The Color Purple
...Alice Walker is a story about the struggle and the transformation of the protagonist Celie from a shy little girl that never stood up for herself who later on in her life developed into a strong confident and independent woman. Her awakening is due in large parts to the many female figures she met throughout her life. These figures are her sister Nettie, Mr.____'s sister Kate, Harpo's wife Sofia, and the singer Shug Avery.
The setting of the story is in the early 1900's in a small town in Georgia. The story is told in a first person narrative by the main character Celie. Celie starts out as a quiet character that lets everyone around her run all over her without standing up for her self. The story starts off as Celie being a young fourteen year old girl describing the physical and sexual abuse in which she has to endure by her step father. During Celie's teen years, she had been impregnated twice by her father and both babies were taken from her at birth. One day a man whom Celie always referred to as Mr.____ came by the house of Celie's father Alfonso and asked for his daughter Nettie's hand in marriage. His offer was refused but Celie was offered instead. It took Mr.____ roughly four months to make up his mind but in time he did and accepted Celie's hand in marriage.
This marriage is anything but joyful to Celie. Just as her step father Alfonso did, Mr.____ physically and sexually abused her. One day Celie's little sister Nettie ran away from home to escape the abuse of their father and came to live with Celie. Mr.____ wastes no time on making passes at Nettie. After not giving into his advances, Nettie is forced to leave. Nettie taught Celie how to read before she left because Nettie was the more educated one. Nettie promised to always write Celie but after not hearing from Nettie throughout the years, Celie presumed that Nettie had died. Mr.____ has had an...
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