‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker – A Brief Discussion

‘The Color Purple’ is one of the most captivating books I have read in a long time, and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It’s an epistolary novel published in 1982, partly based on a true story Walker’s sister told her about a love triangle her grandfather was involved in. The novel itself is set in rural Georgia from 1909-1949, in which we observe Celie growing up through her letters to God. The letters are craftily written, with an authentic feel from Celie (who isn’t largely educated), as we see from the grammatical and spelling mistakes throughout, adding to the realism of her situation. Her struggles, especially around being an African American woman in this time period, and in the Deep South, are voiced extremely well on Walker’s part. Although a fictional account on life, I feel it’s really valuable for understanding hardships and prejudices which may have been experienced here. Before I elaborate on the novel, an interesting fact is that it was banned in American School libraries from 1984-2013.

‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker – A Brief Discussion