The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Book Review

Photo by Yana Gorbunova on Unsplash

The Color Purple by Alice Walker was required reading in many high school and college courses in the 1990s. In college, I studied the book extensively. I read the book in my Black literature class, my Black history class, and my creative writing class. In my creative writing class, when we were discussing the book, the professor actually told another student to ask me about it!

I felt I had become the unofficial aficionado of the book in college, having written many papers about the book. It’s sad now that the book is being banned due to the current political climate, along with many other works by Black authors.

Black literature is now being relegated from the mainstream curriculum in today’s classrooms. Some who make these decisions want black voices to be taken away, not celebrated for the floral beauty that they are, just like the purple poppies spoken of in the book, each one unique in color and scope, all Black voices are screaming to be heard.

Themes in the story

Alice Walker writes in vivid detail about the Black struggle in American society. Walker writes about how black women are not seen as free-thinking people by the men in their families and in society as a whole.

Walker also depicts the harsh realities of poor, Black life in the South during that time.

Another pattern I have observed from the book is that she shows how female relationships can withstand the test of time even when separated.

But the theme I took away the most from the book comes from Celie, the main character. She had to deal with two big whammies in her life, being black and being a woman.

Yet, Celie had three whammies to deal with: being black, a woman, and ugly. It really went home to her when Shug, the woman Mister really wanted to be with, told her to her face how ugly she was. This theory I explained in my college course.

Celie was stuck in her world because she wasn’t pretty.

She was stuck in her world because it seemed she had nothing to offer.

And Mister, her husband, lusted after her more attractive sister. She’s the one he really wanted to marry but couldn’t.

The ironic thing is that Shug is the one who allowed her to escape her ugliness because she was ugly in looks, as things were ugly in her home life.

She told Mister when she left with Shug:

“I’m poor, black, I may even be ugly, but dear God, I’m here, I’m here.”

The women in her life helped define Celie’s future. Shug, who took her away from evil Mister, and her sister Nettie, by taking care of her children when she couldn’t.

Celie’s Nettie sister was everything to her, and Mister knew it. That’s why he hid her letters from her. Thus, the sister bond was the most powerful relationship in the book.

Black women know that sisterly bonds extend to many of their close friendships as well. Many can relate to the theme on such a personal level.

Black women value their friends just like sisters, which is a recurring theme through Black literature.

“You and me will never part…”

From Rogerebert.com

“You and me, Us never part,

Makidada, Makidada,

You and me, Us have one heart.”- The Color Purple, 1985 movie

The beautiful relationship between Celie and Nettle is the core of the book. No matter what you experience in life, you should value your family, because in the end, that’s who you will turn to the most.

Both women were at one with the Color Purple, at one with each other, and at one with their creator. Alice Walker did a great job in incorporating all these elements into her writing.

The book was successful when it came out. Alice Walker was the first black woman to win The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983. The 1985 Steven Spielberg movie adaptation was also well received. The second movie adaptation in 2023, garnered mixed reviews. I recommend the book and the 1985 movie if you want to see how Alice Walker’s words translate into film.

The book is a must read. At least it was when I was in school. I’m not so sure about that now. How times have changed.

Thank you for reading.

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