Literary Analysis #2

The Color Purple

By Alice Walker

1 The plot of the novel is about a young 14 year old girl named Celie who is given away as a wife by her father to a man she only knows as Mr._____ and he abuses her throughout the years. Before this happened, her father had raped her and she had two children, Adam and Olivia, who her father gave away and Celie thought they were dead. Celie moves in with Mr._____ her sister Nettie goes with her but she soon runs away. Celie’s sister Nettie writes to her for years but Celie never receives the letters because Mr._____ has kept the letters from her so she assumes Nettie is dead like her children. Mr._____ bring his old lover back Shug Avery, who is a famous singer, because she was sick and he still had feelings for her. Celie was the one to care for her and they soon became close friends. Both Celie and Shug Avery cared and loved each other. After many years have passed Shug Avery was the one to find out that Mr._____ had been keeping all of Nettie’s letters. Together they took them all back and read them. After learning that her sister and children are alive in Africa with the couple that adopted her children she rights her back. Shug Avery has given Celie the courage to stand up to Mr._____ and declare that she was leaving him to start a new life of her own. Celie had moved in with Shug and lived with her for a few years until she receives notice that her father had died and that the house that he lived in belongs to her and her sister. In the end Celie is finally reunited with her sister and children.

2 I think that the theme of the book is about hoe heroic Celie is after suffering many years of abuse by her father and Mr._____ and the fact of having to think that everyone she loves is gone.

3 The protagonist, Celie is dynamic because she has changed from a shy girl who let herself be bullied and bossed around to taking charge of her own life. Shug Avery is an important character because she gave Celie the help she needed to become the character she is in the end of the novel.

4 The letters that Celie and Nettie write to each other are symbols in the novel because the letters that Celie received from Nettie gave her something to live for and make her hope that they will soon meet.

5 The reason I chose this book is because the person who read it said they liked it and it looked like an interesting but sad topic. What kept me reading was the fact of what will happen to Celie. Will there be a happy ending, will she see her sister and children again.

6 Shug Avery was in a way Celie’s parent she loved Celie and cared for and she wouldn’t let Mr._____ beat her. In a way Shug is like my parents they too love me and care for me. I guess I can compare myself to Celie because she is lost and hurt and needs to find who she is in the world even if it took some time. I too need some time to find out where I am going and what I want to do in the world.

7 The one thing that I won’t forget are the letters that Celie wrote to god and Nettie. Celie can look back at those letters and remind herself how much she has changed and how strong and brave she has become. I think memories are important even the bad ones because you can tell yourself that you are stronger then you’ve ever been. They can change you and make you the person you are and will become.