This is one of my new favorite books.The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a black woman who finds herself in one abusive situation after another. Her stepfather molests her, her husband beats her, and she is worn down by bearing and caring for children. Over the course of the book, however, Celie learns to stand up for herself and, more importantly, learns to love. Celie's personal development is prompted by her relationship with Shug Avery, a singer and her husband's former lover, who comes to live with them for a while during an illness. Their relationship shifts dramatically, from competitors for Celie's husband to friends, then lovers, and finally family. As Shug says, "Us each other's peoples now" (189). Her personal development is helped along even further through her correspondence with her sister Nettie, who is working as a missionary in Africa with Celie's children that she was forced to give away. Through Shug, Celie learns about love, physical pleasure and desire, and the possibilities of creative outlets; through Nettie, Celie learns about the larger world and begins to see that her life is only one of many possibilities. She learns that her life could be different and through that gradual realization, she makes her life different.Some of this may sound corny, but it really, truly works in this novel. Walker is able to provide a vision of redeeming love that isn't simplistic or even easy for the characters involved. Celie's growth comes with pain, as does the growth of her formerly abusive husband into a real human being who is able to love both Celie and Shug and his children in a way that he could not before. What is most meaningful or moving for me in this book, though, is the vision of God and faith that Walker provides. At one point in the book, Celie announces that she no longer believes in God. She tells Shug, "the God I been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgitful and lowdown" (199). Shug responds by telling her about her form of God. She says, "God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it. . . . God ain't a he or a she, but a It" (202). Furthermore, she describes her experience of God by saying, "one day when I was sitting quiet and feeling like a motherless child, which I was, it come to me: that feeling of being part of everything, not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed. . . . It sort of like you know what, she say, grinning and rubbing high up on my thigh" (203). For Shug, God is love, joy, pleasure, beauty. God wants admiration and wants us to enjoy the things it has created. "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it" (203). This kind of pantheistic version of God in nature and in our experiences is one that resonates with me and one that provides plenty of opportunities to use religion in positive, life-affirming ways (as opposed to the sometimes frightening ways in which traditional religion--with its white male God and its proscriptions against sex and other forms of pleasure--can be used). This version of God is not distant and judgmental; it is internal and pleasurable, creative. Shug illustrates one way in which this God can be useful: "Whenever you trying to pray, and man plop himself on the other end of it, tell him to git lost, say Shug. Conjure up flowers, wind, water, a big rock. But this hard work, let me tell you. He been there so long, he don't want to budge. He threaten lightening, floods and earthquakes. Us fight. I hardly pray at all. Every time I conjure up a rock, I throw it" (204). In this way, prayer and God become part of a larger struggle for self-determination and the ability for women like Celie to fight back and claim their own lives back from those who would abuse them or take advantage of them. Some people object to The Color Purple on the grounds of its pantheism or its lesbianism or its frank sexuality or its violence and abuse or its representation of men. Some people see Celie's attitude toward men (she is totally uninterested at best, with the exception of the friendship that finally develops between her and her husband--and that bonding occurs over how much they both love Shug) as a condemnation of men in general. But Walker's real concern here is love--love for oneself, love for others, and love received from others. As Celie's husband says while they sit and talk and sew together, "When it comes to what folks do together with they bodies . . . anybody's guess is as good as mine. But when you talk about love I don't have to guess. I have love and I have been love. And I thank God he let me gain understanding enough to know love can't be halted just cause some peoples moan and groan" (276-7).
Purple is for pride, didn't you know? Purple is the royal pride to boot, the one that can afford full protection and wears its self-assumed precious state on its sleeve. There's some in love and some in hate and some, perhaps the most, in the calm reserve that takes what it gets and builds itself a home. For purple is also piety, and the potential of the purpling palimpsest is breathtaking.If you look up 'purpling', you will find both a transformation and an act of love, the latter grounded in gendered stereotypes but, for our purposes, will be pruned of its connotations and left as a simple affection. No lust, no obsession, nothing of the usual pride of desiring and feeling oneself more than worthy of receiving reciprocation. That was stripped before the pages even began, a summary of rape and pain and separations all along the spectrum of self and self-worth.It is not a mark of the author, but the reader, if this beginning is more believed in than the final ending. Too pat and contrived they say, too much that a being both woman and black would take thirty years to find peace of mind. Or perhaps it's the duality that so hard to swallow, two sisters in such disparate circumstances each discovering a measure of resolve upon which to thrive. Perhaps it's the lack of fight and final 'success' on each and every frontier that the readers object to, the concept that you can't always get what you want and yet. And yet.And yet in the face of all the hate and straightened circumstances, two girls become wizened lovers of life. Through the weaving of cloth and of thought, each discover their methodology of creation, remembering where they came from and going forward nevertheless. They forgive, they relish, they come to grips with the facts of sexism and racism and colonialism and deconstruct their God accordingly. They are not even the only ones, as myriad family and friends inspire and are inspired by these two souls, traversing their own ways in the sorrow and joy that always accompanies the search for personal truth. A time for anger, a time for acceptance, and the prodigal others all along the path.What matters here is not the means by which they achieve their ends, or that they achieved them at all. What matters is the thought enabled by fruitful discovery, the meanderings of the mind over what it means to find value in existence day in, day out. The majority of literature was penned by those blessed by all varieties of sociocultural windfalls, so it should be no surprise when characters find their philosophical footing as a result of fortuitous regeneration. Decry the believability all you like, but if that little was enough for you to forget the life-affirming themes galore, grown through every slow and subtle machination of time and circumstance, be sure to treat the rest of your readings accordingly. I guarantee a sharp decrease in once favored pieces if you're honest, or objective, if that's the vernacular with which you appease yourself. I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ast. And that in wondering bout the big things and asting bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, he say, the more I love.There are no name drops or modes of thought approved by academia here, but if you're truly open minded, you will recognize the mixing and melding of universal experience without any need for labels. This is as fine a contemplation of small winners in the midst of brutal reality as any, a flowering of humanity with full knowledge of every level of high and low, all the more worthy of attention for its status as a rare breed of literature. The latter has no affect on quality, but in terms of building a common humanity on the backs of pride and piety, on the steps of believing the self worth having and finding the others worth cherishing, in the color purple, it is worth everything.
What do You think about The Color Purple (2004)?
Heart-stirring and powerful, The Color Purple is truly inspiring - I don’t know what took me so long to get around to reading this novel! Most readers will know the background to this one, either through the book or the movie. So, I won’t rehash the plot here, but I will share some quick thoughts. My feelings were all over the place with this one. Sometimes outraged, often saddened, occasionally amused, but ultimately I felt joyful as I reached the final page. When I initially started this book, I was hesitant about the epistolary format and struggled a bit with the dialect. However, such misgivings quickly melted away and I was drawn right into Celie’s life and her story. I cheered her on the whole way as she suffered through unthinkable abuse and eventually developed her own voice and a strength that I thoroughly admired. As she discovered what it was like to love and be loved, as she cherished the hope of one day seeing her sister again, as she learned to understand God and what God meant to her personally, and as she learned the gift of forgiveness, Celie has reserved a place in my mind as one of the most treasured of heroines. Alice Walker has managed to accomplish something that is not easy to do – she turned this reader into a bit of a blubbering fool by the end of the novel! This is one book that I will be placing on my shelf with the intention to read it once again.“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ast. And that in wondering bout the big things and asting bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, he say, the more I love.”
—Candi
4.5 stars - Incredible. I really loved it.Sometimes I pick up award winning books and am utterly puzzled by how anyone felt they were worthy of that type of prestige and attention. Other times, I pick up award winning books, such as this one, and know right away that it will be a memorable and thoroughly satisfying read.Epistolary novels can often make it more difficult for the reader to become fully engaged and attached to the characters, but through Celie's letters to God and later her sister, I became completely ensnared in the lives of the endearing and unforgettable women found within this book. I listened to this one on audiobook which was narrated by the author herself and highly recommend that format. A glance through the book shows that she chose to not use quotations which is always an annoyance to me. The book is also written in dialect, which I don't mind, but I know it bothers others. You will never notice either of these things if you let Alice Walker tell you the story herself. -------------------------------------------Favorite Quote: What I love best bout Shug is what she been through, I say. When you look in Shug’s eyes you know she been where she been, seen what she seen, did what she did. And now she know.First Sentence: You better not never tell nobody but God.
—Cher
Seguimos o sofrimento de uma rapariga que desde tenra idade não teve opções de escolha.Teve filhos com o pai.É obrigada a casar com alguém que o pai escolhe para ela.É afastada da irmã.É afastada de tudo, esperando que assim vá para uma vida melhor.Célie é das pesonagens mais fortes e corajosas que se podem ler nos livros.Apesar de tudo por que passou e ainda passa, não perde a esperança e não perde a força e a vontade de viver.Gostei muito desta personagem que me pareceu tanto uma pessoa da vida real.Nettie. A irmã de Célie, foi outra personagem que gostei e que ainda me consegui identificar mais do que com Célie.Também ela sofre e é obrigada a sair do seu próprio país e mesmo assim vai lutar por aquilo em que acredita, pelo direito à educação e aos cuidados médicos para todos.Todo o livro está escrito em cartas.As cartas são os capítulos.Ao início Célie escreve para Deus a contar como a sua vida está.Mais tarde vai escrever para Nettie...Também Nettie irá escrever para Célie...Se eu gostei destas duas personagens.Adorei Sophie.Uma mulher que não se dobra por nada.Uma mulher que não aceita que o marido lhe bata quando quer/precisa de alguma coisa.Saiu duma casa em que o pai bate na mãe e nos filhos.Saiu e não quer isso para si. Sabe-o e sabe-o com determinação.Tanto que, este seu feitio tão à frente para a sua época lhe vai trazer o maior dos dissabores...Adorei a personagem e estou desejosa de ver o filme para ver como a conseguiram adaptar para o grande ecrãn...Shugg. A personagem da reviravolta.Extravagante. Extrovertida. "Diferente".Onde ela está e quando ela chega, tudo gira à sua volta e tudo muda.Toda a gente lhe quer agradar.É uma cantora.Conhece Célie e... muda a vida desta.O desenvolvimento de Célie ao longo de toda a história é notável.Nunca deixou de ser a Célie que nos foi apresentada mas ao mesmo tempo deixou de a ser.Ensina-nos serenidade e perdão.Ensina-nos perseverança e coragem.Ensina-nos felicidade e tristeza.O título que dá nome ao livro, para mim, tanto pode ser pelas descrições dos campos púrpura ou, pela quantidade de pancada suportada por negros, exibindo essa mesma cor na cara...O título continua a ser um mistério para mim...Um ponto forte que vou referir.A escrita. Como toda a história se passa no sul dos Estados Unidos, a autora escreveu mesmo assim, então encontramos expressões como: "Ast" em vez de "Ask", "kilt" em vez de "killed", etc.Ao início dificultou-me um pouco a leitura mas depois, tornou-se um dos meus aspectos favoritos ou não fosse eu uma amante de maneirismos e sotaques nas pessoas. Uma amante do que torna uma pessoa única.Se já leram "As serviçais", vão encontrar algumas semelhanças nas descrições de como tratavam os negros naquela época. De como era a sua vida.(E é mais provável terem lido este livro primeiro do que "As serviçais" pois este último é um livro mais recente).
—Filipa
