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A review by adiscoveryoflit
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
4.0
Trigger warnings for graphic sexual content and situations of violence and abuse.
I struggled with this book at the start because our main protagonist is very uneducated so her use of language and punctuation in the letters she writes wasn’t the easiest to read, however I got used to it pretty quickly.
This is a very heavy read, with very hard hitting topics that may leave you feeling uncomfortable, but it’s these types of topics that always needs to be addressed. However, besides from this it’s also about strong badass women, who stand up for themselves through the hard times they are put through, which I enjoyed reading.
This book mainly follows Celie; but you also hear from her sister Nettie. I loved hearing from Nettie and her stories from Africa. You get to hear what it was like for people living in Olinka, in the slumps, and their native families traditions. Celie life is a whole lot different.
Celie is a young black girl growing up in poverty, in the early 1900s. At the age of 14 she was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. This book follows her life throughout the next 30 years of living in a horrible forced marriage to finding love with Shug Avery, who is a bi-sexual character; and becoming a badass woman and learning to use her voice to stand up for herself.
‘… I should have lock you up. Just let you out to work.
The jail you plan for me is the one in which you will rot, I say.’
‘…I’m pore, I’m black, I may be ugly and can’t cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I’m here.’
The Color purple addresses a lot of sensitive topics that Walker definitely does not shy away from. You will learn this just from the first page. However, its also about strong Black women and I immediately was like, this is a brilliant book for feminists. It vividly showed you how women were treated, but how when they find their voices they will stand up for themselves and be a boss while doing so. When Celie stuck up for herself against Mr. I was so proud. The ending plastered a beaming smile onto my face, because I was so happy for the way things turned out for Celie.
I also didn’t realise that this book is actually banned from many countries and schools. I can see why, but I feel this book would be fine to read for University students but too heavy for High School students. For it to be banned from schools I understand but for university students and up I think this book is great for them. I did do some research on this book, and apparently there have been different reasons for the book being banned; these include religious objections, homosexuality, violence, African history, rape, incest, drug abuse, explicit language, and sexual scenes. However, everything addressed in this book is true. These things happen, and need to be taught and discussed with many.
Was this an enjoyable read? In some aspects, no! Can people learn from this? Yes! So, I would highly recommend.
I struggled with this book at the start because our main protagonist is very uneducated so her use of language and punctuation in the letters she writes wasn’t the easiest to read, however I got used to it pretty quickly.
This is a very heavy read, with very hard hitting topics that may leave you feeling uncomfortable, but it’s these types of topics that always needs to be addressed. However, besides from this it’s also about strong badass women, who stand up for themselves through the hard times they are put through, which I enjoyed reading.
This book mainly follows Celie; but you also hear from her sister Nettie. I loved hearing from Nettie and her stories from Africa. You get to hear what it was like for people living in Olinka, in the slumps, and their native families traditions. Celie life is a whole lot different.
Celie is a young black girl growing up in poverty, in the early 1900s. At the age of 14 she was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. This book follows her life throughout the next 30 years of living in a horrible forced marriage to finding love with Shug Avery, who is a bi-sexual character; and becoming a badass woman and learning to use her voice to stand up for herself.
‘… I should have lock you up. Just let you out to work.
The jail you plan for me is the one in which you will rot, I say.’
‘…I’m pore, I’m black, I may be ugly and can’t cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I’m here.’
The Color purple addresses a lot of sensitive topics that Walker definitely does not shy away from. You will learn this just from the first page. However, its also about strong Black women and I immediately was like, this is a brilliant book for feminists. It vividly showed you how women were treated, but how when they find their voices they will stand up for themselves and be a boss while doing so. When Celie stuck up for herself against Mr. I was so proud. The ending plastered a beaming smile onto my face, because I was so happy for the way things turned out for Celie.
I also didn’t realise that this book is actually banned from many countries and schools. I can see why, but I feel this book would be fine to read for University students but too heavy for High School students. For it to be banned from schools I understand but for university students and up I think this book is great for them. I did do some research on this book, and apparently there have been different reasons for the book being banned; these include religious objections, homosexuality, violence, African history, rape, incest, drug abuse, explicit language, and sexual scenes. However, everything addressed in this book is true. These things happen, and need to be taught and discussed with many.
Was this an enjoyable read? In some aspects, no! Can people learn from this? Yes! So, I would highly recommend.