Memphis, Albert asks Celie, "Celie, tell me the truth. You don't like me cause I'm a man?" Celie responds with "Take off they pants, I say, and men look like frogs to me. No matter how you kiss 'em, as far as I'm concern, frogs is what they stay" (254). An allusion to the typical 'Princess and the Frog' story, Celie seems to be confessing that she was so hurt by rape and sexual abuse as a young woman that no love, care, or masculinity (by means of pants) would ever cover up the male characters' past actions. Celie was told by Albert early in their marriage that only men wear pants, and I think there's no coincidence that Celie finally supports herself and finds her independence through sewing--a women's job-- but with a distinctly male result--trousers. Both this confrontation and career lead me to believe that Alice Walker works to create situations in the novel where gender roles blend together in a setting where they are so easily separated. Even Nettie writes descriptions and comparisons of how girls and women are treated in her African community, but Walker is consistent in her subtle blurring of the lines between male and female. Celie and Shug's relationship's sexual ambiguity is another example of this, along with Harpo and Sofia's pull and push throughout the novel.

          The Color Purple is a fantastic read for anyone looking to analyze the power of women working together to overcome prejudice and adversity, the racism experienced in the deep South not long after slavery was abolished, or even the importance of personal voice in a world where you are so often drowned out. Anyone can find something heart-wrenching in a story like this one, but what makes this book so special is the timelessness of sisterly separation and the drive to know more, do more, and be more. For being such a quick read, it weighed heavy in my thoughts during the day, and I mean this in the best way possible. I whole-heartedly encourage you to read this book, on the grounds that I promise you'll enjoy yourself and I'll be ready to talk about it with you when you read that last page.

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

#3

          For a while, reading this book, I couldn't make up my mind if the narrator and main character, Celie was attracted to males or females. She had made subtle comments throughout the beginning of the story that she was never attracted to men and had never felt real pleasure during sex with any of them. However, it isn't until Shug Avery is introduced that Celie has something pushing her to really think about what or who she wants. Shug not only explicitly talks to Celie about still being a virgin because she had never had an orgasm, but is a woman who draws Celie's eye. While I questioned if Celie was simply fond of Shug and appreciative of her help with how Albert treats her, the comments have been building upon themselves so much that it seems like Celie is indeed sexually attracted to women (or at lease Shug Avery).

          Some examples of these comments are when she thinks Shug "looks like a real good time" and has her "eyes glued there [to Shug's bosom] too" along with all the men. There is even a scene, no matter how brief, where Celie and Shug spend the night together when their husbands are out of the house and it is insinuated that they sleep together. Celie has also made many comments about her jealously when Shug and Albert, her own husband, sleep together- but none are in reference to her husband.
         With this evidence it seems obvious that she is lesbian, at the very least for Shug, but I think the reason it took me so long to recognize this is because Shug was described as someone to whom everyone was attracted. She is a showgirl with one of the biggest voices in the South and was pulling people in miles to hear her sing. She is described as wear short and low cut gold and red dresses. Celie references her large bust and glowing skin a number of times, but, at least at first, like they were common knowledge. The fact that Shug also ends up somewhat taking care of Celie after Nettie leaves also poses the possibility that Celie simply cares about her deeply as a friend, not a love interest.
         As I said before, even with this wariness, I have concluded that the evidence is far greater that she is lesbian that not. Assuming I have made the right call, this opens up a really interesting discussion about the fact that Celie now is not only facing difficulty and adversity because of her age, class, and gender, but also because of her sexuality. This is obviously something she would never "come out with" since she hasn't even given it much thought herself, but its easy to say this might have something to do with her relationships towards men. In my first blog post I talked about her indifference towards them and the acceptance in how they treat her. Maybe she does this so readily, at least for the first half of the book, because she simply has no want to impress them, feel equal with them, or bond with them as the result of not being sexually attracted to them. I am interested to see if she develops any other love interests, and whether or not they are male or female, later in the story. Also, it would be interesting to see her self-reflect on if she, or her society, have any views on homosexuals and if she ever explicitly defines her sexuality.

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

#2

          I have reached about the halfway point in The Color Purple and am at a giant shift in the format of the book. Up until this point, Celie addresses all the starts of the chapters "Dear God." On page 117 she refers to a letter from Nettie, her sister who ran away earlier in the story, and lays it out for the reader. We soon find out that in the five years that have passed Nettie wasn't completely gone or dead, but actually writing and sending letters to Celie that were intercepted by Albert, Celie's husband. The change comes on page 126, where she not only continues to read letters Shug helped her steal back from Albert, but starts the section with Nettie's "Dear Celie." This continues and she eventually even starts to send letter back addressed, "Dear Nettie." This brings up a really interesting topic to discuss; why were her initial 'letters' addressed to God and what is her relationship with him?

          Starting at the beginning, the preface discusses Celie's relationship with God of essentially addressing her life story to Him. It claims that this book is not about Celie's desperation to hear back from the Ultimate Creator and gain reassurance about her awful situation. Instead, it suggests to the reader that these repetitive allusions to God are there to highlight Celie's initial spiritual captivity that she might break through and accept her importance and meaning in the Divine world and the grounded one. Maybe the breakthrough that the preface refers to is the moment that just passed-- when she realizes her dearest sister and friend had been writing to her this whole time and that their only separation came from Albert's bitterness and hostility. She spends a good portion of text describing her anger at her husband and how she starts small revolts against him. She even mentions that she feels like Sofia, a change we would have never imagined Celie to even attempt. The fact that she significantly changed in character and changed the format of her writing at the same time doesn't seem like a coincidence. 

          It's possible this is the beginning of Celie taking more control of her life, and leaving her constant contact with God out of the remaining portion of the book -- something, for the record, I don't really know is true at this point -- is another representation of that. While standing up for herself more against her husband, she might also realize that more people are there for her and love her than God. One of Nettie's early letters to Celie even talks about these 'shadow letters' to Him and refers Celie being so ashamed of her life that she couldn't even "talk about it to God" and "had to write it." I am hopeful, with my possibly inappropriate emotional attachment to Celie, that this is a breaking off point for her to gain some strength in her life. I am excited to continue reading and see if the literal letters continue, or if she defaults back to "Dear God" and how that also looks in her character development. 

The Color Purple
Alice Walker
#1

          The novel, The Color Purple, focuses on a child wife in the South and her relationships with her family members, two children, and husband. Her name is Celie and she is immediately oppressed, from the moment her mother became too sick to continue her 'responsibilities' within the household. This not only included feeding the younger children, working in the fields, but also providing sex for her mother's husband- or her father. Along with an incestuous relationship with her father, he also beat her and worked her to the point of insomnia. Celie had been attempting to learn basic skills such as reading and writing with her sister, Nettie, but she was soon married to another man in the town and developed a very similar relationship with him as her father. Nettie was his original goal for a wife, but she soon left the town for other opportunities- a rough parting for the siblings' relationship. Celie only found any relief from beatings and uncomfortable sexual encounters when her husband, who is never named- something I’ll address later, when he took in Shug Avery, the local slut and performer. She had always loved him, and he her, so when she came down with a “nasty woman disease” he took her into the house. Celie helped her recover, and as she became stronger, he focused on his supposed love- Celie slept peacefully once again.

            Now that you’re caught up on how she was forced to live her life, it will be interesting to inform you, and attempt to gain some understanding about her outlooks on the male population in her town. Throughout at least the first third of the story, Celie refers to almost ALL of the men as “Mr. _________.” There is nothing to distinguish between her father, her husband, and any other man, like some she meets in church. From the very beginning Celie refused to name them or acknowledge them as separate people. The only male figure she ever names is Harpo, her husband’s son who is, at this point in the book, newly married to a strong woman named Sophia. They recently separated.

            It seems to me like the author’s choice to purposely omit a name’s distinguishing quality was to create the idea that to Celie, all these men served the same purpose and did the same things. Celie views all of these men as miles above her and as people who are in the right when they beat her, give her orders, and rape her. She thinks it is normal and just “what goes on.” Leaving out their names separates them from the reader and makes their relationship with the reader impersonal. I think that Harpo is an exception from this rule because he, at least at first and without influence from his father, is truly in love with his wife and refuses to beat her. Showing an exception from the “Mr. _______” rule highlights the fact that she is purposely grouping the self-righteous and misogynistic type of male figure in her head, not simply all of the men in the book.