The Color Purple | The Color Purple

At a glance:

Author: Alice Walker
First Published: 1982
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Social realism
Time of Work: 1920’s-1940’s
Setting: Georgia, Tennessee, and Africa
Principal Characters: Celie, Mr.-----, Shug Avery, Nettie, Harpo, Sofia
Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Domestic realism, Epistolary literature
Subjects: African Americans, Self-discovery, Africa or Africans, Racism, Sexism, Homosexuality or homosexuals, South or Southerners, Gender roles, 1940’s, Missions or missionaries, Friendship, 1920’s, 1930’s, God, Spiritual life or spirituality, Child abuse, Incest, Rape, Quilts or quilting, Lesbianism or lesbians, Women’s issues, Oppression, Letter writing, Sisters, Women
Locales: Africa, South (U.S.), Georgia, Tennessee

Celie, a poor, barely literate black woman living in rural Georgia, was raped and impregnated by the man she assumed was her father when she was fourteen years old. A short time later, Celie’s mother died, and Pa, her stepfather, took Celie’s children away, removed her from school, and had her married to a poor farmer she called Mr.----. She became the stepmother of his four children by a previous marriage, and she became his slave. When his son, Harpo, asked him why he beat his wife, he said that he did it because she was his wife and because she was...

The Color Purple | The Color Purple

At a glance:

The Story:

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