analytical essay about the color purple

Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”: The Analysis Essay

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Introduction

Summary of the book, main characters, main themes, reference list.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is an epistolary novel about African-American women in the southern United States in the 1930s. It addresses some crucial issues, such as segregation and sexism. This work was adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985 (Bay et al. , 2015, p.169). More than that, The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983.

The novel is written as a series of letters, that are not dated, and has a fascinating and thought-provoking plot. Its name comes from a character’s words, “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it” (Walker, 1982, p. 196). Walker writes in an uneducated language and southern style to create the atmosphere of an impoverished area and develop complex relationships between the main characters and the themes mentioned above.

The protagonist of the novel is Celie, a fourteen-year-old abused black girl who lives in Georgia and addresses her letters to God. Her father, Alfonso, repeatedly rapes his daughter and forbids her to tell anybody about what happened, except for God. Then, Alfonso marries Celie off to Mister Albert after her mother’s death. However, married life is also complicated and painful for the girl, as she has to bring up Albert’s children, do all of the housework, and suffer misery and hardship from him.

After Celie’s marriage, her younger sister, Nettie, gets the opportunity to leave her father’s household and move to Mr. Albert’s house. However, Celie’s husband kicks Nettie out after a while as she refuses to satisfy his sexual demands. Nettie promises to write to her older sister, but after she leaves, Celie does not receive any letters from her. The protagonist’s life changes only when Albert’s deathly ill mistress Shug appears in his home so that Celie will take care of her. Soon after Shug’s arrival, they fall in love with each other. For the first time, Celie can enjoy emotions, sex, and friendship.

Celie and Shug manage to find out why there was no news from Nettie for several decades. Mr. Albert appears to hide all of Nettie’s letters in the locked trunk. When the main character reads her sister’s letters, she opens up a new world and realizes all the abuses that she has suffered from her husband. That is why she decides to leave him and start a new life with Shug in Memphis. Furthermore, Celie learns that Alfonso is not her biological father and that her younger sister lives with the Reverend Samuel and his family in Africa. The girl also finds out that now she owns a house where Alfonso lived till his death.

In the end, Celie reunites with her sister, who returns from Africa with her husband Samuel and Celie’s children and maintains a close relationship with Shug. Besides, she keeps in touch with Mr. Albert as he changed a lot. Now Nettie and Celie are inseparable and happy so much that Celie writes that she has never felt so young before, though she is an old woman.

Celie is the protagonist of the book, who the author portrays as a victim through most of the novel. Her father and her husband rape her, she is deprived of any freedom and human rights, and she cannot take care of her children. The only person Celie loves – her younger sister Nettie – is also taken away from her. When she meets her husband’s mistress Shug Avery, a tipping point is reached. Shug encourages Celie to rebel against Mr. Albert and leave him. Celie becomes more self-confident and realizes all the extent of hardships she has suffered. More than that, thanks to Shug, she learns to love, feel emotions, and enjoy her life.

Nettie is Celie’s younger sister, who Mr. Albert is firstly interested in, but then, he agrees to marry Celie. Nettie is an educated and intelligent girl who loves her older sister very much. Nettie escapes from her father’s household to live with Celie. However, later, she has to leave because Mister tries to assault her. Nettie goes to Africa with the Reverend Samuel and his family as a maid. Throughout her travels, she writes regularly to Celie, but her older sister does not receive these letters because of her husband. Nettie returns to America with Samuel and two Celie’s children thirty years later.

Mr. Albert, Celie’s husband, is a character, who also experiences changes in his personality aside from Celie. In the beginning, he considers his young wife only a servant and “exercises socially superior power and gets benefit from the unpaid labor provided by Celie” (Abbasi and Hayat, 2017, p.184).Mr. Albert loves Shug, but he cannot marry her because of the public’s opinion. Besides, Mr. Albert hides Nettie’s letters from Celie and prevents their communication. In the end, he reconsiders his life and views and tries to forge relationships with Celie and other people.

Shug Avery is a famous blues singer and strong woman, who becomes a friend and, eventually, a lover to Celie. She teaches Celie to struggle and be independent and confident. Shug’s biggest problem is that she cannot stay with one person and does not have stable romantic relationships. Though sometimes Shug is also mean and selfish, she inspires people around her, brings entertainment, and becomes the protagonist’s loved one.

Violence, racism, sexism, and femininity are among the central themes of the novel (Lewis, 2017). In The Color Purple, readers can see how differently Afro-American female characters react to hardships and maltreatment. Celie is submissive; she suffers violence from her father and husband repeatedly and shuts down emotionally, while other female characters try to protest against abuse. Alice Walker also emphasizes the role of female relationships and their opportunities to fight for rights and challenge male oppression and dominance.

The novel The Color Purple raises crucial and global issues, such as women’s role and their discrimination by men in the twentieth century. Alice Walker illustrates the harassment a black woman has to go through, but she also demonstrates how a woman can struggle for self-confidence and respectful treatment. The Color Purple is a story about female strength, resistance, and fight, all fueled by love.

The Color Purple is an impressive piece of American feminist literature. Walker tells the readers about the lives of impoverished and humiliated women and considers complex social relationships. She uses different means to depict the atmosphere and the environment of the 1930s, such as the black folk language, and the first-person narrative. Despite being widely criticized for the use of language, The Color Purple has its actual historical background and continues to occupy readers’ minds nowadays.

Abbasi, M. and Hayat, M. (2017) ‘Marxist feminist critique: the socioeconomic position of Afro-American women in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple ’, Journal of Social Sciences , 8(2), pp. 180-200.

Bay, M. et al. (2015) Toward an intellectual history of black women. North Carolina: UNC Press Books.

Lewis, J. (2017) ‘Gender, race, and violence: a critical examination of trauma in The Color Purple ’, Sacred Heart University Scholar, 1(1), pp. 24-38.

Walker, A. (1982) The color purple . San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”: The Analysis." December 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/alice-walkers-the-color-purple/.

The Color Purple

Introduction to the color purple.

The Color Purple is a letter or epistolary style message. It was published in the United States in 1982. The book met with a lot of controversies due to its thematic strands. Alice Walker , the writer, also hit the new heights of fame when the novel won Pulitzer the very next year followed by National Book Award with various offers for adaptions. The twisted story of Celie and Nettie takes place in the rural areas of Georgia in the United States during the decade of 30s around the Great Depression. The novel has made it to the list of the 100 best novels of all time. In 2003, the book appeared on the BBC’s The Big Read poll of the UK’s “best-loved novels!”

Summary of The Color Purple

Two African American sisters after bearing the impact of the wrath of their stepfather, Alphonso, are waiting for some assistance. Celie, the elder one, hits upon the idea of writing letters to God to save her siblings. All her efforts, however, go in vain as she becomes pregnant with her stepfather, who had already abused her once. Now she gives birth to her first son, Adam, whom Alphonso takes from her, and causes her to be pregnant the second time, giving birth to a girl, Olivia. Yet, Alphonso again appears to abduct the baby, disappearing with her. Later, Celie learns that somebody Mister is ready to marry Nettie, who is just 12 years of age, but seeing them getting out of his clutches, Alphonso flatly rejects the proposal of Mister Albert for Nettie and accepts for Celie. However, it turned out a mismatch on account of the age differences and the brutal behavior of Mister Albert against Celie, who has to take care of his household as well as his children. Celie leads a pitiful life as she has to do everything and also be beaten and raped by Mr. Albert.

Meanwhile, not seeing any other way out, Nettie, too, joins Celie. Mr. Albert asks Nettie to reward him if she wanted to stay in the house. So, Nettie escapes but is followed by Mr. Albert.  However, Celie presumes that Nettie is dead. Shortly after that Mister’s son, Harpo marries Sofia after having impregnated her. Despite his father’s fierce resistance to their marriage, he not only marries Sofia but also has five children from her. Yet, Sofia never becomes submissive before Harpo; rather she makes him dance at her tunes despite Celie’s instigations to Harpo, who finally submits to his father instead of his wife but when he again confronts Sofia, she not only retaliates but also confronts Celie for causing this instigation, making her seek an apology and join hands with her against the brutal duo.

Soon Mister takes another lady, Shug Avery, and brings her home, causing Celie to fall to her charms. Despite his father’s estrangement, Mister succeeds in having her at his house after making his father believe that her children are actually his own. Celie, meanwhile, becomes her nurse and befriends her. On the other hand, not seeing Harpo becoming good anymore, Sofia finally leaves him, while Harpo arranges a juke point for Shug to sing after which she becomes closer to Celie. When Harpo hooks Squeak, a new girlfriend, Sofia suddenly visits and thrashes her despite enjoying life with a fighter. The police attack her brutally after breaking Mary’s teeth, sending her behind the bars for 12 years.

Squeak, taking pity, asks Hodges, the sheriff for her release, but is raped by him after which she takes care of Sofia’s household. Sofia is released after some time. On the other hand, Shug helps Celie know about her sister, Nettie whom Mister has been keeping at a secret place. She comes to know later that she has gone to African with a couple, Corrine and Samuel, after they have adopted her son, Adam, and daughter, Olivia. However, Corrine becomes suspicious about her husband’s relationship with Nettie and tries to place restrictions on her.

On the other hand, Nettie, too, discloses her disillusionment of preaching in Africa after which she again prods Samuel of the adoption of Olivia and Adam after which she comes to know about the reality of Alphonso, her stepfather, and the past of her real father. She, then, informs him about her relationship with the children as their aunt. It soon happens that Nettie starts becoming religious, impacting Celie whom Shug advises about the existence of God. Then all three, Shug, Celie, and Squeak join hands to end patriarchal oppression. Soon Alphonso breathes his last, leaving everything for Celie, while Shug marries Germaine, causing worries to Celie who still loves her.

Meanwhile, Celie learns about the edification of Mister whom she starts calling Albert yet she rejects his proposal. She leaves Albert and curses him while doing so. When Celie comes to know about Shug having left Germaine, she also feels that she can live without him. Celie starts living a financially comfortable life and Shug returns and decides on retirement. Nettie, on the other hand, marries Samuel and comes back to America , while Adam and Olivia, too, become adults after which Adam marries an African American girl. Celie ends the story with a letter on how happy she is at the moment!

Major Themes in The Color Purple

• Religion: The Color Purple shows its theological thematic strand through the presence of God who is abstract as well as dependable in the beginning but highly ambivalent and unresponsive after Celie does not feel invigorated on account of her marriage. However, this perspective quickly changes when she meets Shug who teaches her how to feel loved by God instead of considering the physical persona of God as in colors; white or black. This divine perspective not only challenges the traditional social thinking about God but also sets a new pattern to see God through the blessings a person is blessed with. Shug’s thinking seeps into her soul so much so that she learns to appreciate her own pleasure and the world around her. Therefore, this transfusion of God from a physical to ethereal personality and then into something spiritual living in her goodness inspires her to learn about things religious in nature through her own understanding.
• Creativity: Creativity is another dominant theme of the novel. The African American community , considered not intelligent in the matter of spoken or written language correctly, is represented by Celie, Shug, and Nettie using that language efficiently to communicate philosophical and abstract ideas. However, this is shown in their own accent, style, dance, and gestures. Celie expresses this creativity through her letters written to God, while Shug makes her understand the same theological outreach through her songs and dance. Similarly, Nettie continues to write letters to her sister, despite their unresponsiveness. This shows human communication and creativity which does not stay dormant even in the face of discrimination and subsequent oppression and suppression.
• Hope: The novel also highlights the theme of hope despite the worst circumstances like Celie and Nettie have to go through. Celie thinks that even if she has children from her stepfather, they need to have a good future for which she finds Samuel and Corrine very loving due to their religious zeal. She believes that Nettie’s help in educating them will secure them a good place in society that they could not achieve otherwise. That is why Olivia works very hard, the reason that the theme of hope appears at various other places too, such as through Doris Baines, a white preacher. His passion for educating his family is based on the good hope for the future, while Eleanor Jane’s love for Sofia, too, is based on the hope that she would bring up her son as a good man
• Femininity: The novel presents the theme of femininity through its strong female characters who were put into very vulnerable situations and shown coming out victoriously with hope and resilience. Celie becomes a paragon of resilience despite being abused by her stepfather and giving birth to two children from him. It is because she does her best not only to save her children but also her younger sister, Nettie. Similarly, she sides with Sofia to hound Harp and when the chance arises, she switches sides to save Sofia or bring Sofia to her side. Also, it shows that the feminine sympathy also wins support when it is anti-patriarchy, the reason that Sofia finally overpowers Harpo. Shug also shows the same resilience as well as dominance when it comes to the assertion of herself. Similarly, Nettie constantly writes to her sister to make her aware of her condition, while Sofia’s sisters assist her by taking care of her kids when she is in jail .
• Color: TThe theme of color is prominent mostly through the female character of Shug about whom Alice Walker uses colorful terms. She also wears colorful dresses to look seductive, while her gifts comprise yellow and bright colors. This color contrast continues even when both Celie and Kate are on a shopping visit in the case of which Mister’s choice seems dominant to them. Even the songs written by Mary show the dominance of color, yellow, in her tunes and notes. Following this consciousness of colors, Mary Agnes also thinks about them seeping and creeping into her skin.
• Relationships: The novel shows the thematic strand of relations and forming relations. Celie, though, initially suffers psychological, sexually, and physically at the hands of her stepfather, soon learns this skill and marries Mister, an aged man. When Sofia comes to marry her stepson, Harpo, she forms a deep relationship with her and the same goes with Shug. By the end, she learns to experience love and set up her independent business. Similarly, the story also sheds light on twists and turns in relationships such as Sofia’s fight for dominance over Harp and Shug’s likeness for Celie.
• Racism: The theme of race and racism is obvious in the title of the novel and also from the background of the characters. Although there is hardly any white character, the life of Celie in the Georgian rural setting and the life of Nettie in the far-off African village show that racial discrimination is marring the social life of Cellie, Nettie, and Sofia as well as Harpo and other male members. The consciousness thinking about being a dark-skinned girl having low status constantly reverberates in the mind of Celie, while Sofia, too, suffers from her low status and ends up in prison for injuring Mary Agnes
• Violence and Suffering: The book shows the theme of violence and suffering as part of the lives of African American families. Not only the African Americans are suffering at the hands of white people such as in the case of Sofia, but they also suffer at the hands of their co-colors such as Celie becoming the victim of sexual abuse and physical distress of her stepfather, an African American male. Shug, too, faces the same fate, though, both join hands to stand up to this atmosphere of torture.
• Self-Discovery: The novel suggests the thematic strand of self-discovery through Cellie, Shug, and Nettie. Celie comes to know her power after she gets freed from the clutches of Mister, while Shug comes to know it after becoming friendly with Celie. Celie also helps Sofia while Nettie comes to know the power of familial love through her assistance to Celie’s children.

Major Characters of The Color Purple

• Celie: Celie is the main character and the protagonist through whose eyes the readers see the world of the novel. As a 14-year old young girly having caught in the clutches of her stepfather, Celie didn’t know how to get rid of this snare until she learns the power of her sexuality yet she has to save her children as well as her young sister, Nettie, from her stepfather. As time passes, she learns to live with Mister, she is wedded with, as well as hopes for the best from God whom she writes directly. After having been awakened by the life experiences, she learns the power of discourse as well as gender and uses it upon Harpo, her stepson, and his wife Sofia, as well as Shug, her female counterpart whom she starts loving. By the end of the novel, she learns about religion, spirituality as well as the power of religion and language in human lives. The journey that she takes from a young and innocent girl to a mature and confident lady, however, does not prove a smooth ride for her.
• Nettie: Nettie is Celie’s younger sister. She’s loyal, honest, and intelligent girl, who immediately makes her way out of the stepfather’s virtual prison after coming to know his predatory behavior. After exploiting her educational capability and opportunity, she leaves for African for preaching with the passion to help her family siblings even if she is away from her sister and proves a good ward for Adam and Oliva, Celie’s siblings. Although Samuel proves a blessing in disguise for her, she has her independent thinking and experience that she demonstrates in her diary entries.
• Alfonso: Often referred to as Pa or Fonso, Alfonso appears in the novel in the early pages and becomes an obsession and stigma for Celie as well as Nettie, though both of them call him Pa. As a symbol of an overbearing patriarch, he not only succeeds in raping Nettie during her early years but also succeeds in silencing Celie, stopping her from writing letters. A selfish predator, he marries Celie to Mister, stopping Nettie’s marriage with the obvious purpose of using her later. Later, he marries Shug Avery and enjoys good life when his son, Harop, marries Sofia. Later, it is proved that he is not their real but stepfather when some white person had killed their real father. He dies by the end of the novel.
• Mister: Referred as Albert in the novel, Mr. ——-or Mister is a handsome person who marries Nettie and loves Shug Avery but never marries her. He has set social and conventional barriers in the domestic life of Nettie by stopping her from communicating with her sister. Although by the end of the novel he comes to his senses of having an overbearing attitude toward women, he still stays almost the same and hands over the letters of Nettie to Celie after taking life seriously.
• Harpo: Despite his sensitive nature and loving attitude toward Celie, Harpo is obsessed with his mother and does not see her as a replacement. That is why he could not get along with Sofia. Later, Celie has to guide him. His consultation with his father plays havoc with his conjugal life including some advice from Celie after which he loses heart and continues living at Sofia’s will.
• Shug Avery : Shug is significant in the novel on account of her Honeybee Queen character as she becomes Celie’s mother-in-law but treats her freely as she becomes fascinated with her looks. Outrageous yet courageous, she takes Celie under her wings and impacts her through her singing popularity. Despite some drawbacks in her character, she displays confidence that Celie as well as Harpo like in her. In fact, she proves a fresh gale of the breeze in the dry household of Mister, bringing money and entertainment.
• Sofia Butler : Sofia Butler is significant character in the novel. She marries Harpo, the son of Mister, and her relationship with Celie and Shug. A domineering lady, she constantly depends on Harpo in a way that Celie has to intervene to advise Harpo on how to handle her. A girl of a fiery temper, she breaks the teeth of Mary Agnes, stays in jail, and comes out again to cause awe and fear among other ladies of the area. What makes her stand tall among other characters is her indomitable spirit and her will to despise white people.
• Aunt Odessa : Aunt Odessa is also significant. She is Sofia’s sister who has a strong impact on Harpo, Mister’s son, who marries Sofia, and becomes her stooge. She immediately comes to support Sofia when she finds her behind bars after causing injuries to Mary.
• Mary Agnes: Popular as Squeak, Mary Agnes appears on the scene when Sofia leaves for prison. Sofia knocks out her teeth when she shows her attitude after Harpo shows his inclination toward her.
• Old Mister: Albert’s father, Old Mister appears only once, and after berating his son, he disappears. It is he, who causes a stir in the household but brings Albert and Celie close to each other.

Writing Style of The Color Purple

The Color Purple is very vague, disorganized, and disjointed on account of the flashbacks from Celie’s letters. However, when the readers reach halfway through the book, they find the storyline connecting the important dots. This makes it a complete story having all the characters related to each other and helping each other. As the characters are mostly African Americans, they use sub-standard colloquial English which also has been used in the letters. Sentence structure, too, suffers due to this use of colloquial language comprising slang , cliché s, metaphors , and similes.

Analysis of the Literary Devices in The Color Purple

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the life of two African American sisters, Celie and Nettie, with their stepfather and other relations. The falling action occurs when Pa leaves this world, leaving the house for Celie to take care of. The rising action occurs when Celie comes to know about God and the power of sexuality.
• Anaphora : The examples of anaphora from the book are given below, i. He took it. He took it while I was sleeping. Kilt it out there in the woods. Kill this one too, if he can. (p. 09) ii. An now when I dream, I dream of Shug Avery. She be dress to kill, whirling and laughing. (p. 13) iii. How good you look. Don’t she look good, Harpo? Harpo stare at me like he never seen me before. (p. 200) These examples show the repetitious use of “took it”, “kill this”, “I dream” and “look”.
• Allusion : The novel shows a good use of different allusions. Two examples are given below, i. So these Olinka people heard about Adam and Eve from the white missionaries and they heard about how the serpent tricked Eve and how God chased them out of the garden of Eden. (p. 252) ii. But really white white people lived somewhere else during those times. That’s why the bible says that Jesus Christ had hair like lamb’s wool. Lamb’s wool is not straight, Celie. It isn’t even curly. (p. 122) Both of these examples show biblical allusions; the first point to the story of Adam and Eve and the second to Jesus Christ.
• Antagonist : Pa is the antagonist of the novel as he appears to have tried his best to destroy Celie not only physically but also mentally and psychologically.
• Conflict : The novel shows both external and internal conflicts. The external conflict is going on between Celie and Pa and then Celie and Mister, while the internal conflict is going on in the mind of Celie about her status in the world, the reality of God and religion, and the role of the male members in the family.
• Characters: The novel has both static as well as dynamic characters. The young girl, Celie, is a dynamic character as she shows a considerable transformation in her behavior and conduct by the end of the novel. However, all other characters are static as they do not show or witness any transformation such as Pa, Mister, Olivia, Shug, and even Nettie.
• Climax : The climax in the novel occurs when Celie resolves to join Shug Avery to leave her husband due to his being involved in hiding her sister Nettie’s letters from her.
• Epigraph : The below sentence is an example of an epigraph , i. Show me how to do like you Show me how to do it. (Stevie Wonder) These lines occur in the song of Stevie Wonder. They show how Alice Walker uses it as the epigraph of her novel.
• Foreshadowing : The novel shows many instances of foreshadows. A few are given below, i. I am fourteen years old. I am I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me. (p. 08) ii. My mama dead. She die screaming and cussing. She scream at me. She cuss at me. I’m big. I can’t move fast enough. By time I git back from the well, the water be warm. (p. 09) The use of the words “happening” and “die” shows that Celie is going to confront brutalities in life.
• Hyperbole : Below are the examples of hyperboles, i. She bout ten thousand times more prettier then me. I see her there in furs. Her face rouge. Her hair like somethin tail. She grinning with her foot up on somebody motocar. Her eyes serious tho. Sad some. (p. 13) ii. She got a fine house in Memphis, another car. She got one hundred pretty dresses. A room full of shoes. She buy Grady anything he think he want. (P. 104) iii. When us went to town to hear the will read yesterday, you could have knock me over with a feather. Your real daddy owned the land and the house and the store. He left it to your mama. (p. 223) Both of these examples exaggerate things as beauty , dresses, and shoes, including the role of a feather, have been exaggerated.
• Metonymy : The novel has also used metonymy . A couple of examples are given below, i. We will fight the white man, they said. But the white man is not alone , said the chief. He has brought his army. (p. 157) ii. Man corrupt everything, say Shug. He on your box of grits, in your head, and all over the radio. He try to make you think he everywhere. Soon as you think he everywhere, you think he God. But he ain’t. (p. 181) iii. Then the old devil put his arms around me and just stood there on the porch with me real quiet. (249). This example shows the white man has been used for the white people, while the man has been used for all the male members of society.
• Metaphor : The Color Purple shows a good use of various metaphors. A few examples are given below, i. Harpo so black he think she bright, but she ain’t that bright. (36) ii. So and so is blacker than black, he’s blue black.” They are so black, Celie, they shine. Which is something else folks down home like to say about real black folks. (129) These examples show that several things have been compared directly in the novel such as the first shows comparing black to bright and the second black to blue or blue-black and then to a shiny thing.
• Mood : The novel shows various moods; it starts with a somber and tragic mood but turns out to be reassuring and hopeful by the end.
• Motif : Most important motifs of The Color Purple, are skin color, religion, and letters.
• Narrator : The novel is narrated from the first person point of view , who happens to be Celie, the protagonist of the novel.
• Personification : The novel shows examples of personifications such as, i. She so mad tears be flying every which way while she pack. (p. 27) ii. I think my heart gon fly out my mouth when I see one of her foots come poking out. (p. 49). iii. Adam has a special aptitude for figures and it worries Samuel that soon he will have nothing more to teach him in this field, having exhausted his own knowledge. (p.52) iv. And words long buried in my heart crept to my lips. (p. 218). These examples show as if the tears, heart, knowledge, and words have lives and emotions of their own.
• Protagonist : Celie is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with her birth and moves forward as she grows young and becomes a lady.
• Repetition : The below sentences are the few examples of repetition , i. You got to fight. You got to fight. (p. 23) ii. Your skin. Your hair. Your teefs. Everyday it something else to make miration over. First she smile a little. Then she frown. Then she don’t look no special way at all. She just stick close to me. She tell me, Your skin. Your hair, Your teefs. He try to give her a compliment, she pass it on to me. After while I git to feeling pretty cute. (p. 24) iii. I’ll tell them what to do with their bloody road and their bloody rubber plantations and their bloody sunburned but still bloody boring English planters and engineers. (p. 211) iv. Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees , dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God. (263) The novel shows a lot of repetitions as shown by these examples such as “You got to fight”, “your”, “bloody”,” and then “dear.”
• Rhetorical Questions : The novel shows a good use of rhetorical questions at several places. Two examples are given below, i. Plus What about the scandal his wife cause when somebody kill her? And what about all this stuff he hear bout Shug Avery? What bout that? I ast our new mammy bout Shug Avery. What it is? I ast. She don’t know but she say she gon fine out. (p. 13) ii. What about all them funny voices you hear singing in church? Shug say. What about all them sounds that sound good but they not the sounds you thought folks could make? What bout that? Then she start moaning. Sound like death approaching, angels can’t prevent it. (p. 108) This example shows the use of rhetorical questions posed but different characters not to elicit answers but to stress upon the underlined idea.
• Setting : The setting of The Color Purple is a small village in Western African and a rural area of Georgia in the United States.
• Simile : The novel shows a good use of various similes as given in the below examples, i. But she’ll make the better wife. She ain’t smart either, and I’ll just be fair, you have to watch her or she’ll give away everything you own. But she can work like a man. (p. 8). ii. Well, brother must like black. Shug Avery black as my shoe. (p. 20). iii. The people live like ostriches, never setting foot on the new road if they can help it, and never, ever, looking towards the coast. (p. 157) These are similes as the use of the word ‘like’ shows the comparison between different things.

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Themes and Analysis

The color purple, by alice walker.

'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker is a great novel with powerful stories and themes that are relevant across continents and generations. The novel also has inspirational symbols like the phrase of the title which symbolizes beauty in nature.

Article written by Onyekachi Osuji

B.A. in Public Administration and certified in Creative Writing (Fiction and Non-Fiction)

Alice Walker tells a great story and teaches numerous lessons in The Color Purple . She also uses an interesting narrative style of letter writing to narrate the entire story. Below is an in-depth analysis of some of the themes and symbols in the novel.

Gender is the major theme in The Color Purple . We see the dynamics of gender from different dimensions. Also, we see race, religion, and an array of other themes. Let’s explore some of these themes.

Gender Inequality and Injustice

In The Color Purple , we see the unjust treatment of females by males, subjugation of women by the society, and also women sabotaging their fellow women.

There is the vulnerable girl child that is preyed upon, abused, and raped by cruel individuals in the family units. For instance, we hear Sofia’s melancholy words, as quoted from ‘ The Color Purple’ :

a girl child ain’t safe in a family of men Sofia to Celie (page 41)

Celie’s life is a testimony of the sad truth of the above words by Sofia. We see young Celie who is repeatedly raped by her stepfather from so early an age that as a teenager, she has been impregnated twice. Then her stepfather marries her off without her consent and her husband continues the vicious cycle of abuse that her step-father began.

Then we see in the novel, stereotypes, cultural practices, and beliefs that are created to subjugate women in society. This is most notable in the village of Olinka where the essence of a woman’s existence is in getting married to a man and becoming the mother of the man’s children. In the words of an Olinka mother to Nettie :

A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband does she become something An Olinka woman to Nettie when asked why they do not send their daughters to school (page 171)

The people of Olinka do not permit females to go to school or act independently, there must be a man at every point in her life to “look after” her.

We also see an indication of a patriarchal society that subjugates women in the beliefs and actions of most of the male characters. For instance, when Harpo as a boy is asked by his aunt Kate to help with chores around the house, Harpo replies that ‘Women work. I’m a man’, which shows that he has been trained to believe that chores are only for females and that as a male he is entitled to be in the house without helping out with chores.

Gender Solidarity

The Color Purple is emphatic with the message that women should support their fellow women and that women’s support for each other helps them thrive as individuals and gives them the power to overcome their struggles.

This is most notable in the support and friendship between Celie and Shug Avery, Celie and Nettie, Celie and Sofia, Shug Avery and Squeak, and between the women of Olinka.

Celie cared for Shug Avery when she was sick and her care was instrumental in nursing her back to life. Shug on her part, teaches Celie a new concept of religion that empowers her, and encourages her to leave Albert and begin a business of her own, without the friendship of Shug, Celie’s redemption as an individual might have taken longer to achieve or might not have happened at all. It was Shug who helped Celie control her instinct to murder Albert and helped her direct her energy to something productive. It was also Shug that brought Nettie’s hidden letters to Celie and the loving words in Nettie’s letters contributed to Celie’s healing as an individual.

In Olinka, the women have camaraderie and friendship with each other, even among women that share the same husband and these women work together and care for each other, often excluding their husbands in this friendship.

Sofia’s sister Odessa takes Sofia in when Sofia leaves her marriage and also cares for Sofia’s children when Sofia goes to prison. Sofia encourages Squeak to pursue her singing career and offers to look after Squeak’s daughter in Squeak’s absence which also shows gender solidarity.

Gender Stereotypes

Another theme on gender in The Color Purple is that the traditional gender stereotypes for men and women are wrong and often hinders individuals from doing things that make them happy and from being productive.

Albert reminisces on his love for sewing as a youth but how he was forced to abandon sewing because folks made fun of him for doing a chore that they believe is meant for women.

We also have Alice Walker rebuffing some notions of masculinity and femininity through events in the novel. On page 326, Albert describes Shug’s qualities of being upright, honest, speaking her mind without caring what people think, and fighting for her happiness as being ‘manly’. And he also admits that Sofia shares those same qualities. Celie replies that those qualities are rather ‘womanly’ qualities especially since he and his son do not have those qualities and the people that are known to have those qualities are Shug and Sofia who are women.

Walker also deals with the dressing stereotypes for men and women in The Color Purple , fighting the notion that wearing pants is a dressing meant for men alone.

Race is another key issue . The Color Purple gives an unobtrusive depiction of racial discrimination against blacks , particularly in the South of the USA.

The mayor’s wife does not realize that her patronizing treatment of blacks is condescending. The mayor’s wife sees a clean and respectable-looking black woman with a car and her well-dressed children, and instead of her admiration for them to inspire respect, it inspires in her the desire to have the black woman come to serve as her maid.

Sofia’s response of “Hell No” to the mayor’s wife leads to assault by the mayor and by a large group of police officers because it is almost inconceivable for a black woman to talk back sharply at a white woman.

In the USA at the time, there were separate sections for whites and blacks in public trains, which was a glaring indication of racial discrimination.

Beauty standards of the time also reflect a prejudiced notion of being black. For instance, Albert’s sister Carrie does not agree that Albert’s deceased wife, whom Kate described as beautiful was actually beautiful just because Albert’s deceased wife had a dark complexion. Also, Tashi observes that from pictures of women she saw in western magazines, it was clear that the people of America did not like dark-skinned women.

Another pitiable indication of racial discrimination is the case of Squeak, who is biracial and who was asked to act like a white lady in order to plead Sofia’s case with the prison warder but who unfortunately was raped as the prison warder recognized her as a biracial lady and not as a white. This shows how blacks are regarded by the privileged whites.

One of the religious lessons The Color Purple teaches is that God is not restricted to the traditional image of the Christian God. That God can be found everywhere and in everything.

Celie was writing letters to the Christian image of God, to which she felt no connection to and nothing in her life improved until she changed her perception of God and began to feel free and powerful.

Nettie, who went to Africa on a mission to convert the roof leaf-worshipping villagers of Olinka into Christendom, later became confused about what was the true image of God between Jesus Christ and the roof leak.

Tact and Survival

Another theme in The Color Purple is the importance of tact in survival. Walker was passing the message that sometimes one condones unpleasantness in order to avert worse outcomes, especially in situations where one is dealing with people who wield more power than oneself.

Celie was tactful in acting docile in the face of abuse because she was a vulnerable child that had no one to protect her, and she was not powerful enough to protect herself. So she condoned abuse without resistance in a bid to survive.

Sofia is a strong woman and a fighter but lacks tact, for which she paid a great price.  She was not tactful in her reaction to the mayor and his wife, and this got her to respond with indignation at the mayor’s wife’s request that she serve as a maid and to retaliate against the physical assault by the mayor, an action which stripped her off twelve years of her freedom and made her lose out on her children’s growing up. She later learned tact the hard way as she began to conduct herself as a submissive and well-behaved prisoner even though underneath that docile exterior, she was furious enough to kill.

Alphonso, though a villain, was tactful enough to avoid being lynched like Celie’s father by using a white person to run his business and by reaching certain compromises with the powerful whites in his area of business.

Imperialism and Exploitation

Alice Walker did some expositions of the exploitative motivations of the Western world in Africa. In The Color Purple , we see how the more powerful countries of the world will always exploit and destroy the less powerful countries and that sometimes, these exploitative motives are disguised as philanthropy, development, or benevolence.

She talks about England looting valuable artifacts from Africa, Holland using cheap labor of Africans on questionably acquired cocoa plantations, and western capitalists’ forceful evacuation of the people of Olinka from their homes and imposing taxes on them.

Analysis of Key Moments

• Celie is fourteen years old and writing to God about being sexually abused by her father, Alphonso.
• Celie’s mother dies. Celie is pregnant for the second time and fears Alphonso will kill the child just as he killed the first one. Alphonso takes the second child away from Celie, too, without letting her know the whereabouts of the child.
• A widower called Albert comes to ask for Nettie’s hand in marriage, but Alphonso persuades Albert to marry Celie instead of Nettie, which he does.
• Albert beats, rapes, and abuses Celie in their marriage and Albert’s spoiled children give Celie a difficult time in her matrimonial home.
• Celie meets a little girl, whom her instincts tell her is her daughter, with a rich woman at a store in town. They talk, and the rich woman introduces herself as the reverend’s wife.
• Nettie runs away from home when Alphonso tries to rape her and goes to Celie
• Albert begins to make sexual advances at Nettie, and when she fights him off, he sends her away from his house. Celie suggests to Nettie to run to the rich woman she saw at the store in town and also makes Nettie promise to write her letters.
• Harpo, Albert’s son, marries a pretty and confident woman called Sofia. After a while, Harpo begins to complain that Sofia does not obey him and asks Celie for advice. Celie advises Harpo to beat Sofia.
• Sofia confronts Celie about the advice to Harpo, and Celie admits guilt and apologizes, and the two women begin to get along.
•  Albert brings home his ex-lover, Shug Avery, who is critically ill, and Celie begins to nurse her.
• Sofia complains of being unhappy in her marriage and leaves Harpo, taking their five children with her.
• Harpo converts their home into a juke joint after Sofia and the kids leave.
• Shug Avery regains her health and begins to perform at Harpo’s juke joint.
•  Sofia gets arrested for retaliating against a slap by the mayor and sentenced to twelve years in prison.
• Harpo’s girlfriend, Squeak, who is biracial, pretends to be a white lady and goes to plead Sofia’s case with the prison warder but unfortunately gets raped by the prison warder.
• Shug Avery finds out that Nettie had been writing Celie but that Albert had been hiding the letters. Celie begins to read Nettie’s letters.
• Celie learns that Nettie is on a mission in Africa and that the lady she saw at the store and her husband adopted Celie’s two children who are alive and well.
•  Shug Avery and Celie become closer as friends and eventually become lovers. Shug advises Celie to start sewing pants to distract her mind because Celie is angry and wants to kill Albert for being an abusive husband to her and for hiding her sister’s letters from her.
• Shug travels to Tennessee, taking Celie and Squeak. And while there, Celie begins to design and sew so many pants and eventually makes a business out of it.
•  Celie learns that Alphonso is not her and Nettie’s biological father but only their stepfather. She also learns that her real father was a wealthy merchant who was lynched by white people for being a business competition to them.
•  Alphonso dies and Celie discovers that her childhood home, her late father’s store, and all their other properties were left to her by her mother.
•  Nettie gets married to Samuel after his wife Corrine dies.
• Albert becomes a changed and better man and asks Celie for forgiveness, and they both become friends, although Celie refuses to stay married to him.
• Nettie returns from Africa with Celie’s children, Adam and Olivia, and they all reunite happily.

Style, Tone, and Figurative Language

Alice Walker uses letter writing to narrate the entire events in the novel. The epistolary style of The Color Purple takes on three key narrative perspectives. First is Celie’s letters to God, then Nettie’s letters to Celie, again Celie’s letters to Nettie, and the last letter is Celie’s letter addressed to “Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God”.

The diction is mostly vernacular as the main narrator Celie is an uneducated southern girl who does not know to spell so many words correctly. There are instances of her limited literacy in her spelling of words like tuberculosis as “two berkulosis” and using the pronoun “us” where “we” should be used.

Alice Walker also makes use of character foils in The Color Purple . Celie and Shug Avery are character foils. Celie is docile and subdued, while Shug Avery is vivacious, bold, and free. The characters Albert and Jack also foil each other; Albert is abusive to women while Jack is supportive of women, Albert is not a loving father even though he has children, while Jack loves and cares for children even though he has none of his own.

Analysis of Symbols

The color purple symbolizes beauty, especially beauty found in nature. When Shug says she thinks it pisses God off when one walks by the color purple in a field and does not notice, she is referring to missing out on appreciating the beauty of nature all around us(page 223). Celie goes further to ponder on the creativity it took to create the color purple when she admits that she’d been so occupied with thinking about God that she failed to notice creations like the color purple and marvels at where it comes from.

The Juke Joint is a place where people convene in the evening to relax and have a good time. It symbolizes momentary relief in suffering and togetherness. The characters, both friends and adversaries, all sought this relief and came together.

It is also a symbol of Harpo’s coming of age and independence from his father.

This is a symbol of the creativity and resourcefulness of the African-American woman. It is also a symbol of friendship, togetherness, and storytelling. For instance, Sofia and Celie began quilting after reconciling and sharing their stories with each other.

Pants in The Color Purple symbolize the gender stereotype of manliness. It then goes further to show that the quality of manliness is not fit for men alone but for women too.

Shug Avery’s love of elephants symbolizes strength, loyalty, and a nurturing quality in herself. And her love of turtles symbolizes her longevity and a hard exterior that protects a soft inner self.

Celie chooses the duck as an animal that represents her. A duck being an animal that can swim, walk and fly, it represents Celie’s quality of adaptability to circumstances around her.

What is the main theme of The Color Purple ?

The main theme of The Color Purple is Gender. The novel exposes gender subjugation and preaches gender solidarity among women. It also tries to break certain gender stereotypes about masculinity and femininity. Some other themes in the novel are race, religion, and imperialism. It talks about the racial discrimination against blacks in the United States, tries to change the notion of God as depicted by Christianity, and laments the exploitation of Africa by western countries.

Does Shug love Celie?

Yes, Shug loves Celie. She begs Celie not to kill Albert because that would make Celie go to prison and she, Shug, cannot bear the thought of losing Celie. Then she also professes her love for Celie as she asks Celie to give her a few months to indulge in one last fling and then return to her.

Why did Alice Walker name her novel The Color Purple ?

Alice Walker named her novel The Color Purple to symbolize the beauty of nature. A reference to the title is found on pages 223 and 224 of the novel, where the character Shug Avery tells the protagonist Celie that it pisses God off when one walks by the color purple in the fields and does not notice. Celie also marvels at where such a beautiful color comes from.

What does Celie do that surprises everyone at the dinner table?

Celie shouts back at Albert in outrage. The action surprises everyone at the table because Celie is known to be docile and submissive and never stands up for herself. Her outrage is a result of years of suppressed emotions as a result of the physical and emotional abuse she has suffered in her life.

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About Onyekachi Osuji

Onyekachi was already an adult when she discovered the rich artistry in the storytelling craft of her people—the native Igbo tribe of Africa. This connection to her roots has inspired her to become a Literature enthusiast with an interest in the stories of Igbo origin and books from writers of diverse backgrounds. She writes stories of her own and works on Literary Analysis in various genres.

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The Color Purple

By alice walker, the color purple study guide.

In her preface to the Tenth Anniversary Edition of The Color Purple , Walker explains: “This book is the book in which I was able to express a new spiritual awareness, a rebirth into strong feelings of Oneness I realized I had experienced and taken for granted as a child; a chance for me as well as the main character, Celie , to encounter That Which Is Beyond Understanding But Not Beyond Loving and to say: I see and hear you clearly, Great Mystery, now that I expect to see and hear you everywhere I am, which is the right place.” Clearly, this novel is Walker’s spiritual journey as well as Celie’s, which unites the two women as comrades on the journey. In fact, the whole novel focuses on the journeys of its women. Although Walker wrote the novel in 1982 and Celie’s story takes place in the early 1900s (probably 1909–1947), these women fundamentally share a common path.

The Color Purple is often used as an example of a “woman’s novel.” For Walker, womanist writing is that which focuses on African-American women in twentieth-century America. This tradition of novels tends to deal with the oppression of African-American women, not only by means of white domination but also by specific white and black males. In these novels, we often meet women who fight against all odds for their survival and for the survival of their families. In their disjointed and dislocated communities, these women are often mothers who seek to protect and bring together their families for the sake of future generations. Other notable authors who have written in this tradition include Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou. Their female characters have been kept in cages for too long and are finally learning how to sing.

These characters often focus both on protecting the present, in order to ensure a healthy future, and on dealing with the past. For instance, it has often been said that The Color Purple parodies the tradition of the slave narrative. The genre of slave narratives came about when slaves began to tell the tales of their experiences. Some six thousand former slaves gave accounts of their lives during the eighteenth and nineteen centuries. One of the most famous slave narratives is Frederick Douglass’s The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , An American Slave (1845). Both Walker’s novel and slave narratives reveal the oppression of the speaker, unearthing horrific treatment that had previously gone unchallenged.

Both also stem from the African oral traditions of storytelling and song. The Africans taken to America as slaves were usually prevented from speaking in their mother tongues (not very unlike the suppression of Celie’s speech), so they often devised alternative means of communication, particularly acting and singing. Their tales were of experiences on the plantation as well as tales from their native Africa. These stories were passed on from generation to generation and quickly became the core of much African-American storytelling. Through her storytelling, Celie ensures that her experiences as a black woman in early twentieth-century America are heard and retold for generations to come.

Although there are no specific dates given, we can discern that the novel is set at the beginning of the twentieth century, approximately between 1910 and 1940. After the abolition of slavery throughout the United States after the Civil War in 1865, African Americans still faced huge economic difficulties. By the early twentieth century, there were many more opportunities to succeed. Many received education, and many moved out of the rural South into the industrial North. Those who moved took their culture with them—the songs and the stories—and in the 1920s the Jazz Age dawned. In this environment, African-American music, poetry, and intellectual pursuits came together to form what we now know as The Harlem Renaissance.

In The Color Purple we see such changes occurring. The entrepreneurial Harpo sets up his own juke joint and brings in the already well-known blues singer Shug. Shug’s success is symptomatic of the age in which Celie writes, for she sings Bessie Smith and reflects a time anxious to enjoy itself in its own time, to forget anxiety about the past or the future. By the end of the novel, the progression of opportunity is clear, for Celie is able to set up her own business. Celie works from the same house where her father lived and worked. Thirty years earlier, her father’s life was cut short by white rivals eager to keep him down. In this new generation, however, Walker leaves us with no real concern about Celie’s chances, and we believe that Celie will continue to thrive.

When Walker published the novel in 1982, one of the most highly praised features of the book was its use of language. Mel Watkins of The New York Book Review commented that the novel “assumes a lyrical cadence of its own...The cumulative effect is a novel that is convincing because of the authenticity of its folk voice.” The language was particularly important to Walker. She later explained what happened after she sent her finished novel to a leading black women’s magazine which, she believed, probably would recognize its merits quicker than anybody else. The magazine turned the novel down, however, on the ground that “black people don’t talk like that” (Garrett & McCue, 1990, p. 229). The subsequent success of the novel exposes such totalizing statements as untrue, for it is Celie’s powerfully idiomatic voice that captures her specific situation and that of so many African Americans of her time.

The Color Purple Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Color Purple is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How are Shug and Nettie role models for Celie?

In the letter, Celie notes that she sees Nettie as a moral and intellectual role model, whereas, Shug serves as a sexual and emotional mentor. Both characters act as role models, though they do so in completely different ways.

How does Celie betray Sofia?

Celie betrays Sofia when she tells Harpo to beat her.

How does the author present female relationships?

At the start of the novel, the young, black female is presented as about the most vulnerable person in society. Celie epitomizes this female: she is abused and denied a voice by her (supposed) father and then by her husband. Along with the racial...

Study Guide for The Color Purple

The Color Purple is a book by Alice Walker. The Color Purple study guide contains a biography of Alice Walker, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Color Purple
• The Color Purple Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Color Purple

The Color Purple is an epistolary novel by Alice Walker. The Color Purple literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

• The Color Purple: Literary Techniques Employed by Alice Walker to Develop Celie's Character
• Female Marginalisation Embodied in The Color Purple and The Yellow Wallpaper
• Edith Wharton, Alice Walker, and Female Culture
• Internalization and Externalization of Color in The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple
• Reconciliation Between Public and Private Spheres: Mrs. Dalloway and The Color Purple

Lesson Plan for The Color Purple

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Color Purple
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Color Purple Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Color Purple

• Introduction
• Critical reception
• Adaptations
• Boycotting Israel

The Color Purple

Alice walker, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Celie , a young girl who lives with her abusive father , her sick mother , and her younger sister Nettie , begins writing letters to God . In her first letters, she details how her father has been sexually abusing her. Celie becomes pregnant twice, and each time her father gives away the children.

A man named Mr. _____ begins courting Nettie. Celie encourages Nettie's marriage to Mr. _____ because Celie fears her father ( Pa ) will soon turn his sexual attentions toward Nettie. But Pa does not permit Nettie to marry Mr. _____, instead insisting that Mr. _____ marry Celie, since she is older and a hard-worker. Mr. _____ believes Celie to be ugly, but eventually is convinced to marry her, because he has several children by his previous wife (who was murdered), and Mr. _____ needs someone to take care of them.

Celie marries Mr. _____ and moves in with him. Nettie later escapes Pa and lives with Celie and Mr. _____ for a brief period. But Mr. _____ still has designs on Nettie, and Nettie flees to town, staying with the Reverend Samuel and his wife Corrine , whom Celie once met, briefly. By coincidence, Samuel and Corrine have adopted Olivia and Adam , Celie's two children. Celie believed she recognized Olivia, when she saw her with Corrine in a shop. Nettie promises Celie she will write to her from her new home, but these letters never arrive.

Celie takes care of Mr. _____'s children, whom she considers "rotten" save for Harpo , the oldest, who marries a strong, hard-working woman named Sofia . Harpo becomes upset that he cannot get Sofia to obey him; both Mr. _____ and Celie (at first) recommend that Harpo beat Sofia. But when Celie sees how Harpo's attempts at beating have hurt both Harpo and Sofia, Celie apologizes to Sofia, and the two become friends.

Shug Avery , a lover from Mr. _____'s past, comes to town, sick, and stays with Mr. _____. They strike up their affair once more, with Celie's knowledge. Celie has been fixated on Shug since seeing a picture of her, on a playbill, when Celie was a girl. Celie and Shug become friends and confidantes, and, later, lovers. Shug begins to sing at a bar Harpo has built behind his shack, after Sofia leaves him (she is tired of being beaten and ordered around by Harpo). Celie tells Shug about her father's sexual abuse, and about Mr. _____'s beatings. Shug promises to protect Celie.

Shug and Celie discover that Mr. _____ has been hiding, for years, the letters Nettie has been sending to Celie. Celie reads the letters and discovers that Nettie, upon moving in with Samuel and Corrine, and their two children Olivia and Adam, began studying to be a missionary in Africa. Nettie then traveled with the family to Harlem, in New York City, on to England, and to various cities in Africa, observing the culture and traditions of the people there, before settling in a village of the Olinka people. Nettie works for Samuel and Corrine, aids in the education of Olivia and Adam, and comes to know a girl named Tashi , whose mother, Catherine , does not approve of Tashi being educated in the Western manner. Celie begins writing letters to Nettie rather than to God.

Corrine, it is revealed, believes that Samuel has had an affair with Nettie back in Georgia, and that Adam and Olivia are actually Nettie's children. This is why, Corrine thinks, Olivia and Adam so resemble Nettie. Nettie swears to Corrine that the two children are her sister Celie's, and Samuel corroborates her story, adding that Celie and Nettie's "Pa" is really their stepfather, and that their biological father was lynched, after his dry-goods store became too successful in the eyes of his white neighbors in Georgia.

Back in Georgia, Celie, spurred on by Shug, confronts Mr. _____ for withholding Nettie's letters for so many years. Celie, Shug, Shug's husband Grady (whom she has married in the interim), and Squeak , Harpo's second wife, move to Memphis, where Shug continues her singing career (Shug already has a house there). Celie begins making pants, a business she will continue for the remainder of the novel, and Squeak and Grady fall in love and move away. Sofia, who was arrested years back for attacking the mayor and his wife after they acted disrespectfully to her, has been serving as the mayor's family maid for twelve years. She is finally released to Celie's home toward the end of the novel. Her children, raised by Harpo and Squeak, no longer recognize her.

Meanwhile, the Olinka village is destroyed by British rubber companies, who plow over the Olinkas crops and hunting land, and charge the Olinka rent and a water tax. Dispirited by their inability to save the village, Samuel, Nettie, and the children return to England after Corrine dies of illness.

In England, Samuel and Nettie realize that they are in love, and marry; they tell Olivia and Adam that their biological mother is Celie, and vow to reunite the families in Georgia. After one last trip to Africa, in which Tashi and Adam are married, Tashi, Adam, Olivia, Nettie, and Samuel arrive at Celie's house in Georgia—the house she inherited from her biological father after her stepfather's death—and find Celie's family in good order. Shug, who had run away for a time with a young man name Germaine for a last fling, has come back to live with Celie and be reconciled with Mr. _____; Mr. _____ himself has found religion and apologized to Celie for mistreating her (he has even carved Celie a purple frog, as a form of apology) and Squeak, Sofia, Harpo, and the remainder of the family realize that, although a great deal has happened over the past thirty years, they, as a family, feel younger and more energetic than ever before.

Jotted Lines

A Collection Of Essays

The Color Purple: Critical Analysis

The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a ground-breaking work in American fiction. The topic of emotional/physical abuse, especially that endured by black American women of earlier generations is not openly spoken about or documented in history books. By bringing focus to this sensitive, yet saddening, experience of black women, the novel attracted criticism, censorship and controversy. A careful analysis of the novel will reveal several themes, symbols and motifs woven-in by the author. This essay will confine itself to highlighting some of the major themes such as the representation (or lack thereof) of God, the interpretation of the color purple that is the title of the work, the symbolic value of the epistolary element in the novel, etc.

One of the prominent themes of the novel is the degree of suppression of the female African voice in early twentieth century American society. This is most evident from the events and circumstances in the life of the protagonist of the story, Celie. During her adolescent years, she was repeatedly raped and sweared at by her stepfather. She even bears his child through the whole term, after which the child is taken away and presumably killed by her stepfather. The oppression and disparaging attitude exhibited by her stepfather is obvious in the following passage:

“Well, next time you come you can look at her. She ugly. Don’t even look like she kin to Nettie. But she’ll make the better wife. She aint smart either, and I’ll just be fair, you have to watch her or she’ll give away everything you own. But she can work like a man.” (The Color Purple, Part 1, 1982)

If this was traumatic enough, the unfolding events of her adult life are equally saddening and depressing. Her tumultuous adult life is about finding peace and calm in an existence that is constantly threatened by the abusive husband Albert, while also navigating the emotional confusion cause by her sexual attraction toward Shug. Fortuitously, though, her secret relationship with Shug serves to emancipate Celie to a degree, as she learns to act boldly and assertively like Shug. But the fact remains that the extent of abuse suffered by Celie is not only shocking but also touches the limits of individual tolerance.

Another important theme/symbol in the book is that of God, to whom Celie writes letters regularly, hoping vainly for benign divine intervention in her life. In all the doom and gloom that is Celie’s life, the notion of God offers the only consolation and hope. Celie’s letters addressed to God is also an effective literary device employed by Alice Walker. Through the course of the novel’s narrative, one can see how Celie’s interpretation of God gradually evolves. At first, her view of God is that of a powerful white male. This naïve representation is a product of her personal past experiences and the structure of American society at the time. For example, she notes in one of her earlier letters:

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The Color Purple

53 pages • 1 hour read

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Before You Read

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 57-112

Pages 113-161

Pages 162-206

Pages 207-286

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Summary and Study Guide

The Color Purple is an epistolary novel—a novel told in letter form—in which Alice Walker traces the gradual liberation of Celie , a poor, Black woman who must overcome abuse and separation from her beloved sister Nettie . Set in the South and an unnamed African country during the 1930 to 1940s, the novel is a study in the ways in which Black women use their faith, relationships, and creativity to survive racial and sexual oppression. The novel was critically acclaimed, garnering Walker the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the National Book Award for fiction. This guide is based on the 1982 Penguin print edition.

Plot Summary

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At fourteen, Celie begins writing to God about her life after Alphonso, the man she believes to be her father, threatens her if she tells anyone that he is raping her. Celie has two children with Alphonso, and he takes each child away after birth. Celie’s only love is Nettie, her clever little sister. Celie eventually marries an older man, Albert , after her father declines to let the man marry Nettie.

As a twenty-year-old mother to Albert’s many children from previous relationships, Celie is as downtrodden as ever. Albert beats her, verbally abuses her, and is infatuated with the blues singer Shug Avery , a woman he has loved his entire life but cannot marry. Albert’s eldest son, Harpo , treats her with just as much disrespect as his father. Nettie comes to stay with Celie when Alphonso turns his attention to her, but Albert throws her out when she rejects his advances as well.

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When Nettie leaves, she promises to write, but Celie never receives any letters. Nettie goes to stay in town with Samuel , a minister, and Corrine , Samuel’s wife, on the advice of Celie, who met the couple in town one day and believes they have adopted her two children, now named Olivia and Adam . Nettie follows the family to Africa as a missionary among the Olinka tribe.

Celie’s household is thrown into upheaval when Albert brings an ailing Shug home for Celie to nurse to health. Celie manages to heal Shug with good food and leisure, and the two women strike up an unlikely friendship that puzzles and scandalizes their family and acquaintances. Several years later, Harpo marries a bold young woman named Sofia . Their marriage ends when Harpo tries to abuse Sofia, and Harpo reinvents himself as a juke joint owner and partner to another woman, Mary Agnes (called “Squeak”). When the white mayor and his wife suggest Sofia work for them as their maid, Sofia curses at them and slaps the mayor. She is imprisoned and, in a tragic turn, does later become their domestic worker.

Celie stands by as Shug heals and resumes her affair with Albert. Celie learns to love Shug, who teaches Celie about her own pleasure and uncovers that Albert has been intercepting and hiding letters from Nettie for years. Celie reads years and years of letters from her sister.  In her letters, Nettie recounts how the village of the Olinka was destroyed when an English rubber company took over the land. Corrine becomes ill and—suspecting that Samuel and Nettie are having an affair—rejects the children because she assumes Nettie is their mother. Corrine finally dies knowing the truth. Samuel and Nettie marry, and their mission among the Olinka winds down as the Olinka die out. Adam marries an Olinka girl, and the family head back to America.

Celie’s life changes dramatically over the years as well. She lives with Shug in Memphis for a time after Albert’s betrayal in hiding the letters becomes too much to bear. She starts her own company and becomes Shug’s lover and companion. Shug goes on the road again and is not home so much, but Celie thrives as she asserts control over her life. She returns to Georgia for visits and watches as Albert mellows out and becomes something like a friend to her. Celie discovers in one of the letters from Nettie that Alphonso is not actually her biological father. Nettie discovers the truth from Samuel, who tells the story of how he came to have the children.

When Alphonso dies, Celie and Nettie inherit a store, a fine house, and land. Celie experiences heartbreak, however, when Shug leaves Celie for a younger man. Celie also receives word that the ship carrying Nettie and the children sank after hitting a German land mine. This news turns out to be false, however, since Celie still receives letters from her sister. Shug eventually turns up, ready to take up life with Celie again. Nettie, Olivia, and Adam at last make it to Georgia. The family reunites, and Celie is content.

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Literary Analysis: The Color Purple Essay

• 9 Works Cited

There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple , Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and …show more content…

According to Harold Bloom, “For Celie, the practice of addressing God simply reaffirms her solitude; she is essentially writing to herself” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88). This submissive practice nonetheless carries over onto her daily life, and ensues until her relationship with Shug Avery strengthens. After Celie begins to experience a spiritual, emotional, and sexual awakening as a result of this bond, her letters reflect her newfound emotional capacity. Bloom enforces this ideal, claiming, “Shug is the route through which Nettie's letters are restored” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88). With the figurative resurrection of her sister through Shug’s support, Celie’s power of voice grows. She begins to think for herself and express her thoughts more vividly, claiming, "My life stop when I left home, I think. But then I think again. It stop with Mr._______ maybe, but start up again with Shug" (Walker 85). The audience, who was Celie’s only recluse for thought, views her becoming more verbal and opinionated in reality as well; for instance, during her final standoff with Mr._______, she exclaims, "You a lowdown dog is what's wrong, I say. It's time to leave you and enter into Creation. And your dead body just the welcome mat I need” (Walker 207). Celie, therefore, has discovered the act of standing up for herself as a person. Nettie’s letters possess a distinct voice as well, and the discovery and instigation of communication between the two sisters liberates the voice which

The Color Purple by Alice Walker Essay

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor black woman living in the south between World War 1 and World War 2. This was at a time when, although slavery had ended,many women were still virtually in bondage, and had to put up with many conditions that was reminiscent of the days of slavery. The problem was that they had to endure being treated like an inferior being by their own families sometimes, as well as from the white people that lived there. It was a life that was filled with misery for many black women, and they felt helpless to do anything about their situations.

the color purple Essay

There are many racial components in this novel that are easy to point out. These take place in the American South and also in Africa. It starts with the way that all the black men and women are treated at the start of the book. The main character’s real father was a successful store owner who was black. This man was hanged for a reason that is known only as him being a successful black man. All the characters that we are introduced to in this book by Celie are exploited by the fact that they are black. Sophia is beat up and jailed for her refusal to want to work for a white women. Of course she stood up for herself and the white element tried to tell her where her place was. There is also an intra racial theme that starts at the beginning

The Color Purple Analysis

In a dynamic scene near the end of the blockbuster The Color Purple, the character Shug Avery engages in a soul-stirring rendition of a gospel song called God Is Trying To Tell You Something. Shug Avery in The Color Purple could be described as a prodigal daughter Shug is portrayed as a woman of the world who loved to party, loved to dress, and loved to sports men. In the church scene near the end of the film, we see Shug performing in a "Juke Joint" owned by Harpo, the oldest son of Albert aka "Mister. The sound of the anointed song coming from the nearby church caused the band at Harpo's Juke Joint to stop playing. Shug was a force to stop and listen to the song coming from her father's church. As if God was telling Shug to finally change her ways and God telling her father to finally forgive and accept her. Then their lost relationship had been found as they embraced with tears of forgiveness. I love the part where she tells her father see daddy sinners have souls too. God was trying to tell several people something. At the end of the song, Albert finally does the right thing and takes steps to reunite Celie with her sister Nettie. The scene is one of the most powerful and touching moments in the movie. Such a wonderful scene, it seems to be a life changing moment for everyone in the movie.

Finding Your Voice: an Analysis of the Color Purple

Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple, focuses on the struggles of a poor and uneducated African American girl, who is verbally, physically and sexually abused by several men in her life. She feels worthless and becomes completely submissive. Her only way to express her feelings is through private letters to God. An emphasized theme in this work is that expressing one’s thoughts and emotions is essential in order to develop an inner sense of self.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The award-winning novel, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, is a story about a woman going through cruel things such as: incest, rape, and physical abuse. This greatly written novel comes from a very active feminist author who used many of her own experiences, as well as things that were happening during that era, in her writing. “The Color Purple” takes place in the early 1900's, and symbolizes the economic, emotional, and social deprivation that African American women faced in Southern states of America. The main character of the story is Celie, a fourteen-year old that starts writing letters to God for thirty years, and then to her sister, Nette, who ran away to Africa to save herself from the troubles Celie went through. Celie starts off as a pushover and very dependent girl that would eventually grow and develop into an independent flourishing woman that opens a business making pants for all genders. This novel shows the hardship of a girl becoming a woman over the course of her life and eventually standing up for herself and being confident. Many of the experiences and characters of “The Color Purple” are based on history of that time and a bit of the author’s personal experiences. Her use of epistolary allows the reader to learn everything in the point of view of Celie. Alice Walker's influences for writing this novel range from her childhood experiences to the white society in her hometown of Eatonville, Georgia. Even during these times, it still shows that women

Stereotypes Of African American Women Essay

African American writers are bringing this issue out in addition to the same current day issues within their writing. For instance, The Color Purple touches on the hardships of African American women such as rape, abuse, neglect, sexism and beauty. Patton notes, “As much of the literature on African American women and beauty, has pointed out, African American women have either been the subject of erasure in the various mediated forms or their beauty has been wrought with racist stereotypes” (Patton 26). African American women wanted the obliteration of these negative stereotypes. Black women have been stereotyped as being angry, sexually inhibited, or deviant. The African American women were being compared to white women and in result, African American women were looked upon as sinful. Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple touches on these sensitive issues that came in history in the early eighteenth and nineteenth century but that people of modern day are also dealing

The Color Purple Rhetorical Analysis

Alice Walker may seem the usual type of author that is ordinary in her writing. Actually, she is not. She uses a different method to make us feel the suspense of the story with vivid details. You only live life once so why not take advantage of it? In The Color Purple, Celie’s life is the contrary. You may ask why, but there are people out there who are afraid to speak up. Alice Walker seemed to portray this novel very well making it seem realistic. The tone Walker used in the novel seemed confessional and private towards the only person she could actually tell her feelings to, God. The author wrote this novel in first person giving it more touch to it making it seem as if this actually happened in the past of an African American girl.

The Color Purple By Alice Walker

The Color Purple, is a novel written by the American author Alice Walker. The novel won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is also regarded to be her most successful piece of work. It has developed into an award winning film and was recently made into a Broadway play. The story continues to impress readers throughout the decades due to its brutal honesty. The novel successfully and truthfully demonstrates what life was like for black women during the early twentieth century. The book discusses the major struggles that women endured throughout history in the South. After the Civil War, racism towards black American’s hit it’s all time peak. Both black men and women had to live with the constant hatred and brutal abuse from members of the white society. Not only were women viewed as less important by black men, they were also oppressed by white men. This sadly caused black women to become highly unprivileged. In the novel, discrimination towards women is very prevalent. Women discrimination is a motif throughout the novel and it is also the most significant theme. The women in the novel form bonds that are important to the development of the plot and the theme. The women in the novel grow as a whole and give each other strength, power, and hope. Since Walker had to live with the torture and abuse, she does not hide from the harsh reality of how women are treated in the African American culture. Walker has written this novel to show how women have been able to gain rights

The Color Purple Analytical Essay

acially dominated society. Shug not only teaches Celie to love someone beyond her biological family, but to love herself. Sofia in my opinion was the character who most consistently stayed true to herself. She constantly walked the thin line between dependence and independence, like how she would constantly fight her husband, yet stay with him out of love until he pushed her too far. Another instance of her representing the “typical” woman, is how she stood up for herself and her children, without letting the matter of race or gender stop her from speaking her mind and telling the truth. Eventually she would be broken by system after sometime and eventually made dependent on her former oppressors such as the mayor, the law enforcement, and even Squeak and Celie. But like all women in this book, she found a way to overcome her obstacles while remaining true to herself.

The Color Purple Monologue Essay

Once upon a time there was a lovely baby in the queen’s Maylie’s stomach. But she is ill. As the the king and his men desperately searched and searched to find a cure that would truly work. There is a magic golden flower.Through the mountains of the cold white snow.

Having something that is rudimentary and seen as an ordinary object may hold no value to people around you, but holds a deeper meaning when it can change you as a person and your life holistically. In Alice Walker’s, The Color Purple, Celie the protagonist undergoes trials and tribulations and along her journey she discovers objects that shape her to be a stronger and more independent women at the end of the novel. The symbolic objects consist of the pants, the quilt, and the letters. During the early twentieth century in the United States, it wasn’t the norm for women to wear pants.

The Color Purple Research Paper

In the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Color Purple, there is one constant occurrence throughout this fictional masterpiece: abuse. The protagonist, Celie, endures chronic physical, emotional, mental, verbal, and sexual abuse almost her entire life. Celie's constant endurance of multiple types of abuse displays the damaging physical and psychological effects of the average African-American woman in the early 1900s. Alice Walker tells the miraculous story of a young African-American woman's survival in addition to the narrator's journey to discover her individuality through romantic and platonic relationships during a time of racial segregation and female oppression.

Essay On The Color Purple

The Color Purple written by Alice Walker is based on a society that is rather segregated when it comes to their differences. Due to this segregation, the perspective of one group viewing another may be rather skewed, causing them to be stereotyped into certain social structures. The novel is written in first person point of view, meaning that the reader gets one particular character’s version of the story. Due to this, the reader is introduced to the story through a perspective that does not fully understand different social groups aside from her own in society as well as different societies as a mass.

Essay on Uniting People in The Color Purple

Women of varying personalities throughout the novel banded together to diminish the tyrannical rule of the male population. Shug Avery, a woman of the world offered Celie a life blossoming with the fruits of respect and love. For the first time in Walker's piece the ambiguous area of homosexual tendencies arises. Avery's character provided a source of strength and shrewdness throughout the novel. Celie turned to women for comfort since men only served as a source of definite agony. In the beginning she turned to her sister for merely emotional reasons. As the novel progressed, Celie discovers her unnatural wont of Shug's company. "She say I love you, Miss Celie. And then she haul off and kiss me [Celie] on the mouth". Their relationship served as a source of unconditional understanding and love. To Celie, man only loves physically, but a woman has the gift of loving emotionally. The novel investigates the spiritual evolution and separateness of each individual. Sofia, a strong-minded and physically powerful woman unyielding to man's poisonous attempts, Squeak, a once meek and humble servant reformed into a person of exceptional artistic talent, represent, as do the other women in the novel, the stages of Celie's development into a self-sufficient human

Analytical Essay On The Color Purple

The Color Purple by Alice Walker tells the story of Celie, a fourteen year old girl, growing up in a small town shortly after slavery has been abolished. At the start of the book, Celie’s mother is terribly ill and unable to even leave her own bed. Typically, one would rightfully assume that the husband and children would do everything in their power to keep her happy in her time of need, but alternatively it is the polar opposite. None of her many children batted an eye at the sight of her frail, dying body due to what their father, or Pa, had told them. As a child and into adulthood, she was often reprimanded for being ugly and illiterate, unlike her younger sister and practically best friend, Nettie.

Related Topics

• The Color Purple
• Epistolary novel
• Alice Walker

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'Nineteen Minutes,' 'The Handmaid's Tale,' 'Crank' among the 10 most banned books in Iowa

Part of a continuing series in the Des Moines Register’s Iowa’s Book Ban Battle project.  

Was your favorite book banned in Iowa's schools?

The Des Moines Register pursued an exclusive investigation to track the impact of Senate File 496, a 2023 education law that requires library materials to be "age-appropriate" and bans most books depicting sex acts from Iowa schools. The sweeping law also restricts curriculum about sexual orientation and gender identity through sixth grade.

The Register documented nearly 3,400 book removals due to the law, which included about 1,000 unique book titles; 335 titles were removed in more than one school district.

Ten books stood out at the top of the list after being removed in dozens of schools across the state: popular coming-of-age stories, renowned American literary novels, controversial bestsellers and more.

The top two books — "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult and "Looking for Alaska" by John Green — were both removed in more than 70 school districts. Picoult and Green are now suing the state over Senate File 496 after their books were banned.

More: John Green, Toni Morrison, Jodi Picoult, Colleen Hoover among most banned authors in Iowa

The state cannot enforce the law's book and curriculum restrictions during two pending lawsuits due to a judge's injunction. After the judge's decision, some districts decided to restore the books they had removed.

The 10 most banned books in Iowa since Senate File 496 appear to have been flagged for their sexual content, including scenes where characters have sex or with depictions of rape. They are:

1. 'Nineteen Minutes' by Jodi Picoult

What it's about — "Nineteen Minutes" tracks the events leading up to and the fallout from a fatal shooting at a high school in New Hampshire at the hands of a 17-year-old student who suffered physical and verbal abuse from his classmates. The shooter's former best friend, Josie, who witnessed the massacre, ostensibly can't remember the incident, while the shooter's parents consider how their past actions after a tragic accident may have played a role. A trial soon reveals divisions between the town's adults and students and rips relationships apart.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 77

Number of districts that later reshelved the book after injunction — 22

Related: What to know about the 9 most challenged books in Iowa schools, from 'Tricks' to 'Lawn Boy'

2. 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green

What it's about — A 16-year-old boy named Miles, who is obsessed with famous last words, leaves his safe life at home for boarding school in this coming-of-age young adult novel. Miles becomes infatuated with a female classmate named Alaska, who later dies, and Miles and his friends seek details about her final day as they process her death and wrestle with the meaning of life.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 76

Number of districts that later reshelved the book after injunction — 25

3. 'Sold' by Patricia McCormick

What it's about — Lakshmi is a 13-year-old girl living in a small hut in the mountains of Nepal with her family. After a monsoon sweeps away the family’s crops, her stepfather tells the teen she must leave home and take a job. Lakshmi — thinking she will be a maid for a rich woman — finds herself at a brothel and learns she must stay until her family’s debt is paid. Over time, she teaches herself to read and write in English. Eventually, she meets an American who is investigating the brothel's owners.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 62

Number of districts that later reshelved the book after injunction — 16

4. 'Thirteen Reasons Why,' by Jay Asher

What it's about — After her death, a high school student named Hannah Baker leaves behind tapes that detail the 13 reasons why she decided to die by suicide and unfold the events that preceded her death. Her former classmate Clay, who had a crush on Hannah, listens to the tapes, which reveal Hannah was a victim of sexual assault and faced bullying and harassment.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 60

Number of districts that later reshelved the book after injunction — 21

5. 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower,' by Stephen Chbosky

What it's about — Charlie, a teenage wallflower who is introverted and shy, writes letters to an anonymous "Dear Friend" as he details his struggle after a friend's suicide and a family member's death and documents his transition into high school. The teen befriends his classmates, and he develops a crush and experiments with alcohol and drugs. The novel explores sexuality, mental health and abuse as Charlie learns his friends' secrets and discovers repressed memories from his past.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 55

Number of districts that later reshelved the book after injunction — 17

6. 'The Kite Runner,' by Khaled Hosseini

What it's about — Amir, a privileged boy from Afghanistan, comes of age during a time of violent political upheaval in his country's history. He is friends with Hassan, who is the son of his father's servant and who also lost his mother. Amir later witnesses Hassan's sexual assault. Amir carries his guilt over his reaction into adulthood as he and his father escape to the United States and he becomes a novelist while seeking redemption.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 52

Number of districts that later reshelved the book after injunction — 14

7. 'Crank,' by Ellen Hopkins

What it's about — Kristina, an honors students in high school, becomes addicted to meth, which she calls "the monster," while visiting her absent father. Kristina's addiction devastates her life as she faces a downward spiral and later becomes a victim of sexual assault. The novel, which is written in experimental poetic verse, is loosely based on Hopkins' daughter's struggle with addiction.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 49

More: Iowa book ban's toll: 3,400 pulled books, including '1984' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

8. 'The Handmaid's Tale,' by Margaret Atwood

What it's about — Radical Christian terrorists stage a coup and take over the United States, turning the country into a repressive dictatorship known as Gilead during a time of environmental havoc and low birth rates. Women are oppressed, and those who can still have children are forced to become handmaids and carry babies for Gilead's rulers. The novel is the account of a handmaid called Offred, who falls into the dark underbelly of Gilead and discovers the resistance movement.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 48

9. 'Identical,' by Ellen Hopkins

What it's about — Identical twin sisters Kaeleigh and Raeanne, who have influential and high-profile parents, seem to have a perfect life on the surface, but dark secrets run underneath. One sister is a victim of sexual assault, and both fall into destructive behavior as they try to cope with their pain and struggle. Like "Crank," Hopkins' other novel on the list, "Identical" is written in experimental poetic prose and alternates between the twins' viewpoints.

10. 'The Color Purple,' by Alice Walker

What it's about — Celie, a Black teenager from Georgia in the early 1900s who lives in poverty, writes letters to God. Her father sexually assaults her, and Celie is later trapped in an abusive marriage and separated from her family. She later develops a close relationship with a blues singer named Shug Avery as the novel tells the story of Black women whose lives are intertwined in the face of struggle and oppression.

Number of school districts that removed the book — 46

Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at [email protected] or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter  @chris_higgins_ .