Synopsis of Color Purple

The Color Purple follows the life of Celie, a fourteen year-old African-American girl living in Georgia in the 1930s. This novel is composed of sometimes difficult-to-read letters Celie writes to God as she describes the abuse, discrimination, dehumanization, greed and death she has encountered. This book parallels with Book of Negroes in terms of the themes of racism, sexism, love and personal identity. Celie is a dynamic character and it is interesting to see her development in values and identity as she moves through her difficult life.

Vices & Virtues

Many claim the color purple to be an incredibly sad book. Sometimes I even have to put it down mid-page because I am so disgusted by the peoples’ treatment of Celie. Yet, while still talking about rape, racism, poverty and sexism, there is an optimistic feel to it. While reading A Streetcar Named Desire or Book of Negroes I would think “I hate our society” and then put down the book. With the Color Purple, I would feel that way on occasion, but then something would happen that would make me feel as the human race isn’t completely doomed for misery.

This is by far the most vulgar book I have ever read, so why am I not miserable reading it?

Nearing the last few pages of the novel, I have stumbled upon my answer.

First, I am going to go through the virtues and vices of the main characters, and then illustrate why this has anything to do with anything…

CELIE

Virtues: Understanding, kind, compassionate, clear-sighted.

Vices: Little drive, lack of love, little hope for future, low self-esteem.

MR. ________

Virtues: Hardworker, on occasion loving and soft-hearted, determined

Vices: Cruel to Celie, “weak” (stated by Shug on pg. 104), narrow-minded.

SHUG

Virtues: Charismatic, loveable, confident.

Vices: Somewhat insensitive, rash, harsh.

 

I’ve noticed that all of the characters have been developing. Near the end of the novel, Mr. ______ and Celie are now able to communicate due to Celie’s increased drive and confidence and Mr. ______’s thoughtfulness and awareness. Shug’s character has also been developed beautifully throughout the novel; her connection to Celie has taught her to care for others sensitivities and emotions more intently.

Even Adam has become more open-minded towards Tashi’s tribal scarring, and out of love, he scarred himself. At first these tribal rituals horrified him, which was what stood in the way of the progression of Adam and Tashi’s relationship.

I think Alice Walker was trying to show how human relationships and others’ impression can benefit us. I find that I learn the most about myself from other people; they bring out values or dimensions of my character I perhaps would never know existed without them.

One of my favourite parts of the novel is when Celie and Shug are speaking about God. Celie (a deeply religious person) had always thought of God as an old white man, and was feeling incredibly disappointed because she’s rarely treated well by white people or by men.

  “I believe God is everything” (p. 167) said Shug. “Everything that is or ever was or ever will be. And when you can feel that, and be happy to feel that, you’ve found It.” (p. 167) 

This brings out a realization in Celie,

“Well, us talk and talk bout God, but I’m still adrift. Trying to chase that old white man out of my head. I been so bust think bout him that I never truly notice nothing God make. Not a blade of corn (how it do that?) not the color purple (where it come from?). Not the little wildflowers. Nothing.

Now that my eyes opening, I feel like a fool. Next to any little shrub of bush in my yard, Mr. _______’s evil sort of shrink.” (p. 168)

In one conversation, Shug was able to reveal to Celie a whole new view on God, as well as a positive outlook on life. I believe this optimistic, conscious state has been rooted in Celie’s existence, she just needed Shug to pull it out of her.

This contrasts the belief of Lord Henry, a character in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray that I have recently started reading (it's really good),

“To influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of someone else’s music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. (p. 58)

 So was Shug’s influence on Celie muffling Celie’s soul or was her influence giving it room to breath? What about the influence the missionary had on the Olinka people? These novels have pushed the question: by influencing people, are we taking away from their true identity or are we helping them find it?

ISU Novel Selection

Through analyzing my notes and annotations, I determined that I was most drawn to the theme of dehumanization and the process of finding personal identity and the self in Book of Negroes. I started my research by scouring Oprah's Book Club website for books that interested me and spoke to the theme of personal identity. From there I began narrowing down my substantial list by looking at page numbers and using the Lexile Framework for Reading to determine reading levels. My favourite novel from Oprah's reading list was The Good Lord Bird.

I consulted my well-read family for novels that spoke about dehumanization, and was given a list of authors including Pearl Buck, Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Patrick Conroy. I also looked at 'What Should I Read Next 'resource and looked at novels similar to Book of Negroes. Below is my finalized list of possible ISU novels in order of preference, and below the titles are descriptions of the novels and their relativity to Book of Negroes.

1) The Color Purple –Alice Walker

A novel written in 1982 following the story of a 14 year old African-American woman living in Georgia. She writes letters to God of how she is repeatedly raped and beaten by her alleged father. This novel explores the theme of self-identity and human development and explores the impact narration and writing has on the development one’s sense of self. This mirrors Book of Negroes, in which Aminata is struggling with her personal identity. Similar to Book of Negroes, The Color Purple includes the themes of racism, sexism and dehumanization.

2) The Good Lord Bird- James McBride

A fictional novel rooted in real life slavery events and is described as a descendent of the story ‘Huckleberry Finn’. The protagonist of the tale is Henry Shackleford, a young escaped slave that teams up with the abolitionist John Brown. This plot line is quite similar to that of Book of Negroes. As this novel is so recently published, very little information on themes is accessible, but as slavery is involved, it is more than likely that the themes of dehumanization and racism are present within the novel. It seems that this novel also follows the theme of self-identity, as the protagonist is forced to dress up in drag and live in a brothel.

3) The Good Earth- Pearl Buck

This 1931 novel is the story of a family living in a traditional chinese village before WWI. It gives the reader a glimpse into chinese culture, similar to Book of Negroes showing life in Bayo. The Good Earth focuses on the importance of simplicity and discusses how wealth and power is the destroyer of traditional values. This parallels Book of Negroes’ theme of slavery and desire for wealth and power push humans to do unthinkable things to one another.