The Color Purple is composed of letters written to God and it briefly summarize the story and hardship of the main character Celie. Alice Walker used very different styles of language for different characters in the book, which are Celie and Nettie.
And so, Celie in her letters uses African-American language, that is typical for black females at that time. Walker here, used African-American language for Celie to put stress on the African slave trade, where African captives were forced to communicate among themselves and with their captors in English. African-American language then arose from one or more slave creoles combined with the original english. Later on, she was also sold into a marriage to a man who wants a servant, not a wife, who keeps abusing her just like her fake-father Alphonso.
Another issue is therefore being brought up here and it is a gender issue. This therefore takes us back to the issue with education. The Color Purple is composed of very short chapters, written as letters to God, that explain in the shortest possible ways the trials and tribulations Celie and, later, Nettie experience. In the beginning of the story Celie got separated from her sister, Nettie, the person she loved the most but she stayed strong and waited patiently to get a letter from her sister.
The color purple represents all the good things in the world that God creates for men and women to enjoy.
When Celie finally breaks free of Mr. Purple Colors Dark purple produces feelings of sadness, gloom, and even frustration. The difference in approach and importance given to situations especially that of rape differs from the first few to the later letters and the maturity can be clearly observed. Walker chooses to write through black vernacular English and the poor spelling and grammar throughout the letter enables the reader to pay more attention to what Celie is saying and slows down the pace of the book.
The shocking language in used in the opening letter affects the readers and makes them want to give answers to her pleas for help. Celie has shorter and blunter sentences in the initial few letters and deals with more complex images later on in this novel. Her letters also challenge the status of Standard English and deal with important matters and issue in society.
She seems to portray an authentic- seeming voice of the protagonist. This form of writing finally supports the novelist in being able to reinvent forms or genres of writing such as autobiography and coming-of-age novels. Walker creates two African-American characters who own property and run prosperous farms and a dry goods store. Both challenge the social norms of the early part of the twentieth century in the rural South:. However, Sofia is neither willing nor able to accept the norms of subservient black wife or compliant black maid.
She is too honest to act in a way other than she feels, but her strength of character is always acknowledged and valued by its members and she enjoys a significant level of status within the African-American community.
Relationships with white people, however, are more problematic. It is ironic that the value that Sofia places on fighting back is the very thing that prevents her from living an independent life.
Her resistance to injustice means that she is beaten, imprisoned and forced to work without pay as the Mayor's prisoner-maid, losing much of her strength and dignity. The experience leaves her scarred, but ultimately it does not crush her determination to remain independent of spirit. Sofia is not a tragic figure but a symbol of courageous womanhood — a strong black woman whose courage lies in her resilience and her determination to survive in an unjust racist world.
Just as the black male characters in the novel use violence to assert dominance over their wives, so white society uses violence to enforce dominance over all black people, whether male or female. Sofia suffers because of her gender, race and social class and her story emphasises how hard it is to escape the institutional racism and patriarchal power structures of the American South. Oppression almost destroys Sofia but the strong support of her extended family eventually restores her and provides some reparation for the years of suffering she is forced to endure.
0コメント