Sifting For Beauty: The Color Purple

The Color Purple is a story that will make your heart ache to read it. From the very first page, the reader is forcefully gripped. This. This is what it was like. Brutal. Evocative. Hopeful.

Celie is a young black woman who, for much of the novel, drifts along life's path. She is above all things- obedient. Obedient to her sexually abusive step father. Obedient to her brute of a husband. Obedient to her husband's mistress, Shug Avery. It seems as if she may never find her own voice...

But she does, in the most unlikely of places. Ever since Celie saw a picture of her husband's mistress, she was filled with strange emotions: Love, desire, curiosity. Celie was struck by the way Shug was so different from herself. Shug commanded the spotlight with her beauty and talent. Celie was rather homely and introverted. Shug spoke her mind. Celie kept her mouth shut. Through Shug's influence, Celie was able to discover more of those qualities in herself. As a result, she becomes more assertive, her self esteem improves, and she revels in the love of a woman. To hell with convention, Celie found happiness.

Character
One of Walker's strengths in this novel is her use of character. She has a gift for making the subject come alive. She laces each individual with motivation, emotion, and struggle. Everyone is fighting a battle in this novel. Sometimes their fights cross paths. Sometimes, they can only look on and watch the others flounder toward... hope?

Plot
The driving force of the novel is simple. When Celie married her evil bastard of a husband, he confiscated all of her correspondence with her far away sister, Nettie. Nettie means more than anyone in the world to Celie, and not knowing whether she is alive or dead is a constant shadow in her life. In her heart, she feels that Nettie is out there somewhere. But if so, why hasn't she written? Celie's struggle toward personal assertion is another strong element of the plot.

Format
The entire novel is written as Celie's letters. At first she writes to God, but then writes to Nettie. There are some letters that Nettie writes to Celie as well. This makes the chapters short. Unfortunately, since the book is so gripping, it is oh too easy to keep saying "I'll just read another chapter, and then I'll go to bed..." Next thing I knew, I had finished the book.

The entire book is written in dialect. Southern African American dialect. This makes the reading slightly challenging, but the technique is well executed. After a few chapters, you will fall right in to the cadence and rhythm of the language.

Incidentally,
This is a must read novel. It offers a unique look into the human psyche. For all the bad things that fall upon us, we are all pretty much looking for hope or happiness...