Read a lovely link to another blog...this is what we must do...http://carlys908.edublogs.org/2012/02/29/the-color-purple/
Great Learning site:
Work through this ppt link:http://www.slideshare.net/rlathan/the-color-purple-8768142#btnNext
An interesting point of view:http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=6163803
Don't limit yourself but think of these topics:
1. Trace the development of Albert's character. How does he change and why?
2. Fully explain what has caused Celie's low self-esteem in the first half of the novel?
3. How does Celie succeed in overcoming her low self-esteem?
4. Fully describe the relationship between Nettie and Celie, making sure to explain how the relationship ends in happiness.
5. What are some instances of racism in the novel?
7. Why is this a feminist novel?
8. Why does the plot end as a comedy?
9. Explain the character of Shug Avery. What does Celie learn from her?
10. What roles do women occupy in the novel, both black and white? What measure of freedom do women enjoy in these roles?
11. Consider the epistolary (letter) form of the novel. What benefits derive from this form for the telling of the story? What drawbacks does it have?
12. List, analyze, and evaluate the various gender crossings in the novel.
13. Explain the reunions that take place at the end of the novel. Is there anything that is not reconciled or re-united? Explain your answer.
14. The main subplot revolves around Nettie in Africa. How does this relate to and impact the main plot of Celie?
I'm discussing question 12. Also I haven't spoken much about her homosexuality in my answer. Feedback is welcome from everyone :)
ReplyDeleteAs a young girl, Celie is constantly subjected to abuse and told she is ugly. She decides therefore that she can best ensure her survival by making herself silent and invisible, interaction between her and people of the opposite sex is almost always negative in nature. Celie does little to fight back against her stepfather, Alphonso. Later in life, when her husband, Mr. ______, abuses her, she reacts in a similarly passive manner. In Alice Walker’s novel, men clearly look at women as objects and as playthings. Women have absolutely no authority, and aren’t allowed to voice their opinion either, their just servants or rather ‘slaves’. This is very ironic as black people are known to have faced animosity and have always been discriminated against, but they were perceived to be one community, but Celie’s letters show us how much discrimination there is WITHIN their community itself.
Celie dislikes forming relationships with males and is terrified of men because of her adopted father; because she has been treated so poorly by them, she avoids dealing with men as much as possible. Even before her marriage to Mister. _______, Celie shows her preference for homosocial relationships through her relationship with her sister and aversion to her step-father. Celie does not express to the reader her feelings about her step-father before he rapes her and so we are led to understand she did not love him in the way she loves Nettie. Even though Celie believes him to be her father, she does not form a positive relationship with him even before the rape, demonstrating her early preference for female companionship. When she is raped by Alphonso, Celie is further persuaded to dislike male contact; she is encouraged to disdain interactions with men while she is oppressed by them and seeks out female contact to counter her domination. In dealing with Alphonso, Celie is treated as a tool for sex instead of a human being and learns to reject social interactions with men to keep herself safe, almost as If she is heterophobic.
this is the continuation :
ReplyDeleteBecause of this treatment, she recoils from men she meets only rarely, like the shop keeper in town. However Celie’s interaction’s with other females is a stark contrast and even though we are given a negative impression of Shug Avery, she has an instant connection with Shug and develops a relationship with her. Shug Avery is a beautiful and seemingly empowered woman; Celie looks at her as a role model. After Shug moves into Celie and Mr. ______’s home, Celie has the opportunity to befriend the woman whom she loves and to learn, at last, how to fight back. Shug’s maternal prodding helps spur Celie’s development. Gradually, Celie recovers her own history, sexuality, spirituality, and voice. When Shug says Celie is “still a virgin” because she has never had a satisfying sex life, Shug demonstrates to Celie the renewing and empowering capacity of storytelling. Shug also opens Celie’s eyes to new ideas about religion.
Her interaction with another female helped her develop as a woman it changed her outlook on life; she finally had someone she could confide in, someone who would listen and help. This was very important to help her move forward from her traumatic past and blossom into a head strong independent woman who could stand up for herself, it was very important to help her “gain her own voice”. Celie’s process of finding her own voice culminates with her rage at Mr. ______, in which she curses him for his years of abuse. Mr. ______ responds in his characteristic insulting and patronizing manner, but his put-downs have no power and no meaning once Celie possesses the sense of self-worth she previously lacked, it has absolutely no effect on her, this shows how far she had come from the girl who kept quiet and stood out of her father’s way when he killed her babies and raped her.
Her social inclination towards women is based on her previous experiences with men, which have all been traumatic and unforgiving. Its almost as if she harnessed all the trauma she faced and all the pain and anguish she experienced and lets it out all at once, and that frees her, it transforms her into a happy and successful person!
The Color Purple, an epistolary novel by the American author Alice Walker. After being written in the year 1982 it has gone on to win the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award of Fiction, furthermore it has also been adapted into a movie as well as a musical both with the same name. ‘A lovely, painful book. Walkers finest novel.’ As said by Kirkus reviews, which no truer words about this book could be spoken. This book may be a sad tale, one filled with such trigger worthy topics, it still makes for an awe-inspiring story. This book centers a women of African ethnicity in the 1930’s who lived in a bucolic part of Georgia, by the name of Celie. The story starts out when she is around fourteen, and as it is in letter format she goes on to write about how her father, Alphonso abuses her sexually and physically. The reason this book is so remarkable is because even after all the demons she faces throughout her life, she still comes out stronger than ever in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe main focus though, that will be addressed here is the format in which this book is written. Firstly, what is an epistolary novel? An epistolary novel is a novel that is comprised of a series of letters. Many great books of our time have used this format, some being ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Cherbosky, even Stephen Kings novel thriller ‘Carrie’ used similar formatting. Like in all formats, there are the defiant pros and cons, and The Color Purple is no exception.
The novel, incorporates both types of letter formatting. When the letter is addressed to God, from Celie it is written in much less detail, more of an informal letter. It also comprises of very rudimentary English. It is chalked full of grammatical errors as well as spelling errors, although this is done purposely, it does make it rather hard for readers to understand in certain cases. The other type is from the letters sister, Nettie which are addressed to Celie. Though only towards the end of the novel are these letters even found due to the fact that they were hidden from Celie by her husband, who is also abusive. Nettie’s letters are much more in detail, and far more formal. There is very proper English, as well as the fact that unlike Celie’s letters, these letters are far more narrative in comparison, they is still quite a bit of summarizing.
Continuation~
ReplyDeleteWhat benefits derive from this form of storytelling? Well for starters in a book like this, it makes it much more intimate. Seeing as are her personal accounts that she is writing for the viewing of God, and only God. They all happen to be written from only one perspective, which make it more detailed from their end, though this also serves as a drawback, as the view and outlook is very biased. Often a time in epistolary format, the character can come of quite whiney and irritating due to the format itself. Although the rudimentary English serves as a drawback, it can also be looked at from a beneficial point of view. That being that you really get a feel of the character. How they talk. How they convey things. How their mindset really is. Another pro which I find in this format, is the use of crosses. An example seen on the first page, ‘I am I have always been a good girl.’ This gives the appeal of authenticity, and makes character seen more human rather than artificial, in how they convey things.
What drawbacks does it have? Aside from the fact that the characters can come off as irritating and the drawback in this book of the intentional language errors, it has many major flaws. As it is only one sided, it doesn’t show all aspects of the scenario that has occurred, thus leaving out some very crucial details. Letter formats also have the downside of being less detailed. As it is in that particular format it can only contain so much, and with the language used in this it doesn’t allow complete detail as the letters are short and one dimensional at the most.
As this is an intimate and very deep novel, does the letter format make you in any way feel empathy or sympathy? As the letter is so intimate it makes people feel very empathetic to the situation at hand, making you feel as If you were there itself, though if you do not completely immerse yourself in the book you feel rather sympathetic for the characters and feel the dire need to do nothing but help them.
In conclusion, although the letter format has its many bonuses it has major drawbacks, though Alice Walker has still managed to create this beautiful piece of literature despite them.
I am writing about question 11.
ReplyDelete.
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The structure of The Color Purple is the series of letters Celie writes to God and to her sister Nettie. Some of the letters in the book are written by Nettie to Celie. This literary form is called the epistolary novel, a form developed in eighteenth-century England by novelists like Samuel Richardson. A major advantage of this structure is that the reader becomes intimate with the character of the letter writer. With the epistolary form,
Walker was able to focus on the inner life of her main character and create a sense of intimacy that may be
partly responsible for the success of the book. This technique creates a confidential reading experience. The
reader has a chance to read over the character's shoulder and look inside her. Nettie, to a great extent, escaped
the cruelty that Celie experienced because she was able to leave home early. The tone of her letters to Celie
contrasts sharply with Celie's letters to God. In Nettie's letters, there is much less intimacy. They do not
contain the suffering that Celie has expressed in her letters to God. By introducing Nettie's letters, Walker is
able to shift her story from Celie's life of despair to a life that begins to have hope. It is through the help of
Shug Avery that Celie finds her hope—the letters from Nettie that Albert had hidden from her. Basically there are four time frames of the novel. In the first period of her life, Celie experiences the misery of
poverty and cruelty at the hands of her stepfather. In the second closely-related period, Celie experiences
continued cruelty from her husband Albert. In the third period, she awakens to the possibility of
self-realization through her relationship with Shug and her renewed contact with her sister Nettie. Finally,
Celie has realized herself and has established a life where she has control; she has found the happiness and
contentment that come from self-realization. Another period, not directly a part of Celie's life, is Nettie's time
spent in Africa. The letters from Nettie serve as a contrast to Celie's life. They also enlarge Celie's perspective and help to universalize her life.
A drawback of the epistolary form of the novel is that one doesn't get different perspectives from different characters in different situations. The reader is shown only one point of view who is the writer of these letters. This gives us a personalized and first person view and how the writer saw the situation but we are sometimes not shown the true situation and how others may have reacted to it because we are restricted to the writers perspective.
Continuation..
ReplyDeleteWalker uses the novel’s epistolary (letter-writing) form to emphasize the power of communication. Celie writes letters to God, and Nettie writes letters to Celie. Both sisters gain strength from their letter writing, but they are saved only when they receive responses to their letters. Therefore, although writing letters enables self-e-xpression and confession, it requires a willing audience. When Celie never responds to Nettie’s letters, Nettie feels lost because Celie is her only audience. Nettie grows disillusioned with her missionary work because the imperialists will not listen to her and because the Olinka villagers are stubborn. Only after Nettie returns home to Celie, an audience guaranteed to listen, does she feel fulfilled and freed.
To conclude, the letter format has its advantages and its disadvantages. This format shows us the power of communication and togetherness but doesn't reveal an overall perspective. These letters play an exceptional role in Celie's maturation and show how she reacted to certain experiences. With Celie being the protagonist, it is good to show an in-depth analysis of her but the essence of a true setting isn't experienced by the readers because we don't actually know how the actual setting is. Although we are emphatic towards Celie, and are completely involved in the story, according to me, the epistolary form is a drawback because a novel shows all perspectives even when it is in first person and this novel has failed to achieve this.
CHOSEN QUESTION: 12: 12. List, analyze, and evaluate the various gender crossings in the novel.
ReplyDelete"Color Purple" is a novel by American Author Alice Walker and was published in 1982. Celie, the protagonist and narrator, is a poor, uneducated, fourteen-year-old southern black girl. She starts writing letters to God because her father, Alphonso, beats and rapes her. Alphonso has already impregnated Celie. Celie gave birth to a girl, whom her father presumably killed in the woods. Celie has a second child, a boy, whom her father also abducts. Celie’s mother becomes ill and dies. Alphonso brings home a new wife, and yet continues to abuse Celie. Her only source of love and the only one she can trust is her sister Nettie, who she helps get away from the family in order to avoid abuse by Alphonso. Celie is married away to Mr.________, a man who constantly abuses her as well. Continuous abuse by men throughout her young life converts this young woman into one with no self-esteem, hope or future to look forward to. She is described as a very submissive woman, who had never experienced any sort of pleasure in her life. Being abused by the man she called "father" and then more abuse by the man she was married to, led her to live a life mistrusting men, and trying to avoid them as much as possible. She never enjoyed sexual pleasure, never looked forward to, as she never knew what it was. Her whole life was hidden under a shadowy sphere, society had cast upon her. The novel depicts the situation at which a helpless woman struggles to understand herself and the world around her. More than talking about the black community, which in those days was looked down upon, the novel talks about women within a black community, who were mistreated, abused and considered as only materialistic things. Alice Walker vividly explains the various gender crossings in the novel, especially within the black community, in that particular time. She speaks out for all the women out there, who weren't fortunate enough to 'find themselves'.
The title of the book is an important symbol itself. Celie goes through life having a hard time noticing the beautiful aspects and appreciating them. She had a difficult life and was abused as an adolescent. The color purple is continually equated with suffering and pain. The book talks about how, when people have no other hope, nothing else they can cling on to, they look for a superior power, and that is what Celie does. Many characters in the novel break the boundaries of "traditional" male or female gender roles. Sofia's strength, Shug's sexual assertiveness, and Harpo's insecurity are major examples of such disproportion between a character's gender and the traits he or she displays. This blurring of sex traits and roles sometimes involves sexual ambiguity, as we see in the sexual relationship that develops between Celie and Shug. Disruption of gender roles sometimes causes problems. Harpo's insecurity about his masculinity directs him to marital problems and his attempts to beat Sofia. Likewise, Shug's confident sexuality and resistance to male domination cause her to be labeled a tramp. Throughout the novel, Walker wishes to emphasize that gender and sexuality are not as easy as we may believe. Her novel subverts and defies the traditional ways in which we understand women to be women and men to be men. Throughout the novel, the assertion of what the African-American femininity is compared to the exploration of African-American male struggle with masculinity. The idea of femininity among African-American women is focused around the abilities of the husband to care for the wife and family. The normative roles by men are viewed as the source of oppressive behavior by men. Therefore, if the African American male is not fulfilling his role, it is unlikely for the African-American woman to fulfill her role of femininity because she is predicated on his aptitude. Celie is forced to live, believing that life is all about being “used” , living the same way, getting abused, doing chores and all of that. No matter how bad people treat her, she submits herself. Her self-esteem has lowered to a point where life has no meaning and thus, she writes to God, someone she hopes might have the answers. She has never enjoyed sexual pleasure, or any kind of pleasure. But all of this changes, when Shug comes to live with Mr.______. Shug and Celie although initially do not get along well, eventually do get to know each other. They become friends. Celie learns that life is meant to live to the maximum potential and enjoy every bit. She learns a bit, although slowly, but gradually does learn, how to satisfy herself. She realizes herself better as she gets more emotionally attached to Shug, someone who could understand her and someone she could speak to. She also, finds herself, for the first time in her life to enjoy sexual pleasure, and that too, with Shug, a woman.
ReplyDeleteEventually Celie reaches a point where she stands up for her self-respect itself. She fights for what’s rightfully hers. She, you could say, revolts against Mr.______, for all the abuse he has done to her over the years. When she discovers herself, she begins to respect herself and as a result, stands up for herself. The novel, more than being about the various barriers set between women and men by society, is about how one can understand the world better by finding the inner voice, and expressing it. Mr._____ doesn’t stay calm, after Celie has revolted. He reacts in an insulting manner. But, none of this means anything to her, for after all, she has understood that if she knows herself and can stand up for what she’s worth, nothing else matters. This is the essence of the novel. This particular woman who has suffered child abuse, rape, emotional abuse, discrimination and more than anything, has been restricted of her rights, transits from a woman with no self-esteem, to a person who rises above all once she discovers her true self. Celie eventually has chased her patriarchal God away and come up with a new concept of God, she writes in her last letter, “Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God.” This reimagining of God on her own terms symbolizes Celie’s move from an object of someone else’s care to an independent woman. It also indicates that her voice is now sufficiently empowered to create her own narrative.
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