The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Genre: Historical Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
Set in the deep American South between the wars, The Color Purple is the classic tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.
MY OPINION: ****
TW: sexual assault
I'd like to preface my review by saying that I knew nothing about this book prior to starting it. I knew there was a movie and musical version of it but didn't know anything about the plot or the characters. I mentor a student in prose and creative writing and one of the excerpts that we studied was from this particular book and after analyzing it with him, I knew that I had to read this as soon as possible.
The first few chapters are initially very shocking. It begins with incredibly serious and traumatic topics that I was not at all prepared for. If you don't already know, the book begins with a child (fourteen or fifteen?) being r*ped by her father. This is obviously a very shocking and quite frankly disgusting topic but sadly it was a reality for many women, especially during the time period the book was set in. It made me feel sick to the stomach to read about Celie and her terrifying "relationship" with her father and it definitely set the tone for the rest of the book.
Contrary to my previous beliefs, this book was not centered around race. It features a predominantly African American set of characters but it wasn't the main aspect of one's identity that the book focused on. Instead, the book is more about feminism, female empowerment, relationships between women, and women and sexuality. As someone who is very passionate about intersectional feminism and women's studies, this was definitely a book for me and I ended up really enjoying it.
I'm not the biggest fan of epistolary writing because I've always found it to be quite... boring or bland. I did like the structure of this book, however, because it featured letters written mostly to God that allowed readers to see more about the character of Celie and the people around her, as well as learn about the role of religion in her life. However, the four-star rating comes mainly from the fact that I often had to take extended breaks from the book and read something lighter. It wasn't difficult to understand but it oftentimes rambled on and on and it was hard to stay interested at all times.
The book features a span of about thirty (?) years of Celie's life. It begins with her father's horrifying deeds against her, her mother's death, and her separation from her sister and segues more into her life as a married woman. I loved the quaintness of the plot because there wasn't ever a real action-packed climax but instead was written almost as if I were reading Celie's autobiography.
I loved the relationships in this book because all of them were so disparate from each other but equally developed and well-written. The relationship between Celie and her husband can easily be contrasted with the relationship between Celie and Shug Avery. I had not realized that their relationship went beyond platonic when they first met but I loved the inclusion of Shug's character because it helped Celie to better understand her identity and her sexual orientation, even if she never put a label on it. Celie's relationship with her own husband is violent and abusive and I loved that she got to experience love or some form of it with Shug.
I also loved the relationship between Nettie and Celie, the two sisters who make up the foundation of this novel. They write to each other from two separate continents but their bond is definitely unbreakable. Nettie is in Africa on a missionary trip and happily in love but is besotted by her own set of problems that were so different from Celie's that it was easy to draw parallels from them. At its core, this book is about women and the power of women and I absolutely loved that.
Intersectional feminism may be a "newer" term but it's definitely resonant in this book, even without the label. Intersectional feminism is feminism that takes into account the many different aspects that makes up a woman's background, such as race, age, social class, sexual orientation, etc. It does not separate those elements and instead recognizes the natural blend between those factors. This is highly present in the book because we learn about Celie as a woman, but more than that, Celie as an African-American woman who's in the "lower" class and "lesbian" (I use this term loosely because she never actually labelled herself and I don't want to unintentionally misrepresent her identity). I loved that because it didn't strive to separate the many things that made up Celie and instead recognized that all of those factors were what made Celie Celie.
I loved this book. It's empowering and powerful. It's passionate and realistic. It's beautifully-written and achingly raw. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a book about intersectional feminism and the power of women.
Main Character: Celie
Sidekick(s): Shug, Nettie, etc
Villain(s): Violence, abuse, r*pe, etc
Historical Fiction Elements: This book was set in the American South in between the wars.
Comments
Post a Comment