Color Purple Literary Devices

Alice Walker very cleverly uses literary devices to emphasize the morals in her story. The setting, symbolism, tone, and point of view of the story all help the reader clearly understand and somewhat relate to the life that Celie is living.
Celie is an African American woman that was raped by her Pa. He takes away her children after they are born, and he marries her off to an abusive man named Mr. ___. The only reason why Celie was in a way happy to marry Mr. ___ was because she can bring her sister Nettie with her and she would no longer live in the same violent household with Pa. Mr. ___ would sexually harass Nettie; however, Nettie would not go along with it. This resulted in her getting kicked out of Mr. ___’s house. In order for Celie
It was about 30 years before World War II. Celie lived in Georgia, which is the South. In the South in those times in History, the people still believed in the Jim Crow laws. African American people were inferior to the white race, and unfortunately, Celie was African American. The fact that she was a woman made her even more inferior than African American men. Women were believed to be incapable of getting an education or having a job. This led to Celie living a very close minded and ignorant life. Whenever Shug came along, it was a drastic change for Celie. Shug was from Tennessee where people didn’t believe in the Jim Crow laws and there wasn’t as much racism as there was in Georgia. Shug was so independent and well-educated, which is why Celie was so mesmerized by her. After both of them were in a relationship and moving to Tennessee, Celie’s way of thinking changed for better. She became more independent and confident, despite her being African American and living in Georgia again. Overall, if the setting would have not taken place in the early 20th century, the racism and women’s rights conflicts that Celie went through would have not had such an impact on her. It shows that the problem was not only personal but it involved society as
For instance, one of the themes is that violence is not the answer. Celie, being African American, suffered from violence from her husband and society. She was neglected an education and she was also seen as property. Men would try to prove their dominance by beating and raping their wives and kids. Eventually, Celie grew tired of all the violence that she was exposed to, so she finally grew the courage to stand up for herself and walk away. Religion was also a major theme in this story. Celie began to learn that God was race less and genderless and that he is more of a universal figure that people all over the world go to for help. She begins to see that God is someone who you don’t know is real or not but you still communicate with him because it is your faith. The theme of race is also wildly important because African Americans were not treated the same as the white race, much less women. Celie is able to overcome all the race stereotypes that were a part of the society and environment in which she lived in. Love is a theme in The Color Purple as well. In the story, love is not only romantic but also familial. Celie feels love towards her sisterhood (Gupta, 2010) Nettie, who she protects and looks over all the time. Both her Pa and Mr.___ show no love towards Celie, but she experiences romantic love for the first time with a woman, Shug. The lesson that comes from love is that no matter the gender or race, love is about sacrifice and