Blogger Note
This extensive book annotation of The Color Purple by Alice Walker was completed as an assignment for the graduate course LIS 763, Readers Advisory Services at Dominican University in the Fall of 2019. This course gives an overview of the history and necessary techniques and ideas behind readers' advisory. This annotation was to examine the social history of a book and its impact, if any, on culture.
BOOK ANNOTATION
Author: Alice Walker
Title: The Color Purple
Publication Date: 1982 (original) 1992 (Tenth Anniversary Edition)
Number of Pages: 290 (Hardcover)
Geographical Setting: Rural Georgia, USA, Sub Saharan Africa
Time Period: early 1900s-1940s
Plot Summary: The Color Purple is a coming of age story that follows the protagonist, Celie’s, life as she goes from being the victim to reclaiming her freedom. The Color Purple is an epistolary novel that presents letters written to God from Celie, and then between Celie and her sister Nettie. The story, set in the early 1900s, opens with a 14-year-old girl, Celie, who writes to God asking for a sign to help her understand what is happening to her. Her father abuses her. She gives birth to two of his children, which are then stripped away. Celie is later married off (sold really) to an older man, Albert, whom she calls “Mr.___” who physically, sexually, and emotionally abuses her further.
She builds non-traditional familial relationships that demonstrate co-dependence; yet, sanctuary, while the person she loves and misses most, her sister, Nettie, lives on the other side of the world. For much of the story, neither knows if the other is alive. They write letters to each other to chronicle their lives apart. Mr.____ hides letters that Nettie has written to Celie. Celie keeps her letters to herself because she has no idea where Nettie is. The sisters have an enduring hope that their love for one another will bring them together again.
The Social History of The Color Purple
I saw the movie The Color Purple when I was ten years old. I was utterly disturbed by it, yet I understood, even at that age, that I was witnessing something special, and unfortunately, accurate. The movie opened with a pregnant girl not much older than me, and to watch her life unfold was scary and off-putting. I appreciated the humor, I loved the music, and I recognized many of the characters as family members and acquaintances. It was the first movie I had watched with an all-black cast. On the one hand, it was nice to see my culture represented on screen. On the other hand, I was appalled that my ancestors endured such trauma and violence.
Because I had seen the movie, and because it had traumatized me, I was afraid to read the book. I had heard over many years that the film was authentic to the text, so I assumed that I knew the story well enough. I was wrong, but only partially wrong. I knew the story, but my avoidance of reading the book prevented me from experiencing the richness and the varied details of the text that the movie could not cover. Reading The Color Purple was more than I imagined. Exciting family dynamics and aspects brought the story to life in a way that I had missed before. Extended narratives about secondary characters added more to the story in a way that helped me to understand the context of the time, the early 1900s, and the setting, the rural south. My grandmother was born in 1910 and lived in the rural south. I found out as an adult that she had suffered the same fate as Celie. She, too, had two children taken from her as a teenager. It is unclear who she conceived these children with, but it is evident that the ramifications of the event have echoed for decades. In my opinion, The Color Purple appeals to many African Americans because it is their story.
It seems the intended audience at the time of publication (the early 80s) was adults due to the themes and the sensitive nature of the subjects of rape, incest, lesbianism, and racism. Now, the book is marketed to teenagers and young adults because it is a coming of age story. These same themes that were considered “sensitive” or “mature” in nature in the 1980s are now commonplace in some YA books. The Color Purple still endures the criticism of being a book that many parents do not want their children to read and has been on many banned books lists. Yet it also has been reviewed and praised in many literature courses for teenagers and undergraduate college students. Many professors use the text to help students to critically read and examine the text for its strong cultural themes and broader impacts on society.
When The Color Purple was initially published in 1983, it was an immediate bestseller. That same year, Alice Walker became the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for the novel. She also won the National Book Award. Due to the success of the story, director Steven Spielberg released the film version in 1985, and the film received eleven academy award nominations. Still, in print, The Color Purple is an international bestseller and has been translated into at least 25 languages.
Because of its popularity, The Color Purple has been the subject of many critiques since its beginning. New audiences and students are introduced to it yearly, and commentary about the complex themes within its pages are discussed at length. In comparison to Walker’s other novels, The Color Purple has been her most beloved. Readers wanting more of the story and its characters have been given Possessing the Secret of Joy and The Temple of My Familiar as story continuations featuring familiar characters, but with different narratives.
Walker has been quoted as saying, “I do like the way that I have been well taken care of by this particular story. It means that I can write any other story that I want to write, do whatever I want to, pretty much” (The Guardian, 2007.) In spite of the complex and sometimes harsh criticisms Walker received, she feels that the story has taken care of her and set her up for success for the rest of her career.
Walker’s other work includes poetry and commentary. As earlier mentioned, she does have other novels to her credit, but these works have not achieved the same notoriety as The Color Purple. Known to be an activist for the oppressed and a self-proclaimed womanist (as opposed to feminist), Walker’s fictional work tends to focus on stories that highlight women’s stories and how they overcome astounding obstacles. Not all of her stories have women as the main characters or protagonists. Walker still has work with men as main characters and those stories stick to the themes of African American life given a particular time period.
Walker is known to have an affinity for Zora Neale Hurston, and the two writers have been compared to each other in numerous commentaries. Brogan (1999) states that Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God provided “a matrix that offered textual bonding for empowering [Walker’s] work” (p. 185.) Walker wrote an essay in 1975 about Hurston. The piece “helped lift from obscurity the work and life story of the most widely published black woman author of the 1930s Harlem Renaissance” (NPR, 2004) It is believed that Walker’s recognition of Hurston’s work brought the 1930s writer’s work back to print and prominence.
Apart from Black culture, Brogan offers that The Color Purple has a sphere of influence more broadly on women’s literature. Many Things Have Happened Since He Died by Elizabeth Dewberry Vaughn, written in the 1990s, is about a southern white woman abused by her husband. Brogan states that Vaughn’s book is related to The Color Purple, as The Color Purple is related to Huston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. "All three (stories) expose the psychological and physical abuse a woman, or women, suffer at the hands of men in a patriarchal society” (1999, p. 186.)
Another book that could be related to The Color Purple is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Both are coming of age stories where a poor young uneducated girl is forced against her will into a life of servitude and abuse. Both demonstrate young girls, later women who are victims of circumstance and culture living during times in history where women's rights are few and undervalued. Both stories resolve with the main characters finding peace and independence. These are only a few stories that The Color Purple has influenced. There are countless others.
One of the ideas that make The Color Purple so interesting is that the same criticism that the story experienced when it debuted is the same criticisms it still holds, particularly for people of color. Although rooted in the early 1900s, the narrative of the story resonates deeply with Black Americans due to its familiarity and its sharp pictures of stories known and related within Black families. The pride of Black people attempting to overcome their past while facing ugly truths about injustices inflicted upon them by them can be a hard truth to face. Critics then (in the 1980s) and now bemoan Walker’s representation of Black men as abusers and oppressors. Some even accuse the work of not having enough redemption for black men within the narrative. Walker dismissed the critics insisting that the story was not about Black men; it was about Celie and how she evolved over her life, given the circumstances within it.
Due to its prominence within literature and film, The Color Purple is not a story that fades quietly into the background because the story is old or out of date. Sadly, there are still few narratives with Blacks as the focal point that have achieved the mainstream position as The Color Purple has. Resurrected and celebrated nearly every decade since the book and film’s release brings about new readers and criticisms that spotlight the text repeatedly.
Many African American families watch the film around holidays and reminisce with joy and sadness over its accuracy. The story is introduced to new generations in a way that is related to say, “this used to happen to us!” Then new narratives, questions, and conversations invite young people into a history that seems so far away that if never introduced, it could be forgotten.
In just a few years, 2022, to be exact, The Color Purple will be forty years old. It is considered a classic by most, and those who have not read the book will probably have seen or will see the movie. Such exposure keeps The Color Purple relevant. Stars from the film, such as Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, are still prominent figures in contemporary society. Their association with The Color Purple has played a significant role in their celebrity status, amplifying their voices within American culture.
The Color Purple is a story that has timeless appeal. The conversations surrounding its themes will continue as it continues to be celebrated and introduced to new readers.
References
Brogan, J. V. (1999). The Hurston/Walker/Vaughn Connection: Feminist Strategies in American Fiction. Women's Studies, 28, 185–200.
Clark, A., & Jones, T. (2009, August 23). Retrieved from http://www.nbafictionblog.org/nba-winning-books-blog/1983-1.html
Edemariam, A. (2007, June 23). Free Spirit. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/23/featuresreviews.guardianreview23
NPR. (2004, April 26). Intersections: Crafting a Voice on Black Culture; Alice Walker on Zora Neale Hurston's "Spiritual Food". Morning Edition. Culver City, CA.
Kirkus. (1982, June 28). Review of The Color Purple. Kirkus.
Lit Lovers. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/211-color-purple-walker?start=2
PBS. (2014, February 14). Alice Walker; Beauty in Truth Biography and Awards. American Masters. New York, NY.
The HistoryMakers. (2016, October 5). The HistoryMakers.
Shipp, E. R. (1986, January 27). Blacks in Heated Debate Over The Color Purple. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/27/us/blacks-in-heated-debate-over-the-color-purple.html
The Color Purple. (n.d.). [Motion Picture]
Walker, A. (1992). The color purple. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.