Review by james1star - The Color Purple

A review by james1star
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Oh Celie, you have my heart 💜

Despite the TWs below, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is a masterpiece. To induce such an visceral response via highly emotive and sometimes haunting portrayals, is truly phenomenal. I am in awe of the writing, pacing, plot and characters. Truly a timeless and sadly still relatable exceptional piece of literature that has thoroughly earned its place as a classic. Everyone should read this. If it can’t spark even a little emotion in you then I don’t know what can.

Quick plot summary: we follow our protagonist Celie as she writes letters to God (and then her sister Nettie) which detail what is going on her life at that point, starting when she’s fourteen into her old age. She endures such a range of hardships being a black girl born in the inter-war years, a time of segregation, living in poverty with misogyny rife in all aspects of life. There are many events in her life, predominantly the experiencing of unimaginable brutality. Along with other characters like her sister Nettie, love interest Shug Avery, step-daughter-in-law Sofia, step-sons-girlfriend Mary Agnes ‘Squeek’, daughter Olivia, Children’s friend Taishi and others, who too face the consequences of a world where (black) woman are viewed as lesser, there is a notion of seeking out hope. Despite being small and elusive, they look for meaning, any little joy, a solitary ray of light despite the overwhelming darkness of despair. A little snippet I loved from one of Nettie’s letters:

“And how are you? dear Sister. The years have come and gone without a single word from you. Only the sky above us do we hold in common. I look at it often as if, somehow, reflected from its immensities, I will one day find myself gazing into your eyes. Your dear, large, clean and beautiful eyes. Oh, Celie!”

From the first page, we get a glimpse of the directness of this novel with mentions of Celie being raped by the man she calls Pa. And this unfiltered approach continues throughout, Walker had a story to tell and tell it she did. It is most definitely not easy to read certain parts where there is just such a bombardment of abuse but it’s the harsh reality of the lives of many black woman during the time and despite being fictional, the story can draw relatability to many people. It’s difficult but a rewarding read. So much feeling and emotion is portrayed, you feel like you are inside Celie’s mind experiencing these things and you cannot help but want nothing but good things to come her way. Similarly, you feel for the other women too.

Some people say there is a very anti-male narrative which I agree with to some extent where nearly all the men have a major personality flaw. However, there are certainly nuances and character developments so I do have to rebate this as an issue. Furthermore, this is a story about and for women and how living in societies rife with sexist attitudes be it in America or Africa, poor or rich, even black, white, mixed, native, whatever, women are viewed as lesser and treated disgustingly by men. It’s a fact and still remains true today, it’s gotten better but misogynistic attitudes are still very prevalent and this book is showing a small slice of history and ways in which these attitudes have affected the lives of a small number of women. But it’s relatable and many of the events can be likened to others. I don’t really know what I’m saying anymore but I was kinda irked by the 1 start reviews saying it’s a misandrist tale. In some ways yes it is, but it’s because Celie was raped by the man she thought was her dad when she was fourteen! She was still a child! He took her babies away from her! He practically sold her off into a highly toxic relationship with a man who beats and raped her too! She hasn’t had good experiences and this is a story via her eyes, of course she’s going to view men negatively, wouldn’t you?! (My rant is over soon just stay with me) And you need to understand that a POV from someone with these experiences will be like this, she doesn’t hate men she’s just been abused by so many. Also she is a lesbian coming to terms with this when it was extremely taboo, she’s no information about it or anything.

My only qualm with this book is that some parts of the plot I didn’t really like all that much. There was a lack of serving justice too which I would prefer to see after witnessing evilness, I want things to be set right. But I’m saying that, I was very satisfied with the ending overall. I’m not going to say none of this book was unnecessary but personally some parts were a little dense. The pacing is somewhat disjointed in parts too. However, I must admit that this novel, being in letter form, flows exceptionally well and reads like any other story. Despite jumping some parts, the overall timeline does fit very well and you are left intrigued and needing to read on. Truly a case of additive and masterful prose. I also don’t usually like too much discussion on religion but the way Shug Avery teaches Celie to view God was honestly so insightful and different, it’s something I can get my head around and resonate with. Exceptional. Here’s a little snippet that stayed with me:

“God love admiration.

You saying God vain? I ast.

Naw, she say. Not vain, just wanting to share a good thing. I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.

What it do when it pissed off? I ast.

Oh, it make something else. People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.

Yeah? I sav.

Yeah, she say. It always making little surprises and springing them on us when us least expect.

You mean it want to be loved, just like the bible say.

Yes, Celie, she say. Everything want to be loved. Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to git attention we do, except walk?”

I honestly have a lot of thoughts and opinions on this book. It was such an impactful story that will stay with me for a long long time. So emotive and sad but this pining for any glimmer of hope and redemptive love is just everything. Celie and basically all the woman in this novel, you had my heart, but then you broke it, obliterated it, shattered it into a million pieces… and then after glueing each and every speck back together again, became whole ❤️💔❤️‍🔥💜 I love you

Content Warnings

A review by james1star The Color Purple by Alice Walker

A review by james1star
The Color Purple by Alice Walker