The Color Purple (Movie Tie-In): A Novel

"Whatever else The Color Purple has been taken for during the years since its publication, it remains for me the theological work examining the journey from the religious back to the spiritual that I spent much of my adult life, prior to writing it, seeking to avoid." So begins the preface by Alice Walker. It is indeed a most interesting theological journey on which Ms. Walker takes her protagonist, Celie, as she begins writing to God at age 14. Set in Georgia in the 1930s, Celie is the eldest child in a poor black family, her mammy is ill, and her father begins sexually abusing her. By the 2nd letter, her mammy is dead, and she is pregnant. This is not a pretty story but it is a thoroughly intriguing one; a story about courage and strength, relationships and estrangements, family and not family. It is the story about a connection so strong it can survive torment and hatred, distance and death. It is the story of coming to grips with who God may be and how He connects with people. This whole story is told through letters. In the beginning, Celie writes about her life to God, partly to practice her writing since her father won't let her go to school any more as she is with child. She does her best to protect her younger sister, Nettie, from her father but when Mr. ______ , comes courting Nettie, her father refuses to let him have her; he insists Mr. ______ take Celie instead. She has borne 2 children, a boy and a girl, and both of them have disappeared. Mr. ______ treats Celie no better than her father did -- he beats her, plus she has all his children from his first wife to take care of, as well as the work in the fields to do. When Nettie tries to escape her father by coming to Celie, Mr.______ thinks he'll have his way with her; when he's refused, he says she'll have to leave. That's the last Celie hears from her for many years, yet they stay just as close in their hearts and minds as though they were never parted. When Celie gives up on God, she directs her letters to Nettie. Her return to the idea of God comes from a surprising source. This epistolary novel won the Pulitzer in 1983 and has been acclaimed for how it deals with many issues facing black women in the south in the 30s -- racism, sexism, and gender-blurring. But none of these issues was Ms. Walker's purpose; they were simply the setting in which her theological journey took place. While each of her characters are vividly different, each brings a rich component to the story as they envy, challenge, support, or encourage each other in the complicated extended family relationships that evolve around Celie. I'm a bit late coming to this book and haven't seen the movie yet, but it's on my to do list. I've heard great things about the movie (starring Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey) and have seen some scenes on the Internet but it was pretty disjointed, so I'm looking forward to seeing the actual movie on DVD. The book, however, was spell-binding and, if you haven't read it yet, you should add it to your list. (The story contains some blunt language about sexuality.) Amazing!

Booked arrived fairly quickly - approx. 3 to 4 days or so. When I opened the packaged, there were very minor, minor rips and tears at the bottom of the cover because of how it was packaged/handled. Overall pretty good and was the cheapest I found for this book.

Everyone has a story to share- this is the purpose of the story The Color Purple by Alice Walker. One aspect that makes this novel interesting is the aspects shared by characters in the book and people in Alice Walker’s life. These similarities are seen by Celie’s sister Nettie, Pa and the main character Celie. The purpose of this novel is seen in the backstories of the characters in the The Color Purple. The story begins with the backstory of Celie. It tells about her physical abuse by her Pa, leading to a future dislike for men, and her unfailing love for her sister Nettie. The book then proceeds to tell the stories of Celie and her sister Nettie and show the effect their past has had on their presents. An example would be the abuse to Pa and her husband Albert leading to her hate for men and “passion” for women. Throughout the story God is show as Celie’s salvation and a safe haven for her. We learn that Celie sees God as a white man with a beard and since Celie is having some trouble with men she starts to have some problems with God as well. This is until Shug tells Celie that “God is whatever you see it as.” God is neither man nor woman, white nor black. God is everything and everything is God. The idea of God being a salvation is also shown in the life of Nettie, Celie’s sister, as she becomes a missionary in Africa. After leaving home, Nettie’s life takes a completely different turn than Celie’s. While Celie is stuck is an loop of never ending abuse, her sister Nettie lives a fruitful life while in Africa. Although Celie and Nettie grew up in the same household, their personalities differed which could have been what led to their differing lifestyles later in life. Another way the author shows how different people’s lives can be is the shift in point of view throughout the novel. The story switches between the point of views of Celie and Nettie in the form of letters. The entrance of the novel is a letter Celie writes to God. However, Celie loses her faith from all the terrible things that happen to her and she stops writing the letters. Later on, Nettie writes to Celie in order to tell Celie of the wonderful adventures she is experiencing while in Africa. The letters are first kept from Celie by her abusive husband Albert, but after Celie discovers the letters exist, she begins to read them and write responses to Nettie. In these letters, Celie tells Nettie all about her life and the people she meets. In these letters they are essentially telling each other their life’s stories. The author wrote this novel to elaborate on the fact that everyone has a different life story and that everyone’s stories are different. This is important because life stories shape who we are and how we act. Everyone is has a different story which leads to the diversity of people and their behaviors. Overall, the author did a good job in achieving her purpose and it made this novel a good read.

I loved how the character's writing evolves visibly alongside the girl. This is about feminism, racism, sure, but it's mostly about life, what it's like to go through it, with a certain time and a certain point of view she makes it universal: it's a cry to embrace it.

大学の授業で使うために購入しました。お安い値段で手に入ったのでありがたいです。