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Review and Analysis
1980s’ was a crucial time for America. Racism was high during the Reagan presidency. . It was during this time that, in 1982, Alice Walker wrote a book titled “The Color Purple”. Written in an epistolary form, the book tackled the issues of racism, violence and sexism in the USA.
Born in Georgia in 1944, Alice Walker came from a struggling family. Her father was a farmer while her mother was working as a maid to support their family. As a child, Walker was inspired by the tales her grandfather told her. Her grandfather was also the inspiration behind the character of Mr. in The Color Purple. . She began composing poems from the age of eight. Her parents stood up against their local landlord’s demand of her working in the field and sent her to college for an education. Growing up in a rural state, she witnessed all the injustices, racism and sexism of the time. Walker recalls using separate bathrooms and being targeted with offensive words for her appearance as her inspirational events for framing her novel. . The novel also presented the taboo topic of incest, which Walker observed as a child was predominant during that time. .
The Color Purple was the book that launched the career of Alice Walker and made her the first African American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Award in 1983. . The writing style is a sharp contrast to other works of fiction. The story is in an epistolary form and written in a folk dialect of English that represented the language of rural African Americans in the 1930s’. . During the introduction, the readers are introduced to the horrifying fact that Celie is a victim of incest. Walker did not shy away in hiding or sugar-coating the issue. . Through creating a triangular love affair between Shug Avery, Albert and Celie, Walker demonstrates the violent African American men-women relationships and the pressure on women to consummate. . This writing style, although different, was mainly inspired from James Baldwin’s “Another Country” (1962) and other similar works. .
Works Cited
Abrams, Patricia Harris. "The Gift of Loneliness: Alice Walke's The Color Purple." Language Arts Journal of Michigan (1985): 28-32. Report.
Edemariam, Aida. "Free spirit." 23 June 2007. The Guardian. Article. 13 October 2014.
MICDS. American Race and Racism 1970 to Present. 2014. Website.
Smith, Kim. "Alice Walker's Makers Appearance Highlights Why She Wrote 'The Color Purple' (VIDEO)." 28 February 2013. The Huffington Post. Article. 13 October 2014.
Watkins, Mel. "Some Letters Went to God." 25 June 1982. The New York Times. Article. 13 October 2014.
