BOOK CLUB

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

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Pulitzer Prize winning Color Purple by Alice Walker tells a story about the power of strong female relationships. This feminist work is about an abused and uneducated African American woman's struggle for empowerment. Throughout The Color Purple, Walker portrays female friendships as a means for women to summon the courage to tell stories. In turn, these stories allow women to resist oppression and dominance.

The Color Purple documents the traumas and gradual triumph of Celie, an African American teenager raised in rural isolation in Georgia, as she comes to resist the paralyzing self-concept forced on her by others. Celie narrates her life through painfully honest letters to God. These are prompted when her abusive father, Alphonso, warns her not to tell anybody but God after he rapes her and she becomes pregnant for a second time at the age of 14. This interaction catalyzes a series of events that would forever define who Celie would become.

The novel also addresses gender inequality and poetically attacks the abuse faces by women of color. Walker paints a picture of resilience, homosexual relationships, and unapologetic truths.

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My rating: 9/10

I highly highly recommend reading this novel. For humans to evolve we must understand the oppression of the past. This novel covers so many important topics ranging from abuse to lack of education to female empowerment. Books have the power to transform the way we see the world and ourselves. This book taught me to be thankful for the blessings in my life, become more aware of the oppression around me, and continuously fight for equality in my own life and for those around me.