The Color Purple by Alice Walker

English 3-4 (H) Outside Reading Report

Diana V. Perez

First Quarter

Book Title and Author: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Setting: Rural Georgia, Memphis, Tennessee, and parts of Africa

Plot and Characters: The Color Purple is the story of Celie, a poverty-stricken Southern black woman striving to escape the debasement and the cruelty brought upon her by men. It is told through her own letters (and her sister's), and due to her isolation and despair, she begins the book by addressing the letters to God. Celie is frequently beaten and abused by her stepfather as a teenager. Her stepfather forces her into a loveless marriage with Albert, a widower with four children. Celie is only a servant , in Albert's eyes, and can only please him with her occasional sexual availability, for he is in love with the vivacious and prized Shug Avery. But eventually, Celie frees herself from Albert's repressive force. With the help of communication with other women and her love for her sister, Nettie - who has fled to Africa with a missionary group - Celie ends up leaving Albert and then moves to Memphis Tennessee. In Memphis, Celie opens a business in which she designs and makes clothes, specifically jeans. In the end, it is Albert's real love and mistress, Shug Avery, and his in-law, Sofia, who provide Celie with emotional support for her spiritual evolution. Celie's ability to accept herself eventually lead to Albert's disclosure of his own masochistic life and a reconciliation with the people who once loathed him.

"So What?": The Color Purple includes an abundant amount of controversial subjects. Including sexist, racist, and masochistic matters. The fact that the book touches on these subjects allows for future readers to look back on a time where sexism, racism, and masochism were part of our society. By doing so the author will be able to educate future readers on how injudicious these acts are, then history has a chance of not repeating itself. Another thing this book teaches people is the importance of everything and to not disregard the beauty that life and nature has to offer. The author explained that the color purple is a color "that is always a surprise but is everywhere in nature." Meaning that "purple" also stands for everything we don't take advantage of in life and don't notice until it's too late.

Intertextuality:

1) Compared to Siddhartha, Siddhartha's spiritual journey compares with that of Celie's spiritual journey. They both start out as a religious journey that they both didn't even know they were under-going. Then it becomes spiritual, where everything in their lives is noticed and appreciated for what it is. Celie now